Beverly Healani Sun Lan Apana Muraoka
Title
Beverly Healani Sun Lan Apana Muraoka
Subject
Nā Kumu Hula Beverly Healani Sun Lan Apana Muraoka - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 83
Description
Beverly Muraoka, sister of kumu hula Lovey Apana, has been teaching hula on Kaua‘i since 1988 and is the founder of Healani's Hula Hālau & Music Academy.
My father bought a fifteen - dollar guitar from Sears and that is how we started to learn how to play and sing. I played music with people like Aunty Genoa Keawe, Uncle Benny Bogers, Victor and Ku‘ulei Pūnua, and Uncle Joseph Kahaulelio. I also played with Peter Ahia and Uncle Val Kepelino. Everybody expected die Apana Sisters to dance and play music.
Kutchie Kuhns was a Polynesian entertainer who came to live on Kauaʻi. She asked my mother if my sister Lovey and I could learn hula from her. I was nine-years-old at the time and we probably would never have started otherwise. Aunty was known for her comedy. She was a feisty hula teacher who loved fast comical numbers. The first dances we learned were “Hula Lōlō,” “Tūtū E,” and “Princess Pupule.”
In 1961 Aunty left Kaua‘i because she wasn’t feeling well. So we joined the Kapa‘a Mormon Choir where we learned hula and singing under Jane Kina Goo, Inoa Aniu, Puanani Smith, and Germina Quereto. Through them I learned to dance the slower dances that I m known for. Not bragging but in my time I have been known to be the smoothest, slowest dancer.
Moving to Honolulu I learned from Aunty Sally Wood Naluaʻi who was the Hawaiian instructor at the Church College of Hawaiʻi. In the meantime I also became involved in singing and dancing with Aunty Genoa Keawe. She gave me more instructions and I consider her my mentor.
Returning home people asked me to teach but I was working for the government and couldn’t do both. Also Lovey owned a hālau and I didn’t think it was right for two sisters on the same island to compete. Later Lovey became ill and asked for my assistance. When she totally left the hula, people were still asking me to teach so I consented. I left the government and embraced the hula.
Hula has made me blossom and become more humble. It has taught me to endure hardships but has also given me many blessings. My hālau is small compared to others but I love each student very much. My husband helps me create designs and is our manager.
To me the hula that I see today is kind of mixed tip. It can be confusing. You are not too sure if the dancers are dancing anciently but dressed modern or dancing a modernized kahiko. When we were growing up, we were told to use only greens and to keep our costumes simple. Today you see baby’s breath and other modern flowers intertwined in the kupe‘e.
Nānā I Nā Loea Hula 83
My father bought a fifteen - dollar guitar from Sears and that is how we started to learn how to play and sing. I played music with people like Aunty Genoa Keawe, Uncle Benny Bogers, Victor and Ku‘ulei Pūnua, and Uncle Joseph Kahaulelio. I also played with Peter Ahia and Uncle Val Kepelino. Everybody expected die Apana Sisters to dance and play music.
Kutchie Kuhns was a Polynesian entertainer who came to live on Kauaʻi. She asked my mother if my sister Lovey and I could learn hula from her. I was nine-years-old at the time and we probably would never have started otherwise. Aunty was known for her comedy. She was a feisty hula teacher who loved fast comical numbers. The first dances we learned were “Hula Lōlō,” “Tūtū E,” and “Princess Pupule.”
In 1961 Aunty left Kaua‘i because she wasn’t feeling well. So we joined the Kapa‘a Mormon Choir where we learned hula and singing under Jane Kina Goo, Inoa Aniu, Puanani Smith, and Germina Quereto. Through them I learned to dance the slower dances that I m known for. Not bragging but in my time I have been known to be the smoothest, slowest dancer.
Moving to Honolulu I learned from Aunty Sally Wood Naluaʻi who was the Hawaiian instructor at the Church College of Hawaiʻi. In the meantime I also became involved in singing and dancing with Aunty Genoa Keawe. She gave me more instructions and I consider her my mentor.
Returning home people asked me to teach but I was working for the government and couldn’t do both. Also Lovey owned a hālau and I didn’t think it was right for two sisters on the same island to compete. Later Lovey became ill and asked for my assistance. When she totally left the hula, people were still asking me to teach so I consented. I left the government and embraced the hula.
Hula has made me blossom and become more humble. It has taught me to endure hardships but has also given me many blessings. My hālau is small compared to others but I love each student very much. My husband helps me create designs and is our manager.
To me the hula that I see today is kind of mixed tip. It can be confusing. You are not too sure if the dancers are dancing anciently but dressed modern or dancing a modernized kahiko. When we were growing up, we were told to use only greens and to keep our costumes simple. Today you see baby’s breath and other modern flowers intertwined in the kupe‘e.
Nānā I Nā Loea Hula 83
Citation
“Beverly Healani Sun Lan Apana Muraoka,” Nā Kumu Hula Archive, accessed February 23, 2025, https://nakumuhula.org/archive/items/show/139.