Iwilani Silva Ohelo

Nā Kumu Hula Iwilani Silva Ohelo - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 93

Iwilani Ohelo is kumu hula of the Hālau Hula 0 Na Pua Mokihana and the Kalihi- Pālama Culture & Arts Society's community hula and Polynesian dance classes.

I began learning the hula at three years-old. During that time there were only a few kumu hula who taught hula to children at that young age. I was fortunate to have kumu hula Mrs. Rose Look, a family friend, invite me to join her beginning children’s hula classes which were held at her home on 6th Avenue in Kaimuki. Mrs. Look studied with renowned hula masters including Alice Keawekane Garner, Kamuela Nae‘ole, and Lokalia Montgomery. She focused her instruction on the fundamentals of the hula. It was she who helped develop my basic hula foundation. After three years of hula training Mrs. Look stopped teaching and relocated to the ‘Ewa district of O‘ahu. Prior to closing her Kaimuki hālau, she assisted her students with referrals to other kumu hula in the area. She recommended me to Mrs. Rose Joshua, the kumu hula and proprietor of the Magic Hula Studio on Kalākaua Avenue.

I found Mrs. Joshua to be a sincere and beautiful person as well as an excellent hula instructor. She was very caring, patient, nurturing, and especially loved teaching children. Learning the Hawaiian culture and hula under her tutelage was the most rewarding and enjoyable part of my life. Mrs. Joshua used a holistic approach in teaching and taught us to be well-rounded dancers. Not only did we learn the hula kahiko and ‘auana dance stylings, we were also taught the oli and other chanting techniques. We learned the mo‘olelo, the Hawaiian and English lyrics to the mele hula, and were trained as ‘olapa and ho‘opa‘a on the use of traditional musical instruments to accompany the hula as well as appropriate costuming and adornments. Her teaching methods were thorough and enabled us to gain important knowledge and an understanding of the dances we performed. As part of our learning experiences we were required to conduct our own research on selected chants and mele. The research included studying the Hawaiian lyrics, knowing the composer, the historical significance of the song and possible kaona, if any.

Mrs. Joshua’s hālau was noted for its unique hula styling. Her styling is graceful, elegant, and expressive of the dancer’s inner spiritual beauty while embracing a love for the hula as a cherished legacy of an ancient and proud Hawaiian civilization. It is a dance styling born of tradition and inspiration from the Heavenly Creator to entrance and capture the hearts of those honored with its presentation. This is the hula which I wanted to preserve and perpetuate as a dancer and a teacher.

As a haumāna of the Magic Hula Studio, I was privileged to also learn hula kahiko and chanting techniques from hula master Henry Mo'ikeha Pa who shared the Magic Hula Studio as a partner with Mrs. Joshua.

In addition we also received instruction in Maori, Tahitian, Samoan, and Tongan traditions, culture, music, and dances. Each year Mrs. Joshua would host special workshops and classes conducted by notable Polynesian cultural resources visiting Hawaiʻi and the Polynesian Cultural Center who would teach at the studio. These sessions enabled me to gain an appreciation of my Hawaiian and Polynesian heritage.

After studying the hula with Mrs. Joshua for over twenty-one years, I was selected as one of five haumāna who were chosen to ‘ūniki. This was such a very special honor for me because Mrs. Joshua had not given certificates to any students in all of her forty years of teaching hula. The ceremonial presentation of the certificates was held as part of a hula hō‘ike to which other kumu hula were invited. As she awarded me her certificate, Mrs. Joshua gave me her blessings and encouraged me to carry on her hula styling as a kumu hula of my own hālau. She passed on shortly after the graduation ceremony.

I first started teaching the hula at the early age of thirteen. While attending St. Patrick’s School I taught my classmates hula which were performed during the school’s May Day programs and Aloha Week festivals. During my high school years I voluntarily assisted in teaching hula for the May Day programs at Kalani and Kaiser High Schools. After graduating from high school I began teaching hula classes in various hotels, schools, church, and community facilities.

In 1980 while I was already married, I decided to open my hālau in our family home in Kapahulu. A few years later I began teaching hula and Polynesian dance classes at the Kauluwela Recreation Center under the auspices of the Kalihi-Pālama Culture & Arts Society, Inc. Next year our hālau will be celebrating seventeen years of sharing hula and Polynesian dances in Hawai'i.

When the time comes and I feel that my haumana have earned the opportunity to graduate from my hālau, I will ‘ūniki those deserving students. However they must assure me that they will uphold the quality standards of my hālau, cherish my legacy, and w ill teach only what is “pono." They will need to have sufficient knowledge of the Hawaiian language, an appreciation for the positive values of our Hawaiian kupuna, and be able to translate a chant or mele, as well as create an entire interpretive hula using traditional hand gestures that authentically enhance the poetic meaning of the lyrics. They w ill need to celebrate the hula as an art and as creative expression of life.

Hula is my life and my life is hula. The knowledge imparted to me by my kumu hula and cultural mentors is a precious legacy which I shall always cherish and endeavor to perpetuate wit h aloha.

I see the hula changing. There appears to be more hula steps being performed now than the traditional hula foot movements that I learned during my hula training. Today’s kumu hula have added their own creative expressions to this art which often excite an audience but also frequently raise the question of whether tradition is being preserved or sacrificed. The kumu hula’s creativity is the signature of a hālau styling. I believe that we as kumu hula can be creative within the realm of tradition as long as we preserve the integrity of the culture and authenticity of the dances as shared with us by our Hawaiian ancestors. The hula is a celebration of the life of the Hawaiian culture and will live forever as long as we continue to share this legacy.





Nānā I Nā Loea Hula 93