"Patrick Makuakāne is a master showman but also a deeply serious practitioner and student of hula. He has gorgeous dancers and [his upcoming show] promises to be spectacular, witty, and fun." — San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 2008

"[Patrick Makuakāne] both conserves the classic dances, and also creates fascinating new dances that extend the ancient traditions to incorporate how it feels to be alive in the modern world. The new stuff can be fabulously outrageous. Prime among these last Saturday was "Bow Down, Mister," which depicts, in the language of hula, an encounter with a crowd of Hare Krishnas who wanted the same picnic ground in Golden Gate Park that the hula folk occupied… Nothing I can say can convey the fizzy preposterousness of this piece. I felt the building was going to explode." — Bay Area Reporter, October 2008

"[Patrick Makuakāne] is a master teacher, a star performer, and also a community organizer of formidable talents. He looks like Michelangelo's Adam in a grass skirt, and dances like a god, sings like a cantor, and works the crowd like Bill Clinton. His speaking gifts are of the first rank. He's not only keeping Hawaiian culture alive, he's a populist making the case for it. If he ran for mayor, Gavin Newsom could be in trouble." — Bay Area Reporter, October 2008

"[Patrick Makuakāne is] an evangelist for hula itself — and damn if the most casual attendee won't be converted by his beguiling company… There's something for every taste: hula ancient (with chanting and music played on percussive gourds), contemporary (live guitar, bass and singing) and beyond (Makuakāne's signature hula mua, set to pop music)." — San Francisco Chronicle, October 2007

"Patrick Makuakāne's Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu Hawaiian dance and music company knows how to put on a good show… There is nothing quite like the lilting flow of it all." — New York Times, August 2007

"I'm not sure I can find adjectives to describe these performers. Not only are they perfectly synchronized, but their movement comes from the heart and rides the wave of the music, not merely using it to mark the beat. I am mesmerized. Only the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets have ensembles that can rival these women in their esprit de corps." — The Dance Insider, October 2006

"Makuakāne creates delicious new hulas set to the poetry of today. This approach is brilliantly successful." — The Star Ledger, August 2004

"The departures from the traditional, lovingly preserved and beautifully danced, were the most fascinating parts of the evening. Mr. Makuakāne retained the purity of the form and intent in choreography that clearly held tradition in esteem." — New York Times, August 2004

"The dancing was never less than persuasive and made a good case for traditional hula and the hula mua, 'hula for the future,' that is Makuakāne's gift to the Hawaiian tradition. At its best, in the large ensembles, the dancers' gentle upper-body gestures and lovingly articulated hip phrasings were reason enough to rush to this colorful spectacle." — San Francisco Chronicle, October 2002

"Patrick Makuakāne continues to mix and match the modern and ancient, East and West, creating a cultural collage that is informative, respectful and dares to be funny." — Asian Week, October 2002

"Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu [is] one of the Bay Area's finest Hawaiian dance companies. 'The Hula Show' is a delightful combination of traditional and modern hula with a funky twist. Makuakāne knows how to entertain with panache." — The Oakland Tribune, October 2001

"Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu is something else. Lines of dancers provided an ineffably smooth unison reminiscent of the best corps de ballet moments of classical masterpieces. The lasting aftereffect is something like having seen flowers that breathe and butterflies that think." — Los Angeles Times, August 2001

"The show was a magnificent and inspiring experience. Costumes and production values matched the best we've seen. As modern Hawaiian dance, as a sharing of Hawaiian history, and as a celebration of life and the human experience, The Natives are Restless represents dance at its best." — Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 2001

"Patrick Makuakāne is a maverick in the world of hula — a unique product of both Hawaiian traditional culture and the giddy world of San Francisco experimental dance. His approach abounds with creativity." — San Jose Mercury News, October 2000

"This is 21st-century hula, ancient dance used to make a postmodern point. It is hula charged with poetic potency." — Honolulu Magazine, March 2000

"If you consider hula an evolving art form, this is the show for you." — Honolulu Weekly, March 2000

"The show deploys that trademark mix of story and dance that makes raconteur Patrick Makuakāne's company Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu so engrossing and so authentically Hawaiian." — San Francisco Magazine, October 1999

"The Natives are Restless is visually stunning…[a] potent blend of politics, music and movement." — Contra Costa Times, October 1999

"'Salva Mea' is Mr. Makuakāne's signature piece, as may some day be regarded with the same reverence as Alvin Ailey's "Revelations" or Martha Graham's "Appalachian Spring," as truly iconic of American modern dance built on folk themes." — New California Media, October 1999