Olana Ai
Title
Olana Ai
Description
OlanaAi is the daughter of hula teacher Blossom Clark Kaipo and has taught hula on 0‘ahu for the last eight years.
It’s very exciting to be living during an era of renaissance in Hawai‘i. A time not only of rebirth for the old arts and culture but also a time of new growth and development in these areas. Finally the Hawaiians are dancing for themselves. Not just for the gods, not just for the ali‘i, not just for the tourists but finally for themselves.
My mother Blossom Clark Kaipo is my kumu and she is the source, the teacher, and the inspiration for all that evolves in our halau. When I was growing up, our home was a stopover place for strangers as long as I can remember. Strangers were welcome and they would return again and again. My mother taught hula so there were hula skirts on the walls, and music and the implements surrounded us. She never prodded my sister and I to dance but once we showed the interest she began to train us. I began with my mother at age three and I continue to study under her today. I was taught the chants, traditional Hawaiian mele, and hapa Haole songs but there was no definite division between kahiko and ‘auana back then. In class my mother taught the basic steps the way she had been taught by her mother. Our knees were bent, our steps were precise, and our shoulders were steady; and this helped to make the swaying of our hips more natural-looking.
I did not go on to another teacher after my mother because I felt it would be disloyal. In 1975 my daughter Natalie Noelani was in kindergarten and I wanted her to learn the hula style of my family, so I gathered together a few girls who were interested and I began to teach. I’ve never thought of myself as a kumu hula but a hula teacher. I’ve gone very, very slowly and I’ve kept my goals small because I wanted to fit my family into my life. Today we are all involved. My husband Howard Ai is the halau musician, advisor, and artistic designer; and my children participate in the halau as technicians and teaching assistants.
My mother always translated Hawaiian songs and meles as she taught. I try to give as much history and insight to the poetry of the language as I possibly can because today the student appreciates it much more. I’ve tried to train my girls to tell the audience what the song is all about by feeling what the writer had in mind and to portray Hawai‘i in a dignified manner.
I grew up in a time when everything Hawaiian was discouraged, and I’m grateful for my freedom today to grow as an individual. I respect the old ways and I’m thankful for the old kumu that are practicing the old ways. The kahiko goes back to the very basis of fundamentals and simplicity but that simply is not in my nature. I cannot help but be what I am. The hula competitions of today have created a new style but they have also motivated people to work hard and work together. I think you have to let the kumu of today alone in terms of creativity in the kahiko. Everyone will end up doing what is right for them anyway. You have to let the judges and the audience either accept or reject a style on their own.
My mother had a great influence on me because she was in my opinion the very essence of hula. She was always giving and gracious, and that’s what the hula is all about. Whenever I hear the word maka onaona in songs I think of my mother because to me she had the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. She had to raise a large family and she had a hard life but the hula lifted her above everyday life away from the worries and frustrations.
It’s very exciting to be living during an era of renaissance in Hawai‘i. A time not only of rebirth for the old arts and culture but also a time of new growth and development in these areas. Finally the Hawaiians are dancing for themselves. Not just for the gods, not just for the ali‘i, not just for the tourists but finally for themselves.
My mother Blossom Clark Kaipo is my kumu and she is the source, the teacher, and the inspiration for all that evolves in our halau. When I was growing up, our home was a stopover place for strangers as long as I can remember. Strangers were welcome and they would return again and again. My mother taught hula so there were hula skirts on the walls, and music and the implements surrounded us. She never prodded my sister and I to dance but once we showed the interest she began to train us. I began with my mother at age three and I continue to study under her today. I was taught the chants, traditional Hawaiian mele, and hapa Haole songs but there was no definite division between kahiko and ‘auana back then. In class my mother taught the basic steps the way she had been taught by her mother. Our knees were bent, our steps were precise, and our shoulders were steady; and this helped to make the swaying of our hips more natural-looking.
I did not go on to another teacher after my mother because I felt it would be disloyal. In 1975 my daughter Natalie Noelani was in kindergarten and I wanted her to learn the hula style of my family, so I gathered together a few girls who were interested and I began to teach. I’ve never thought of myself as a kumu hula but a hula teacher. I’ve gone very, very slowly and I’ve kept my goals small because I wanted to fit my family into my life. Today we are all involved. My husband Howard Ai is the halau musician, advisor, and artistic designer; and my children participate in the halau as technicians and teaching assistants.
My mother always translated Hawaiian songs and meles as she taught. I try to give as much history and insight to the poetry of the language as I possibly can because today the student appreciates it much more. I’ve tried to train my girls to tell the audience what the song is all about by feeling what the writer had in mind and to portray Hawai‘i in a dignified manner.
I grew up in a time when everything Hawaiian was discouraged, and I’m grateful for my freedom today to grow as an individual. I respect the old ways and I’m thankful for the old kumu that are practicing the old ways. The kahiko goes back to the very basis of fundamentals and simplicity but that simply is not in my nature. I cannot help but be what I am. The hula competitions of today have created a new style but they have also motivated people to work hard and work together. I think you have to let the kumu of today alone in terms of creativity in the kahiko. Everyone will end up doing what is right for them anyway. You have to let the judges and the audience either accept or reject a style on their own.
My mother had a great influence on me because she was in my opinion the very essence of hula. She was always giving and gracious, and that’s what the hula is all about. Whenever I hear the word maka onaona in songs I think of my mother because to me she had the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. She had to raise a large family and she had a hard life but the hula lifted her above everyday life away from the worries and frustrations.
Hālau
Hālau Hula Olana
Citation
“Olana Ai,” Nā Kumu Hula Archive, accessed October 28, 2024, http://nakumuhula.org/archive/items/show/19.