Jungle Culcha

Puna makai's artistic hot spots

by Alan D. McNarie

It's a balmy Sunday on Papaya Farms Road in Puna makai, and a small gathering of local residents have collected to see the first footage of a new movie. The director, who calls himself Candle, is putting together a semi-autobiographical film tale about two old friends.

"One stayed in Hollywood and made movies. One came here and went into the jungle," says Candle. Both characters, he explains, are based on himself. In his former life, he says, he taught scriptwriting and wrote for TV shows.

Roll Candle's work in progress: Scenes of dancers moving to the "See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me" chorus from the Who's rock opera Tommy.

The movie is being shot at the Center for Conscious Oneness, locally known as COCO's, which also hosts dance, live music, singing and other events, plus classes in yoga and other eclectic arts, and offers screened minimalist cabins to visitors who want to reconnect with nature. This is one of several cultural hot spots in the jungles and villages throughout Puna makai.

Some hot spots are public places; on Sunday afternoons residents can join in a weekly musical jam session in the park area around the Sea View Estates Sign, or go down the Red Road and join in the drumming session at Kehena Beach (See "Policing the Sacred Beach" in Archives at hawaiiislandjournal.com). Others, like Kalani Oceanside Retreat in Kehena and the Aloha Outpost in Pahoa, are on private property but are de facto community centers.

Movies, music, and "jungalows"

When visitors come to COCO's, says manager Iao Fairoh, "They get to be junglized and Punatized and generally learn what it's like to get back to nature." Like all the properties on Papaya Farms Road, COCO's is off-grid; it gets power from solar panels, grows much of its own food, and has composting toilets. Food is prepared in a communal kitchen.

The working organic farm is dotted with "jungalows," screen shelters that provide sleeping space for about a dozen residents and visitors. Some jungalows are rented out, starting at $50 a night/$200 a week; others are occupied by guest workers who trade three hours a day/five days a week for bed, board, and the chance to learn organic farming, get back to nature and get in touch with themselves. Some occupants have a lot of getting back to do. Fairoh tells a story about a New York family who "were actually afraid to walk down the road at night."

On Friday nights, the hale where the movie rushes are being shown plays host to live music and dancing. The center just started a Wednesday "singing circle." There are yoga and meditation sessions, as well as CD release parties and various paid retreats. On Sept. 29-Oct.5, for instance, COCO's hosts the "1st Annual Nurturing the Nurturers Yoga Retreat" where caregivers can come to be pampered and nurtured themselves. On Oct. 6-12, there's a "Yoga and Bellydancing Adventure." On October 15-21 and 22-28, there are "Goddess in Bliss" retreats offering activities such as "Eat organic tropical fruit while having a foot massage" and "Learn tools on how to manifest your dreams"

And of course, the movie.

"I want this to be fun making it, so the product is fun," says Candle. "We're looking for anything we can get: actors, technicians, makeup people, people who can drive-anybody who wants to be part of moviemaking."

The movie symbolizes Puna makai cultural activities in general: an enterprise based not on big bucks, but on fun and serendipity.

"We're creating a field of energy here," says Candle, "and hoping that it attracts the people and resources." Just as he was ready to start shooting, for instance, a professional videographer showed up-with his equipment.

Monastery inspired

The energy is similar at the bigger, more upscale Kalani Oceanside Retreat, which has a 25 meter Olympic swimming pool, two hot tubs, and a special circular pool for watsu (water shiatsu massage) and "Dolphin Dance": a new art/healing form, created by Puna resident Lilia Cangemi, that combines dance, watsu and various other influences into an "eclectic aquatic bodywork modality." There are camp grounds, volleyball courts, a large dining area, a small café and gift shop, and large greenhouses that can also double as meeting and performance areas. In place of jungalows, there are octagonal "hales," small guest cottages, and even "tree houses"-all with a more hotel-like feel, though the jungle views outside the windows are a bit wilder than the average Hilton's.

Founder Richard Koob inspects work on some new cottages, which are being built mostly with bamboo posts and laminates from Vietnam. The new dwellings, produced by a Maui company, are much lighter and airier than the octagons. Koob had the designs modified to emphasize those qualities.

The idea of Kalani started with a visit to a French monastery.

"I and my partner had toured a lot in performing arts, and we really wanted to have a home base," Koob says. The monastery gave them a notion of how to make such a home base work. They would create a retreat and share it. Peacefulness would pay for itself.

"We were inspired by the educational and sacred sites... to continue that community energy that was centered here," says Koob.

They set about to create a retreat center with a three-pronged approach: nature, culture and healing.

Like COCO's, Kalani grows much of its own organic produce. It offers natural recreational "ecoadventures" including nature trails, lava tube hiking, snorkeling, and visits to waterfalls, botanical areas and the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Cultural activities, Koob says, include "hula and lauhala weaving... yoga once or twice a day, volleyball several times a week," and "lots of types of dance." There's a creative writing workshop with Kimberly Dark on Fridays and a drumming session on Saturdays.

Kalani also has an artists-in-residence program that gives writers, painters, etc. a break on housing costs.

Two activities have caught the imagination of local residents. The open mic nights at the café (Tuesdays, 7 to 10 p.m.), feature local poets and musicians trying out new material. Ecstatic Dance, Kalani's best-known activity, happens Sundays at 10:15 a.m. and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

For healing, there are the spas, the pool, and massage. There's yoga, of course, and other types of body work such as Qi Gong and Capoiara. Kalani also hosts retreats. But whereas Coco's retreats often seem women-centered, Kalani's often cater to men, as with its Men's Yoga Retreat in October. Other fall retreats explore transformational breathing, lucid dreaming, feng shui and "Rainbow Healing."

The resort has developed a loyal clientele among the GLBT community, and actively markets "gay men's vacations" and other activities.

In addition to the new cottages, the 120 acre resort is currently working on a new roadside restaurant/gift shop to welcome visitors.

High tech and hand-made

Up in the new shopping center at Pahoa, a different sort of cultural hot spot has developed. Whereas Coco's and Kalani emphasize low-tech, back-to-the-land lifestyles, the Aloha Outpost thrives on high tech, but maintains a down-home, hand-made Puna feel. It's a genuine Internet Café, with a selection of soups, sandwiches, breakfasts, baked goods, juices, gourmet coffees, exotic teas, Tropical Dreams ice cream and a newly-installed juice bar. In the back room, beneath hand-painted murals, are rows of computers, a monster TV and a Web-casting radio station called Puna Nation Radio, which specializes in "Chill" music: smooth jazz with a shot of Euro-electronic and echoes of New Age.

The Outpost is also a commercial art gallery; the restaurant walls are festooned with paintings, mostly darkly rich renderings of women by Cathy Ostman-Magnusan. And it's a no cover/no booze live music venue with three regular acts: Lee Eisenstein plays classical guitar, Kaliko and the Boys do Hawaiian, and Guitarist Christian Hine offers a mix of folk, rock and world music. Other performers do occasional gigs, and on the last two Thursdays of the month there are open mic nights.

Just as the "energy" at COCO's drew in a videographer for Candle's movie, sometimes the energy of the Outpost draws a spontaneous concert. On a recent afternoon, a gentleman who identified himself only as "Banjo Billy" sat at one of the café's outside tables and plucked out an unscheduled storm of bluegrassy melodies.

"I was on Maui, and a lady flew me over here," he said, after the impromptu set. "She said she thought this island had some lessons to teach me, and it did."

The Outpost is also an occasional movie theater, with films on the big TV on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m.

"We like to do movies that are kind of thought provoking: kind of films as opposed to movies-Sundance-type flicks, you know," says owner Lamont Carroll.

Part of the secret to the Outpost's success has been Carroll's ability to harness the creative energy of his employees and patrons. He put the movie night on hiatus for a while until he could find the right person to pick the lineup, and did the same with the open mic night. Many of the items on the menu were suggested by employees or customers. The Armenian sandwich-a tasty vegetarian concoction with hummus, feta cheese, red onion, lettuce and tomato-was concocted by Cara Adanalian.

"She does our graphics, and she's Armenian," he says.

"I honestly think that success means you really need to show your customers that you're willing to listen and take ideas."

The end product of that fusion of all those creative minds is something unique, something found nowhere else. And, like Kalani and COCO's, it's something very Puna.

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