Thaddius Kihanuilulumoku Wilson
Title
Thaddius Kihanuilulumoku Wilson
Subject
Nā Kumu Hula Thaddius Kihanuilulumoku Wilson - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 115
Description
Thaddius Wilson, in collaboration with OʻBrian Eselu, started Nā Wai ‘Eha O Puna in 1976.
Hula was a way of life for Aunty Muriel Lupenui. I was a freshman in high school when she taught me and I continued with her up to my senior year. She taught pa‘i umauma at first then the different styles of hula. I was taught the use of the pahu and other implements.
The reason why I got a group together was because Noenoe Zuttermeister wanted male dancers for the Chuck Machado show. She was in charge of the whole show and I was a dancer. At the time my cousin Darrell Lupenui was living in Las Vegas and I called him to come back home to start a hālau. I recruited boys from ʻAiea High School and Darrell s mother, Aunty Muriel, named the' group Waimāpuna. We were told it was a family name and it meant “ever flourishing waters, never to stop flowing."
Both Darrell and I started to train the hoys. Then Lyle Soberano and OʻBrian Eselu joined the group and we took turns because we were all large and our feet got sore. When we saw a haumāna who picked up fast, we brought that person forward and told the others to follow him. At first it was just a dance company. We didn’t want to use the word “hālau" but eventually we began entering hula competitions.
As far as I’m concerned and in my heart, Darrell and I were together forever. But the group split in 1977. We were raising money to go to Tahiti by performing for a KCCN telecast at the Mormon Church in Waiʻalae. We were dressed to go on but Darrell never showed up. I’m a trouper and the show had to go on. I looked at OʻBrian and asked him if he could handle the chanting. He said yes so I got the kids ready.
Aunty Muriel heard us on the radio. She was very offended saying that there is only one chanter in this group and it is Darrell. I tried to explain to her that the people opened the doors for us and we had to go on with the show but she felt that I should stick to the rituals. We should not have gone above the chanter of the group. I didn’t think we did anything wrong because we were a dance company not a ritual hālau.
Waimāpuna however started to crumble. I took the group to Tahiti with OʻBrian and my mother but Darrell didn’t go although he wanted to very badly. He was torn between joining us and listening to his mother. When we returned, Aunty Muriel asked us to return everything. Darrell made a list of the dancers he wanted. He took nine of the boys and I took nine.
The boys we took were not the top notch dancers but they had heart. I asked OʻBrian to be the chanter and assured him that nothing would happen to him. That’s how we formulated our hālau and it has been a very successful collaboration. My grandmother gave us four names to choose from and we picked Nā Wai ‘Ehā O Puna.
Both of us collaborate on the dance. OʻBrian has a memory that I have never found in another person. Anything you teach OʻBrian, he can instruct it. He is a natural teacher. I have yet to find anyone that can collaborate, mimic, and remember as well as OʻBrian. He will do the dance exactly how we create it and he won’t change it.
Our style is a bit bombastic. It is more of how we perceive things to be and how we would like to see it. It comes from the heart and is basically how we feel. It is a creative styling for today but it has thoughts of our traditional beginning.
I’ve been helping with a vocational training program for the kids in Waiʻanae who come from abusive families or have only one parent or parents who are too busy working two jobs. We teach them to clean yards, build rock walls, build fences, paint, and they earn credits in school by participating in this program. The person who started the program told me that hula was instrumental for him when he took it and he wanted the kids to go through it. So I teach these kids hula and when they are ready, I send them to train under OʻBrian. This way they II experience the discipline and the fun of being a part of a hālau. Teaching them is a joy because whatever time I have with these kids is worthwhile.
My greatest achievement is being young at heart and healthy. It’s not the hula and the past that keeps me going; it’s today and keeping up with today. I don t care how great you are, I feel that you won’t make it unless you love yourself and love today.
Nānā I Nā Loea Hula 115
Hula was a way of life for Aunty Muriel Lupenui. I was a freshman in high school when she taught me and I continued with her up to my senior year. She taught pa‘i umauma at first then the different styles of hula. I was taught the use of the pahu and other implements.
The reason why I got a group together was because Noenoe Zuttermeister wanted male dancers for the Chuck Machado show. She was in charge of the whole show and I was a dancer. At the time my cousin Darrell Lupenui was living in Las Vegas and I called him to come back home to start a hālau. I recruited boys from ʻAiea High School and Darrell s mother, Aunty Muriel, named the' group Waimāpuna. We were told it was a family name and it meant “ever flourishing waters, never to stop flowing."
Both Darrell and I started to train the hoys. Then Lyle Soberano and OʻBrian Eselu joined the group and we took turns because we were all large and our feet got sore. When we saw a haumāna who picked up fast, we brought that person forward and told the others to follow him. At first it was just a dance company. We didn’t want to use the word “hālau" but eventually we began entering hula competitions.
As far as I’m concerned and in my heart, Darrell and I were together forever. But the group split in 1977. We were raising money to go to Tahiti by performing for a KCCN telecast at the Mormon Church in Waiʻalae. We were dressed to go on but Darrell never showed up. I’m a trouper and the show had to go on. I looked at OʻBrian and asked him if he could handle the chanting. He said yes so I got the kids ready.
Aunty Muriel heard us on the radio. She was very offended saying that there is only one chanter in this group and it is Darrell. I tried to explain to her that the people opened the doors for us and we had to go on with the show but she felt that I should stick to the rituals. We should not have gone above the chanter of the group. I didn’t think we did anything wrong because we were a dance company not a ritual hālau.
Waimāpuna however started to crumble. I took the group to Tahiti with OʻBrian and my mother but Darrell didn’t go although he wanted to very badly. He was torn between joining us and listening to his mother. When we returned, Aunty Muriel asked us to return everything. Darrell made a list of the dancers he wanted. He took nine of the boys and I took nine.
The boys we took were not the top notch dancers but they had heart. I asked OʻBrian to be the chanter and assured him that nothing would happen to him. That’s how we formulated our hālau and it has been a very successful collaboration. My grandmother gave us four names to choose from and we picked Nā Wai ‘Ehā O Puna.
Both of us collaborate on the dance. OʻBrian has a memory that I have never found in another person. Anything you teach OʻBrian, he can instruct it. He is a natural teacher. I have yet to find anyone that can collaborate, mimic, and remember as well as OʻBrian. He will do the dance exactly how we create it and he won’t change it.
Our style is a bit bombastic. It is more of how we perceive things to be and how we would like to see it. It comes from the heart and is basically how we feel. It is a creative styling for today but it has thoughts of our traditional beginning.
I’ve been helping with a vocational training program for the kids in Waiʻanae who come from abusive families or have only one parent or parents who are too busy working two jobs. We teach them to clean yards, build rock walls, build fences, paint, and they earn credits in school by participating in this program. The person who started the program told me that hula was instrumental for him when he took it and he wanted the kids to go through it. So I teach these kids hula and when they are ready, I send them to train under OʻBrian. This way they II experience the discipline and the fun of being a part of a hālau. Teaching them is a joy because whatever time I have with these kids is worthwhile.
My greatest achievement is being young at heart and healthy. It’s not the hula and the past that keeps me going; it’s today and keeping up with today. I don t care how great you are, I feel that you won’t make it unless you love yourself and love today.
Nānā I Nā Loea Hula 115
Citation
“Thaddius Kihanuilulumoku Wilson,” Nā Kumu Hula Archive, accessed February 23, 2025, https://nakumuhula.org/archive/items/show/155.