George Pulamahia Maile

Kumu Hula George Pulamahia Maile - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 75

Presently employed by Aloha Airlines, George Pulamahia Maile graduated as kumu hula in the “Papa Lehua ” class from Māʻiki Aiu Lake in 1974.

I must have been about seven or eight when I first took hula lessons from Aunty Mary Pukui at her house on Birch Street. There were two cousins and three other members of Aunty’ s family. I took on and off for about a year until Aunty cancelled the lessons when the cousins stopped coming.

My next teacher was Momi Auwae-Yaw who I stayed w ith for two years. She studied under Ruby Ahakuelo and she taught us strictly ‘auana. It wasn’t until years later that I started with Aunty Māʻiki Aiu. I was twenty-four when I started with Aunty Māʻiki and I stayed for over twenty years. I came and never left!

It was really a chance coincidence that I got into her hālau. We were all at a wedding reception when I was persuaded to go up to dance. I was going to die. It was years since I danced. After I finished, Aunty Māʻiki said, “Where did you learn that? You did my whole routine. You’re coming into the boys’ class next week!” So that’s how it started. I had picked up her whole routine without even realizing it by going into her hālau to wait for my friend and by talking story with Aunty Māʻiki. I guess I was just absorbing all these things.

In 1970 the kumu class was opened up to the public. We started with ‘auana and then the kahiko was slowly interjected until we actually studied to become kumu. The name of our class was “Papa Lehua”. I was asked by Aunty Māʻiki to be in this particular class for kumu. I think there were twenty-four in our class and we all became kumu. We trained for four years to become ho‘opa‘a and then we trained to become kumu hula. The first student in “Papa Lehua” to become kumu was Ho‘oulu Cambra. The rest of us puka as ho‘opa‘a that year and we followed as kumu the next year.

The first ‘ūniki was at Ulumau Village in Kāne‘ohe. It was an overnight thing. We had our ‘ailolo ceremony the next day but we went through the meditation and the preparation the night before. Many people were there to watch: Ka'upena Wong, Aunty Sally Wood, Aunty Alice Nāmakelua, Aunty Lani Kalama, Aunty Lokalia Montgomery, and Uncle Manuel Silva. Our class performed in mass at the ‘ūniki. As part of the ʻūniki process, we had to compose and then put a mele to it. Some were to be kept private and some were performed.

After the ‘ūniki I continued with Aunty Māʻiki. I’ve never had my own hālau. I stayed with Aunty Māʻiki forever and a day. At first I stayed on basically as a performer and a student. Then I started to teach in the hālau. When I teach, I try to be as close as possible to how Aunty Mā‘iki taught it and try to keep her style of dancing.

The only time I taught outside of the hālau was with Kealoha Wong and her sister when they were teaching for the May Day program at Maryknoll. I also taught the Aloha Airlines promotion team and I did four Hula Bowls’ half-time shows. Sometimes I wonder where they got the foot movements for the hula kahiko today. I feel a lot of influence came from other Polynesians especially in the male kahiko. I remember watching the gentlemen dance thirty and forty years ago and I see nothing the same today.

I think that it was prevalent with the old masters that if they thought that you weren’t ready, they wouldn’t give and you couldn’t ask for it. There was no way that you could say, “I want to learn this, please.' You wailed until it was given to you or until the time was right. And sometimes that’s sad because these masters took half of it with them when they passed on. Nobody got it.