Omi Tutu: Cool Waters — Maui Premiere of Multimedia Sacred Dance at ProArt Playhouse

Omi Tutu: Cool Waters arrives in Kihei as a one-night multimedia premiere at ProArt Playhouse, 1280 S Kihei Rd, Kihei, HI 96753. The award-winning work by dance artist and cultural ethnologist Kimberly Miguel Mullen, M.A., created with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Craig Renaud, blends live performance, film, field recordings and ritual to explore water, memory and transformation. Filmed across Maui’s luminous coastlines, rivers, waterfalls and volcanic ridgelines over four years, the performance uses island landscapes as an active partner, projecting cinematic footage behind a moving body. The evening program runs approximately 30 minutes and concludes with an artist talkback and audience Q&A, giving visitors a rare window into ethnographic research, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Brazilian sacred dance lineages, and the making of integrated film-dance work. Rooted in more than thirty years of research, OMI TUTU honors Las Dos Aguas: Yemaya, Orisha of the Sea, and Ochun, deity of sweet waters and beauty, framing water as both element and ancestral memory. This Maui premiere appears within Mullen’s Annual Sacred Dance Residency, which brings workshops around the island at community studios and movement schools; the result is a local performance that is at once global in reach and anchored in place. The film’s volcanic soils, black lava shorelines and freshwater pools are not mere backdrops — they punctuate movement with geological texture, while original field recordings from Santiago de Cuba braid Afro-diasporic sound into Hawaiian seascapes. Practical details: expect an intimate theater setting at ProArt Playhouse; seating is limited, so arrive early for best sight lines. The venue sits on S Kihei Rd near public parking and beaches; bring reef-safe sunscreen, a light jacket for ocean breezes after the show, and a quiet curiosity for the artist talkback. Photography during live ritual sequences may be restricted — confirm house policy before shooting. Why Omi Tutu is worth your Maui evening: it pairs rigorous cultural research and community practice with cinematic craft, offering a condensed yet resonant encounter with island waterways and ancestral memory. For travelers based in Kihei or nearby Wailea, a single hour inside this performance expands the way you see local landscape and listen to its stories. Stay afterwards to join the talkback or walk to the shoreline; here, the island’s water continues the conversation. Audience members should note that OMI TUTU earned the Beyond Border(lands) Award at the 2026 Tucson Fringe Festival, a recognition reflected in its tightly edited film work and rigorous choreography. Mullen’s community engagements include workshops in Kahului at Baila Baila and in Paia at Maui Yoga Shala, so look for related classes if you want a hands-on follow-up. After the show consider a walk to Kealia Pond or Makena tidepools to see same coastal features that appear on screen.