Grand Finale Seems to Come First in ‘Polynesian’

The Hollywood Bowl’s 2002 world music season opened Sunday with “Polynesian Paradise!,” a spectacular display of colorful music and dancing--a vivid example of what the series can be at its very best. The concert closed with a far more subdued, if musically pleasant, set revealing what the season is more likely to provide.

One can only hope that the balance of the schedule will offer programs as captivating as the performance by Les Grands Ballets de Tahiti. Dancing to the intensely rhythmic Polynesian sounds of a 14-piece instrumental ensemble and a chorus of singers, the company’s large corps of artists worked its way through an intricate array of traditional dances tinged with contemporary touches. Appearing in a constantly changing sequence of colorful costumes, tossing in an electrifying fire baton number, they convincingly illustrated the manner in which world music actually describes an almost inextricable blending of melody, rhythm and physical movement.

The Brothers Cazimero, Hawaii’s Simon & Garfunkel, took a different, but no less engaging, tack. The sweet sounds of their vocal blend, enhanced by carefully crafted rhythmic interaction between their guitar and bass work, were applied to a collection of tunes describing the beauties of the islands and the subtle complexities of its culture. Their program included performances by members of the Halau Keali’l O Nalani hula school, most impressively during a spectacular “stick dance,” in which 50 members rhythmically tapped sticks and staffs with the precision of a line of Pacific Island Rockettes.

The show’s headliner, singer-songwriter-guitarist Keali’l Reichel, also used dancers to illustrate his songs in the elegant, descriptive movements characteristic of Hawaiian dance, but his presentation seemed a bit bland in contrast. But that had less to do with quality than with positioning. Reichel’s richly melodic songs, which drew enthusiastic applause from an audience that clearly knew his music, seamlessly blended Hawaiian tradition with pop sensibilities.

Still, one couldn’t help but feel that both his artistry and the evening would have been better served had the program been reversed, with Reichel’s tunes setting the stage for a spectacular closing set by Les Grands Ballet de Tahiti.