Mililani Allen
description: Mililani Allen began her teaching career in 1973 with the founding of Hālau Hula O Mililani in Waianae, 0‘ahu. In the last ten years, the most significant change perpetuated upon the hula has been an increase of respect, scholarship, and interest. People have recognized it as a classical art expression of the Hawaiian culture. However, the style of dancing has changed because the greater emphasis today is on the dance itself rather than the language and poetry. I don’t look upon this as negative. There are so many of us that lack the fluency of the language and the understanding of the poetry. So the emphasis is now on the dance form rather than the verbiage of the mele. It is just another transition that has happened. Exposed to hula at the age of six by my mother, I began my formal training under Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu Lake at the age of eleven. The lessons continued for three years until I entered high school and then they were interrupted by piano lessons then college. It was during my college years that my appreciation for the hula was nurtured and revitalized. Realizing my lack of knowledge in the art form contributed to my learning process and eventually it brought me back into the hālau after graduation from college. I enrolled in Aunty Mā‘iki’s hula kahiko class and she emphasized the mechanics of the hula, the value of research, and written documentation of everything we learned. Her method to convey this knowledge of our culture was as much an oral presentation (“talk story”) as it was classroom-oriented. It was a positive reinforcement method and we were trained with succinctness. Aunty Mā‘iki would first write the chants on a chalkboard and she would chant it for us. We were instructed to repeat the chant then allowed to write it in our notebooks. She was very positive in her approach. This was the most distinctive aspect of her teaching style and she remains a great influence on me today. After my ‘ūniki with Aunty Mā‘iki, I studied with Aunty Edith Kanaka‘o…

Michael Kekaimoku Toshi Yoshikawa
subject: Michael Kekaimoku Toshi Yoshikawa
description: Raised in California, “Moku” Yoshikawa moved to Hawaiʻi in 1986 and opened Kapōmākolekapuakāne in 1991. I was always interested in Hawai‘i while I was growing up in Carson, California because of the influences of my mother Mary Yoshikawa. It was she who planted the seed of Hawai‘i and its culture within the depths of my soul. I remember the family preparing for our annual family lū‘au to which all of the relatives were invited. Everything from the dining to the living room were stacked and piled into the bedrooms. We constructed low lying tables that one actually had to sit on the floor in order to eat. My mother would then decorate the table tops with ferns from the yard and mounds of fruit. Whenever we prepared for this lū‘au, I knew that the food was going to be delicious. Such delicacies like laulau, poi, lomi salmon, and raw fish. My mother played Hawaiian music and would mimic the hula for entertainment. Influences such as these transferred over into my school work. All book reports or art projects always carried a Hawaiian theme. Soon I became known as the little Hawaiian boy to all my friends. Through childhood I developed a strong sense of Hawaiian identity as well as a pride for my culture. My younger sister Karen was learning hula from Sissy Kaio and I would continually nag my mother to ask if she had a class for teenagers. Through my persistence Sissy opened a class for my two cousins and myself. Thus my training in hula began at the age of fourteen. Sissy provided me with a firm foundation of the hula and its basic fundamentals. Being ha‘aha‘a was always adhered to as well as enjoying the hula. With it came a definite sense of spirituality and within time, Hawai‘i, its people, and culture became a passion. I especially became interested in oli or chanting, something very foreign to a young man in California. I had no formal training in the art of oli. It all began one summer when again, my mother returned home from Hawaiʻi. With her she brought LP recor…

Michael Ka‘ilipūnohu Canopin
description: Michael Canopin, kumu hula of Hālau Kealakapawa, has been teaching hula on O‘ahu since 1987. In 1982 I began my hula training with kumu hula Chinky Māhoe of Hālau Kawaiʻulā. We went through some rigorous training, learning the basic steps. I found Chinky’s style to be ‘aihaʻa. We danced low to the ground with bent knees. Chinky stressed discipline and I liked that because it was a challenge. After a few months Chinky asked me if I would like to be a part of his competition group. So I trained and ended up dancing in the 1983 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. What an experience! My second teacher was Palani Kaliala, kumu hula of The Gentlemen of Maluikeao and The Ladies of Kahanākealoha. His classes were held at the Kamehameha Schools dance studio. I really enjoyed when he explained the background of each mele and I was fascinated with his method of teaching. He had a very systematic way of explaining things, especially to dancers who were new to the hula. He would stress the importance of the basics starting with the foundation which was your feet. His style wasn’t as ‘aiha‘a as Chinky's but it demanded a lot of endurance. As part of the class curriculum we were trained to research chants and mele of the hula. It was extremely important to Palani that we have a thorough understanding of the material we were dancing to, so it was our homework to go out and research. Palani also encouraged us to enroll in his “papa ʻōlapa. ” This class offered us the opportunity to further our knowledge through research projects such as the study of the famous birthplace of our aliʻi Kūkaniloko; Laka, the patron god/goddess of the hula; Pele and her siblings; the kuahu and plants related to the hula; types of chants appropriate for dancing, and hula protocol. These were a few of the many projects included in the “papa ʻōlapa. I completed the training and received a personal oli aloha, the symbol of the red lehua blossom, and a certification of ‘ōlapa from my kumu. For a short period in 19…

Mary Abigail Kawena‘ulaokalanihi‘iakaikapoliopelekawahine‘aihonua Wiggin Pukū‘i
description: Mary Abigail Kawena‘ulaokalanihi‘iakaikapoliopelekawahineʻaihonua Wiggin Pūku‘i Mary Pūkuʻi, a living treasure of Hawaii, has published many books illuminating the Hawaiian culture. Among them is the Hawaiian Dictionary which she completed in 1957 with Dr. Samuel Elbert. Mentor of hula exponents such as the late ‘lolani Luahine and Lokalia Montgomery, she is widely recognized as the premier resource of the Hawaiian culture. Because of health problems, Mrs. Pūku‘i consented to having her daughter, Mrs. Pat Bacon, share her story with everyone. Kawena was born and raised in Ka‘u and her grandmother was a court dancer for Queen Emma so her mother and aunties danced and she was surrounded by it as she grew up. Her teachers ranged from her immediate relatives to Emma Fern, Keahi Luahine and her cousin Kapua, and Joseph ʻĪlālāʻole. Kawena’s father was from Salem, Massachusetts. She has always been grateful to him for allowing her to be raised Hawaiian by her grandmother. At the same time he would constantly entertain and educate her with stories of Salem and all of New England. In the days of her childhood, Hawaiian culture was suppressed and children were raised in the Western culture. My kahu hānai was one-half Haole and one-half Hawaiian, and was equally proud of each heritage. Today the young people look upon their Hawaiianess as something that has to be emphasized and accentuated. In my mother’s era the Hawaiian identity was something that was understood and even taken for granted. She always knew she was Hawaiian. Her whole life was centered on the preservation of the traditions of the Hawaiian culture. I think that was her motivation for learning the dance. She was always trying to save this and save that by telling the family don’t let that get lost. Her mind worked that way. People came up to her frequently because she was fluent in the language and asked her to do a lot of choreography and that’s how she began to teach. She began to teach in the early Twenties. …

Marilyn Leimomi Ho
description: Marilyn Leimomi Ho Marilyn Leimomi Ho resides in Kuliouou, Oʻahu and currently works for the United States Air Force. She is married to Harry A. Ho, Jr. and teaches in conjunction with her hula sister Jan Yoneda. One thing which Aunty Edith Kanaka‘ole said which has stayed with me is that we are all individuals and when we chant “Kawika” we all sound different even though there is a standard chant style to “Kawika”. And that is all right. I began my training in hula at the age of seven with Aunty Alice Namakelua through the Department of Parks and Recreation program. Classes were held at the Royal School, and Aunty Alice provided me with my basic foundation in the hula. In her method of teaching, students did not use paper and pencil to make notes but only followed Aunty Alice’s verbal instructions and committed movements to memory. At age thirteen 1 moved to Guam where I studied the hula under Mrs. Lillian Aquai. Her training primarily included modern hulas and the use of hula implements. Mrs. Aquai’s hula movements were a little different from those of Aunty Alice’s but her students also were asked to learn totally from memory. After my training with Mrs. Aquai I went on to Edith McKinzie who I still continue to study under and who I suppose is my greatest inspiration. I consider her not only my teacher but a friend. I was trained in both modern and traditional hula along with other Polynesian dances. Aunty Edie had me as a teenager so she would get up and physically show us steps and motions, and she would provide us with written instructions on movement and expression. After graduating from Mrs. McKinzie at eighteen, my family returned to Honolulu. Shortly thereafter I joined the Hālau Hula O Mā‘iki where I studied under Mā‘iki Aiu Lake for the next four years. With Aunty Mā‘iki, she wasn’t satisfied that you just learned the dance; you had to know the meaning of the dance and that meant hours of research. Aunty Mā‘iki could talk to people on their own levels an…

Margaret Kilauano Aipoalani
description: Margaret Kilauano ʻAipōalani Margaret ʻAipōalani is an employee of Kekaha Elementary School and has taught hula on Kauaʻi for over twenty years. The one thing that my mother did for me was to teach the hula without any kapu. I think she knew my generation couldn't handle it and she didnʻt want me getting hurt. She realized that the hula kapu was of her time and she wanted to put it away. Kalalau was the original village where the Hawaiians first started out from. Some Hawaiians went out to Haena. Others came out of the village and ended up on this side of the island. I was born in Kekaha and became interested in the hula when I was a young girl at age eight. I received ʻōlapa training as well as ʻauwana. Kahiko is a new word for what I was taught to be ʻōlapa. I was trained by my mother Kawehiwa Kaholoiki who was taught by her father. Tūtū Kaholoiki was a hula instructor in Kalalau where the hula is believed to originate from. The people of this village were the source of much of our Hawaiian culture. When I was young I was not really interested in what my mother was passing down to me. She would concentrate on the paʻi and the oli of the mele, and then she would rise and dance as another woman would paʻi. Afterwards she would explain the manaʻo of the chant through stories that had been passed down to her through her father. Because of the rituals I did not ʻūniki, but I was asked by some high school kids to help them and that's how I began to teach. I try to teach my students that hula ʻōlapa is a tremendously strict form. The movement of your feet and body are within strict boundaries, and everything is dictated by the paʻi of the mele. To me ʻōlapa is the chants and dance motions handed down from generation to generation. I can't revise or modernize my definition. I'm set with it and I have to stay the way I am. The ʻōlapa of today is a beautiful, theatrical show and it's fantastic what's going on but I wouldn't like to see the ʻōlapa of the future.

Māpuana deSilva
description: Māpuana deSilva Māpuana deSilva established Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima in 1976 which is currently situated in Kailua, O‘ahu. I am learning to hold true to the spirit of what my teacher gave me. I think now that this spirit comes in two parts. First, it is my duty to respect and preserve the traditional dances. If I inherit a holokū from my grandmother I don’t chop it into a mini-skirt just because fashions have changed. The same is true for the chants and hula that have been given to me. They are priceless gifts; I shouldn’t be so presumptuous as to fiddle with them just to keep up with what is fashionable. Secondly, it is also my duty to create. I am a keeper of the record of my own time and of my own place. With my husband Kihei, I create mele hula for my family, my dancers and my Kailua home. We have tried to re-create the chant and dance tradition of Kailua which for several generations has largely been hidden in books and Hawaiian language newspapers. Did you know that Kawainui Marsh was once a fishpond and before that a lagoon? Did you know that Hawaiians have lived on its banks for 1500 years and that Kailua was once immeasurably wealthy and an ancient center for the arts? It’s my duty and pleasure to revive the chants which speak of those things, and to create new mele that remind us of what was, describe what is, and ask of what will be. So you see I’m learning that I have two roles. I’ve tried to keep and honor what was passed on to me, and I’ve worked hard to build through creation and recreation, a tradition of my own. It was after I graduated from college and returned to Hawai‘i that I began taking hula in a serious way. I had been taught hula ‘auwana by my mother as I was growing up but in 1972 I was introduced to Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu Lake and I immediately felt that she was the kumu I wanted to learn the hula from in a deeper way. I started my training that January and I found Aunty Mā‘iki to be a wonderful teacher. She loves the hula so much and she conveys thi…

Mae Kamāmalu Klein
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Mae Kamāmalu Klein - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 60
description: Kamāmalu Klein began teaching in 1984 in her home in Kāne‘ohe. In 1992 the name of her hālau, Kūkalehuaikaʻohu, came to her in a dream. I look at hula in a very traditional way, embracing our Hawaiian culture and my heritage. I believe that the kumu hula of today need to express their creativity in a modern setting. I also believe that they need to remember and respect the past even though they may lack the understanding of Hawaiian thought patterns, because without tradition there is no strong foundation. When a kumu begins to alter the mele or hula movements, the kumu begins to lose what was once part of a tradition. I began hula with Mā‘iki Aiu Lake at age twenty-five when I was in search of a hula school for my three daughters so that they could learn not only the dance but also a part of their Hawaiian culture. This was the beginning of my love affair with hula and an association with Mā‘iki which lasted twenty-three years. To belong to this hālau, there was a required discipline. Mā‘iki had a method of teaching her ‘auana classes called “Descriptive or Interpretive hula” that had to do with all of these senses: everything you see, feel, taste, touch, and smell. She knew how to bring hula to life. I left my teacher in 1970 for a rest but on the urging of a friend found myself with Hoakalei Kamau‘u’s hālau. This would be of short term for Hoakalei told me two years later that I had to return to assist my teacher with the graduate ‘Ōlapa/Ho‘opa‘a of 1972. In the Sixties no one questioned the kumu hula; you just obeyed and did as you were told. I returned to Mā‘iki in 1973 and remained with my kumu until her passing in 1984. I was told by Mā‘iki to be a sponge and to absorb all that she had to share which included among other things, respect for my elders, attitude, programming, costuming, and the weaving of leis. I became her first kokua kumu in 1973 after receiving my status as kumu. During this interim I learned the three rituals for hula ‘ūniki: the Hu‘elepo, …

Ma‘iki Aiu Lake and Coline Kaualoku Aiu Ferranti
description: Mā‘iki Aiu Lake Mā’iki Aiu Lake, teacher of the hula for thirty-seven years, is recognized as a mentor for many of Hawaiʻi’s outstanding young kumu hula. As far as my family was concerned the hula was a closed book. I came from a straight- laced, Christian family and most anything Hawaiian was not condoned. But in my family was a grandaunt named Helen Correa and to her the hula was great people accomplishing heroic deeds in everyday life. In the old days pageants were known as tableaus and she would be called upon by churches to organize Hawaiian tableaus because she knew the protocol. My tūtū taught me the mannerisms, the attitude, and the gentleness of the actual dance performance but my first formal teacher was Lokalia Montgomery. As I studied under her I learned that the kahiko could be performed without all the rituals. I didn’t have to be afraid and I didn’t have to compromise my Christian faith. I went to Aunty Lokalia at fifteen and at eighteen I was graduated traditionally as a dancer. In those days nobody carried the title of kumu hula. They were all musicians or composers or performers and when the elders were no longer around some of the teachers would improvise and put their own feelings into the dance. After my ‘ūniki I was trained by Lokalia to be a teacher and by the time I graduated I had started my family. I would dance in between my family life with Pua Almeida, Lena Guerrero, Andy Cummings, and anybody who needed a dancer when they entertained. In 1946 I was asked by my grandaunt to teach the church members at the Blessed Sacrament Church. I was so grateful for the extra money because now I could buy my children the little things besides only saving money for their education. I was still a young teacher feeling my way through classes and I would go home and try to remember the things that I was disappointed with in my education. When I studied with Aunty Lokalia there was no paper or pencil so when I’d come home I’d cry at the table trying to ret…

Luka Kaleiki
description: Luka Kaleikī Born and raised in Papakōlea, Luka Kaleikī became interested in the hula at the age of eight. She began to teach at a hula studio owned by her sister Louise Kaleikī at the age of fifteen. We Hawaiians have a culture but we don’t protect it. We would rather modernize. That’s why I admire Joseph ʻĪlālā‘ole, Manuel Silva, and Henry Pa. They had an element that you don’t see nowadays. They were very devoted to the hula and not to the audience. I was always on the big side and I was ashamed of that so I never was interested in learning from the kumu hula that were in my family. I think that’s the one thing I regret in my life. My first teacher was Dorothy Ortiz and I was trained in modern hula. She was a friend of my sister Louise and together they had opened a studio in Papakōlea in 1959. When they moved their classes to the old George Nā‘ope studio in Kalihi, my sister asked me to help with the teaching load. My sister had been left a book of hulas and I studied the book like people study to go to school. The classes would come, I would put on the record, and that’s how we would start. My first idol was Joseph Kahaulilio but his classes were few so I learned my basic steps for ancient hula from Manuel Silva. When I turned seventeen, I went to Henry Pa and he became the greatest influence on my hula. Henry’s teachers included Katie Nākaula, Keaka Kanahele, Joseph ‘Īlālā‘ole, Akoni Mika, and Kauluwai Maka Palea. Whenever I needed an ancient number for a big show, I would go to Uncle Henry and in 1962 he graduated me as one of his students. When I was in high school, I was studying to become an opera singer. I took classes at the University of Hawai‘i but I stopped when my sister needed help with her hula studio. Once Istarted teaching I never felt the need to go into anything else. Hula has been my sole support. I simply enjoy the teaching aspect of working with a student and watching that student grow and mature as a person and as a dancer. I think it’s imp…

Lucy Lee
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Lucy Lee - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 65
description: Lucy Lee opened her hālau in 1958 where she taught hula and other Polynesian dances until she retired in 1978. She is currently employed by the Hula Supply Center as the costuming consultant. In a family of seven daughters, my mother said one of us had to learn hula. Nobody wanted to go so my mother said I was the one. I was about seven-years-old and I remember going to Tūtū Makaena in Kapahulu. Her daughter helped to teach because Tūtū Makaena’s vision was not one hundred percent perfect. Regardless of her handicap she knew exactly what we were doing. I only had kahiko lessons with her because my dad said that I could not learn hapa haole numbers until I was fourteen. I had many years with her and I remember graduating in the old St. Mark’s Building on Kapahulu Avenue. I went on to Ruby Ahakuelo. A lot of people never heard of her but she was excellent. I danced with her for years. With Aunty Ruby it was important to be on time for the classes and she made sure that we knew what we were doing. When she felt that you were eligible, you would train to ʻūniki. I graduated in the old Civic Auditorium. I was in my middle thirties when I went to Leilani Alania and I remained with her for four years. We didn’t learn much kahiko because she was more into ‘auana. She was well-known for her implement numbers. After two years with her I became her assistant. I taught the numbers that I had learned from her to the class assigned to me. I was inspired by Aunty Lei because she played her ‘ukulele as she taught hula and I decided when I opened my business that I would teach exactly the same way. I got involved with Uncle Henry Pa because he was the hula teacher for the Kamehameha Civic Club. Uncle Henry Pa had a styling where his dancing was a little more sophisticated and a little naughty with the eyes. His motions were really peppy and he had a few of his own fancy little steps. We enjoyed him because he played his ‘ukulele and his singing was excellent. I became a teacher beca…

Lovey Leina‘ala Yau Choy Apana
description: Lovey Leina‘āla Yau Choy Apana “Aunty Lovey” Apana began to teach on O‘ahu in 1963 and in 1970 opened her studio on Kaua‘i. As I reflect upon my growing- up years I was always involved in school programs that involved Hawaiiana whether it was the May Day program or commemorative honors for King Kamehameha. While still young I worked within the tourist industry and I traveled throughout the world. I entertained on the side but I still felt something missing in my life. There was an incomplete ingredient to “level” the bread of life and happiness. Thus I went to my tūtū lady for advice and discussed my future with her and she encouraged me to teach hula. She said I possessed the gift of laughter and patience and that I should continually teach children. She also said the hula was an integral part of our family many years back and that I had the responsibility to study hard and to try my best to perpetuate the art. I am very grateful to my late tūtū Caroline Apao and my mother Christine Apana who still inspire me today as I dance or teach the hula. I also look to other teachers who were and are part of my life in the Twentieth Century such as Tūtū Roberts, Aunty Kuchie Kuhns, Aunty Sally Wood Nalua‘i, and Aunty Hoakalei Kamau‘u among others. All of these people served as my resources in my Hawaiian studies. There have been tremendous changes in the hula but I cannot downgrade or resist these changes because the Hawai‘i of the past is not the Hawai‘i of today. We have no choice but to grow and adapt to this modern world. What makes me uneasy is that many people today seem to see the production of the dance and not the intrinsic value of the art and the traditions. If someone wants to create in the traditional hula they must use a composition written today in the traditional style and choreograph that. Today young people are going deep into certain facets of the culture and they wish to recreate and relive the ancestral ways of their forefathers. They must have the prope…

Lorraine Joshua Daniels and Blossom Joshua Kunewa
description: Lorraine Joshua Daniels Lorraine Daniels, daughter of Rose Joshua, teaches with her mother at the Magic Hula Studio in Waikiki. She has recently returned from coordinating a Polynesian show for the Maunaloa Restaurant in Cancun, Mexico. Because my mother and father were entertainers our life as we were growing up was always filled with music and hula. My mother danced in a hula troupe with Sally Wood Nālua‘i and Helen Fuller, and their dancing inspired me and left a lasting impression on me. We used to have parties on the beach and whenever the music would play I would just get up and dance. I was trained first by my mother but she wanted her children to have a broad education in the hula so my first kumu outside the family was Mrs. Ku‘ulei Clark. I graduated traditionally with Mrs. Clark and then I was taken to Aunty Louise Akeo and then to Mrs. Po‘omaikai who is better known as Hannah Ho. During that time the only hula that was taught was ‘auwana complemented by very simple kahiko lessons. When it came time to ‘ūniki from Mrs. Po‘omaikai we were told to go out into the sea and she would accompany our walk with an oli. My dad was deeply Christian and he refused to let us delve into any kapu hula or kapu chant so I was not allowed to participate in the ‘ūniki ceremony. The last kumu who I formally trained under was Henry Pa who gave me my foundation in ancient hula. He inspired me to better myself as a student and I found him to be a very strict teacher with a great deal of warmth for his haumāna. In the 1930s I began to dance more actively with my father’s group, The Moana Entertainers. We performed abroad, on the Mainland, and at Honolulu showplaces such as the Waikīkī Sands, Lau Yee Chai, and the Princess Theatre. In time people began to approach me and ask if I could teach them and that is how my teaching career began. I taught at my mothers home and I learned that a kumu has to go into teaching with her whole being. You have to discipline yourself and your life…

Lola Yolanda Caldito Balubar
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Lola Yolanda Caldito Balubar - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 14
description: Lola Yolanda Caldito Baluhar Lola Baluhar founded the Hālau Hula ‘O Keola-Aliʻiokekai in 1975. She has taught in her home, the Salvation Army Hall, Central Maui Youth Center and is presently at the Wailuku Industrial Park. My friends knew me as a dancer. During my high school years I danced al local night clubs, hotels, and lūʻau. My dad was a politician and whenever I went to rallies, I was always asked to do a hula. My love for hula lives on and I am proud to carry on the culture through song and dance. My mother’s kumu hula was Elizabeth Lum Ho. Mrs. Lum Ho was also my first kumu hula. She was a Chinese- Hawaiian lady who trained us from the basics in learning the foot steps and making sure we learned the name of each step. If we had a hard time doing the ‘ami, for example, she had us place our hands against the wall, bend our knees, and push our hips making sure we moved only our hips. I remember kneeling down and she would push against one of my thighs with her foot to strengthen the thigh muscles. I also remember she used the pū‘ili to correct us. Just a tap on our hips, elbows, knees or feet to remind us to concentrate on doing our steps correctly. I was very disappointed that after the ‘ūniki, I was unable to return to hula because it was too expensive. Later when I was in the sixth grade, Aunty Becky Ka‘ōpū‘iki taught my sister, Charlene Rodrigues and me with her daughter in her yard in Naska. We learned implement hula, Polynesian dances, hula kahiko, and ‘auana for performances at the local hotels. Although I was only in the seventh grade, Aunty Becky Ka‘ōpū‘iki gave me confidence to be creative in my hula. I was very fortunate to have studied under kumu hula Uncle Johnny Hokoana and Uncle Robert Kalani. Uncle Johnny Hokoana concentrated on hula ‘auana and comical hula. Uncle Robert Kalani taught hula kahiko, implement numbers, and Polynesian dances. My husband suggested I stay home and care for our son and start a dance studio. I put an ad in the local pa…

Lilinoe Lindsey
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Lilinoe Lindsey text from Nānā I Na Loea Hula Vol Two Page 66
description: Lilinoe Lindsey is the niece of kumu hula Joan Lindsey and currently teaches hula at the Manana Elementary School in Pearl City, 0‘ahu. It was an unspoken law in our family that all the girls went to dance for Aunty. Our families realized the opportunity there was for us by learning hula and hopefully, teaching. So at parties and functions all of the cousins knew how to dance. Aunty Joan Lindsey has been my kumu hula from the age of five- years-old. 1 have been with her all these years and we continue to have a close relationship. We actually teach at the same school with our classes running simultaneously. She is my mentor and we are an ‘ohana- type of halau. Aunty Joan taught me to dance hula at my grandfather’s home where we both lived. Her classes were made up of aunties, cousins, neighbors, and friends. 1 went with her when she started to teach at ka Makua Mau Loa Church in Kalihi and at St. Elizabeth Church in Pearl City. She taught there until I was about twelve-years-old. Then I helped her teach when she opened a halau in ‘Aiea and in Moanalua Shopping Center. So as I grew up, I was always with Aunty Joan. Since she didn’t have children until a few years later, I was pretty much considered her daughter. I was twenty-one when we had an ‘uniki at the Neal Blaisdell Center. We all had to do our kahiko and our "a liana as part of the ‘uniki ritual. Each class had to make their skirts differently and all who ‘uniki were required to have taken hula for at least ten years. As a teenager growing up in the Sixties, every weekend was spent dancing. We would dance on Friday nights, and on Saturdays after hula classes do three shows in the evenings. We went from one church to the next, from one side of the island to the other side. We danced in Waikiki at the Halekulani, Princess Ka'iulani, and Moana Hotels. We did “Hawai‘i Calls” and performed at the International Market Place. This went on for about seven years. You never realize how much you have learned and gained f…

Liffie Keonaonaoku‘uipooleolani Johansen Pratt
description: Liffie KeonaonaokuTiipooleolani Johansen Pratt Leolani Pratt has taught the hula in Hawaiʻi for over twenty years and is a retired member of the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, Hawaiiana Unit. She currently makes her home in Hawaiʻi Kai, O‘ahu. I was born in Kalapana, Puna, Hawai‘i, and was reared in the ways of old Hawai‘i. My mother, a native of Ka‘ū and Puna, was a full-blooded Hawaiian who saw everything through spiritual eyes. She had taught me at a very early age the spiritual aspects of Hawai‘i. We were told that we were the “offspring” of Pele and so we were very special children. My mothers maiden name was Elizabeth Waia‘u Waipā. My dad, from Oslo, Norway, learned the Hawaiian language before English. He brought his “old country” ways along with him because he was very strict with us. We were not allowed to dance or play the ‘ukulele around him. The desire to do these things was always with me but it was unheard of in my family. My mother had allowed me to have hula lessons but this was done in secrecy without my dad’s knowledge. At the age of six, I was taken to my first kumu hula. Her name was Aunty Mary Keahilīhau. Aunty Mary lived right next door to Edith Kanaka‘ole in Keaukaha and they would share the same hulas. After two years with her I went on to Rose Nuhi who also lived in Keaukaha, and I was taught the use of implements as well as more hula kahiko and ‘auwana. After Aunty Rose I moved back to Kalapana and lived with my granduncle Nāpua Kaukini. He, along with my mother, taught me a lot of chants about the land and Pele. At that time, all of the people of Kalapana and Ka‘u were related in some way and like me, they grew up respecting Pele as a grandmother and kupuna figure. Everything about her was beautiful. Later I studied the ‘ohelo dances under kumu hula Victoria Nuhi Wright in Pāhoa. Then I began to travel with my cousin, kumu hula Martha Waipā Ka‘iawe, with whom I had my ‘uniki in a modern ceremony. I studied informally under Ge…

Leina‘ala Kalama Heine
description: Leinaʻala Kalama Heine Leināʻala Kalama Heine, born and raised in Pālama, O‘ahu, opened her hālau Na Pualei O Likolehua in 1975. She is a featured dancer with the musical group The Brothers Cazimero. Whatever happens from now and hereafter will be looked upon as kahiko in the future. There are those that hang on to the past and there are those who only live in the present. In each case there is no movement because the definitions for each side are very narrow. So it’s stagnant right now. The present and the past have to co-exist with one another if the hula is going to move forward. I don’t think a lot of people who knew me before felt I had the ability or the desire to take on the responsibilities that I have now. I do things today that I never would have done ten years ago. The comic dancer was my role. I was never a straight dancer. I fooled around so much that people wondered about my seriousness. But underneath, the straight dancing was my want. I was a line dancer before I became anything but I could not hold still in a line. I’m one who gets bored fast and I like to make things happen. It was a wonderful feeling to have people laugh with me and at me. It made no difference. Just the fact that people wanted to see more of me was enough. After awhile I started to ask myself where am I going to go from here, so I started to do some straight numbers and people would laugh thinking I was trying to be comical. My interest in hula started when I was enrolled by my mother in classes under Ruby Ahakuelo. I was three years old and Ruby would hold class at the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) right on Fort Street. Back in the early Forties, hula did not have the interest level that it has today so there was no separation between ‘auwana and kahiko. Young kids were enrolled at the YMCA or the Department of Parks and Recreation program. I was then taken to my aunt, Rose Maunakea on Kam IV Road and then to the Alama Sisters (Pua and Lei) with whom I stayed with for…

Leimomi Ho
description: Leimomi Ho Leimomi Ho, a regular dancer with the Kodak Hula Show, has taught hula for the past twenty-three years. I have stayed with Aunty Vickie Iʻi Rodrigues till this day and she has been the one that has made me what I am today. She shares so much with me and I’ve grown to love her like a mom. I’ve become her hands and feet. If someone wants to learn a dance from her, she teaches it to me and I take it from there. It is indeed an honor to be one of the many that have been touched by her work and to be able to share a part of her great knowledge. My grandmother and my parents were involved in the hula on Kaua‘i. When I turned three- years-old, I was taken to Helen Waia‘u and remained with her for six years until we moved to Pauoa in Honolulu. Through our neighbor I was led to my second kumu Sam Kamuela Naeʻole. Sam’s studio was on Nu‘uanu Avenue in a building that they’ve torn down by now. He used to yell at us and we would get so scared but he was a good teacher who was always emphasizing fundamentals. Hālaus back then were known as studios and the ‘ūniki was called a recital. It’s only in the last few years that more teachers and students are using these terms. I stayed with Sam for three years and then I met John Pi‘ilani Watkins. I studied under John for five years and for two summers I worked with him at Jones Beach in New York. We had to learn to work with theater people and it was all big production numbers. Because of all his trips to New York, John Watkins was very modernized. During my second summer in New York, I met Joe Kahaulilio who was a partner of Vickie I‘i Rodrigues and I began to train under them when I returned home. I was grateful for what John had given me but Uncle Joe taught me the hula as it should be. I didn’t like doing production numbers like “Bali Hai” and Uncle Joe and Aunty Vickie started training me in ancient hula, soft ‘auwana numbers, and old Hawaiian songs. I began to teach in the 1960s but in a very off-handed manner. It was …

Leilani Bivera Bond
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Leilani Bivera Bond - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 20
description: Leilani Bond started teaching hula to the children of Kauaʻ i in 1981. Her hālau now includes adult women with classes held in Wailua and Pō‘ipū on Kaua‘i, and in Reno, Nevada. Kauaʻi was such a good place to grow up in. As a child I had many wonderful experiences and met several famous people who came to Kaua‘i because I helped my dad Larry Rivera with his shows at The Coco Palms Resort and in Honolulu. He began working at the Coco Palms in the early 1950s and he composed and performed many songs that have become famous. “Wai‘ale‘ale” became really popular and I remember that we were invited to perform it at The Waikīkī Shell. In those days the tourists came on the ocean liners and my dad frequently sang “Love and Aloha,” which talks about the Lurline sailing away. My sister and I were photographed holding a lei up so that one of the ships could be seen through the middle. That photo became famous. I started taking hula lessons from Aunty Kuʻlei Pūnua when I was three-years-old. I really enjoyed the Hawaiian music, the stories, and the many ho‘olaule‘a we participated in. There were no stressful competitions then; the gatherings of musicians and dancers were a lot of fun. I tried my best to learn as much as I could. I decided that I wanted to teach hula too but I knew I had to work really hard to learn the meanings of the words and the spirit of the dances. After I graduated from high school. I started Hawaiian studies classes at Kaua‘i Community College but soon decided to postpone the rest of my education in order to assist my parents with the shows. I also put on shows of my own for conventions and other hotels and entered some competitions. I began working in guest services at Coco Palms and got to know and learn from Mrs. Grace Guslander, Aunty Sarah Sheldon, and Aunty Sarah Kealamapuana Malina Kaʻilikea about Hawaiian culture and arts. In order to educate tourists about our culture, I did a lot of research on hula and Hawaiian music while I worked in the hist…

Leiana Long Woodside
description: Leiana Long Woodside Leiana Woodside is the daughter of Ida Pakulani Long of Maui and the sister of Mae Loebenstein and Kāhili Cummings. She is currently affiliated with the Queen Emma Summer Palace in Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu. I was the seventh of seven girls in my family and was born and reared on Maui in an area called Kauahea; the same area which Kahekili used as his practice ground for combat. Our house was situated just below Kahekili’s heiau Hale Ki‘i. My father Henry Keao Long was originally from Kilauea, Kaua‘i, and my mother was Ida Pakulani Ka‘aihue-Kaianui Long. Mama was a Maui girl and in her early years she was a hula student of Kamawa‘e of Maui. Later she became a kumu hula herself. Therefore, I don’t suppose I had a choice about learning the hula. Everyone in the family, brothers and sisters alike, learned the hula under Mamas tutorage. Mama was a very strict kumu hula but I suppose I have yet to meet someone of my vintage or earlier whose kumu hula was not strict. We had to dance with bended knees, elbows up, head turned toward the extended hand, with eyes looking up beyond the fingertips. If our basic hula exercises were not exactly as she taught them then the pū‘ili was the next boss. It came flying so quickly, I used to swear she had the fastest hands on Maui. As children, my sisters and I would dance the hula on the heiau Hale Ki‘i. Tom Hiona lived down the road from us, and I remember seeing him as a young boy dancing the hula on the same heiau. I remember asking my mother about her hula training. I had not yet heard of the book The Unwritten Literature of Hawaiʻi on Maui and she unfolded a story which seemed to me at that time to be embarrassing, strange, and exotic. She mentioned the ‘ailolo ceremony and while I did not see the ritual, I did see her on several occasions, picking at the po‘opua‘a and eating the lolo. She also mentioned the cleansing rituals of bathing in the sea at midnight and returning to the hālau which was an open lanai with coconut…

Leialoha Amina and Nani Lim Yap
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Leialoha Amina and Nani Lim Yap - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 13
description: Leialoha Amina Leialoha Amina resides on O‘ahu and travels to the Big Island to instruct at the hālau with her sister Nani Lim Yap. My first kumu hula was my mother Mary Ami Neula Lim. It was on our veranda that Nani and I first got our introduction to hula. She showed us various hula numbers but the one that I fondly remember was a hula noho with one pūʻili. To watch my mother sway to and fro, to hear the rhythm of the pūʻili, and the melodic chanting was inspiring. I desperately wanted to learn. The first day with Mother was fantastic. But in the days thereafter she introduced the concept of discipline by whacking us with a bamboo when we were not doing the steps or hand motions the way we should. I know I was in shock the first time she hit me on my leg. I cried because it stung! Eventually Mom and Dad decided to send us to our Aunt Margaret Moku Tahlit. She had a hula studio in Kohala and at times would need to use the gym to teach because she had between thirty to forty students. Her forte was not hula kahiko so she encouraged her students to learn from other instructors. Her first recommendation was to take a six- week hula kahiko workshop from ʻIolani Luahine. Attending that workshop had such a profound effect on me and has been a major contribution to the form of hula you see in our hālau. The workshop began by Auntie ‘Iolani introducing herself. She then prepared to dance the first number we would learn, “Aia Lā ‘O Pele.” She stood there with a searching look in her eyes as if trying to see something. I remember building up with anticipation to see her dance as she held that stance for what seemed like minutes. Finally she signaled with a finger to the ho‘opa‘a to begin. I watched her transform before my eyes from a little sweet-talking, gray-haired Hawaiian lady to the most graceful moving, story-telling hula dancer. Her eyes and facial expression along with her body movements told you the story of Pele. It was as if her feet were not touching the ground. …

Lehua Hulihe‘e
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Lehua Hulihe‘e - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 41
description: Lehua Hulihe‘e established Ka Pā Lehua in 1992 and teaches hula in her home in Kahala. I would not be who I am today if it were not for the guidance and love of my dearest tutu Helen Haloa Mamali Kekuikehekiliokalani Haleanu Coelho Kaipo. Ka Pā Lehua was founded in her name and in thanksgiving for all the goodness which she shared with me through our culture. Throughout my life, she was ever-present. She was a guiding force for me. I was born and raised in Kalihi in a wonderful home that my grandfather built on Kam IV Road. My tutu was pure Hawaiian. She and my grandfather came from Maui in the early 1900s to settle here on O‘ahu. She was a very strong woman and did things in the old ways. Things Hawaiian were ever-present for me. Hawaiian was spoken in my home. Cleaning lau hala, quilting, feather work, Hawaiian medicine, music...were all part of my days as a child. The greatest gift that she imparted to me was that the true understanding of life would come through humility. “E ho‘olohe mai. E nānā (Listen. Watch). This is the way we were taught. Be humble. Be honest. Work hard at whatever you do. It is not what you say but what you do that will speak louder than your own words. Hawaiian thinking is very simple and vet profound. My beginning in hula was done through the family. My mother had studied with Manuel Silva and my tūtū’s father was a dancer in his time. Like most children I took lessons informally from my aunty. When I was older my tūtū took me up to Papakōlea Park to take lessons from my uncle George Holokai. There were many students and if you didn’t listen carefully...‘auwē! My formal study of traditional hula did not begin until 1981 with kumu hula John Kaha'i Topolinski. I had no dreams of becoming a hula teacher, only of satisfying a dream of learning traditional hula. Hula in traditional hālau was to become a large part of my life for many years. I began in a class of seventy-five students. Within a month the class of ‘81 which had begun with seven…

Ku‘ulei Punua
description: Ku‘ulei Pūnua Besides teaching hula on Kaua‘i for the past twenty-eight years, Kuulei Pūnua also entertains at the Sheraton Coconut Beach Hotel with her children. At the time of our learning we just did what we were told. We didn’t ask questions. I can remember very well that all of the dancers were very, very disciplined. We had to have a keen sense of memory. There were no tape recorders. We just practiced and practiced and practiced. When I was two-years-old I was taken by my mother to Elizabeth Pahukoa Lewandowski of Ke‘anae, Maui and she was my first kumu. She was one of the original Leilani Village dancers on Kūhiō Avenue. This was during World War II and she would teach me in her apartment. I studied with Aunty Elizabeth for a year-and-a-half and then I was taken to Ruby Ahakuelo. She had her studio on Smith Street and I would go to class after school. When I was nine-years- old I was taken by my mother to ‘Iolani Luahine who was in Kaka‘ako in the Forties. I had not seen anything like the training we were put through under ‘Iolani. We had to prepare ourselves by going to the ocean and gathering seaweed and we had to be very cautious that no one had their ma‘i at this time. Nothing was explained, we just did whatever we were told to do. Aunty Hoakalei Kamau‘u was a young girl at that time but she was the one that taught us the dances. What I remember most is that nothing was explained to us. I suppose it was because of our age so we were being protected. Background was not freely given so we had to learn everything by observing. We just learned whatever our kumu felt she wanted us to know. Everything depended on sound, memory, and our senses. When I was about twelve- years-old I graduated traditionally with Aunty ‘Iolani and the presentation was held at McKinley Auditorium. At the same time I was asked by Kent Ghirard to join his hula troupe. I learned everything I know about kahiko from Aunty To. When I went to Kent Ghirard, I learned everything about entert…

Ku'uleialoha Beckman
description: Ku‘uleialoha Beckman Kuʻulei Beckman is the niece of Aunty Alice Nāmakelua. She began her teaching career at the age of seventeen under the supervision of her family. I think the greatest hardship I had as a dancer was believing that at one time I would appreciate the knowledge that was being given to me. I started my training in the hula at four- years-old and it wasn’t until I became a teacher at the age of nineteen that I realized and appreciated all of what was taught to me. My advice to the young dancers is to be faithful and loyal to what has been taught to them. Be grateful that someone opened up and shared the knowledge with you. It’s only when you grow older that you appreciate the beauty of your own culture. I’m very grateful to have had three kumu hula who took precious time and effort in teaching me. My first kumu was my grandmother Emily Keko‘olani, and I studied under her for two years. My grandmother had trained under Pua Ha‘aheo and ‘Iolani Luahine so my classes were really in the style of the “old school”. Everything was very strict and very disciplined, and I wasn’t allowed to speak my mind. My mother Katherine Kahanohano Keko‘olani Dambley and my aunt Myra Kolani Chartrand, took over my training after my grandmother and I found them to be much more precise. My mother was taught by my grandmother so I was consistently trained to be attentive to the precise motions of my hands. The result is that the dancer looks like she knows and loves what she’s dancing about and the audience is drawn into the hula. The foremost kumu in my life was my mother and I began to teach at seventeen with her as my mentor. At nineteen I went out on my own because I felt I had been given so much knowledge and I wanted to pass on the knowledge to my own children before I began to lose it. I teach my students with less intensity than I believe my grandmother trained because today’s students don’t reside with their kumu. But I feel the best part of teaching is still and will …

Kevin Michael Kapilialoha Mahoe
description: Kevin Michael Kapilialoha Mahoe “Chubby” Mahoe is the son of Arthur Keanahou Māhoe, Sr. and Abigail Kahiwalani Ka‘aloa Māhoe. He has taught the hula in Hawaii for the past thirteen years and is currently affiliated with the St. Andrews Cathedral of Honolulu and the Christian Hula Academy. I think I have to go back to an age when anybody starts to remember which was about three to four-years-old. Being at family parties I was always attracted to music and to rhythms. I was always attracted to sweet music, to music with heavy percussion. I listened to Harry Owens Orchestra, the chang-a-lang music of Elmer Lee and Uncle Jimmy Wong, and I found all of this music so refreshing. My father was invited to many of these kamaʻāina parties so I saw people like Flora Hayes and Uncle Rennie Burks dance; elegant men and women dancing. This respect for the classical Hawaiian music was instilled in me at a very young age but we were never taught the ancient ways because we were baptized and raised as Christians. I started off my training in the hula by watching my sister learn the kahiko in Kalihi Valley from a lady named Daisy Bell Young. We would make fun of my sister as all brothers will do but at the same time we were watching and learning. My first kumu was George Nā‘ope. When I was a fifth grader, he came to Pu‘uhale School to teach us a popular song for a pageant we were having. I met Nalani Kanaka‘ole when I was working for Waiākea Village and I learned two chants from her. It was many years between George and Nalani so in the interim I just watched other people dance and I watched their interpretations. There were very few male dancers because it was considered māhū to dance. So I admired the few men that did dance because their spirit seemed to transcend this type of criticism. I trained informally under hula master Henry Moikeha Pa while a member of the Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club. In preparing for a concert Uncle Henry wanted us to build a kuahu for Laka, the godde…

Kent Ghirard
description: Kent Ghirard A great love for the hula brought Kent Ghirard from the Mainland to Hawaii where he established himself as a kumu hula and choreographer of hula productions. We were the first Hawaiian group to tour Japan, in 1955. We performed in Nichigeki Theatre in Tokyo and the audience was jammed into the hall and they were cheering us like we were The Beatles. We had one singer, four dancers, and myself backed by scores of Japanese girls in cellophane skirts dancing on white tiers that stretched up to the ceiling. I was born in San Francisco, California on September 1, 1918. I was twelve when I first became interested in the hula. My parents came over here on the old Malolo on a regular tourist vacation. Even at that age the minute I saw the hula I loved it. It was the Bray family that I saw and I just took right to it. I bought some old 78 RPM hula records and I even bought a hula skirt. During my college years I learned how to play the ‘“uke” from Hawai‘i students up at Stanford and I learned how to sing from listening to the records. I came over here in 1938 for summer school at the University but it was just an excuse to get over here. In those days the Kodak Hula Show had just started and I was there every week. Every Boat Day I would go down and watch the dancers and listen to the music. That’s when I started to pick things up on my own. The first person who taught me anything was Marguerite Duane who had danced hula professionally on the Mainland and was a very good friend of Hilo Hattie. I was twenty-one at the time and we both were living in San Francisco. So it was through Marguerite that I got my foundation and once I got the basics I just fell into it. I felt it inside, and as long as I could get a translation I could make up the rest because I knew the basic motions. In 1947 I came to Hawai‘i to stay and Marguerite and I took lessons from the Bill Lincoln Studio. At that time Bill Lincoln was the premier writer and singer of hula songs. Everyone was d…

Keli‘i Tau‘ā
description: Keli‘i Tau‘ā Keli‘i Tau‘ā has taught the hula on O‘ahu for the past five years and currently makes his home in Kihei, Maui. I think the biggest stumbling block for the modern Hawaiian is the definition of who is and who is not Hawaiian. Many people still believe it is strictly a matter of race. Today being Hawaiian has more to do with a sincerity of feeling towards the fate of Hawai‘i than anything else. In 1970 I was teaching Hawaiiana for the Department of Education at Waimanalo Intermediate School. Aunty Nona Beamer was serving as my consultant. I was required to learn hula for teaching purposes and so Aunty Nona invited me to train under her informally. I stayed with her for a year and in 1972 Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu publicly announced that she would be holding classes for hula teachers. The hālau at that time was on Ke‘eaumoku Street and after some practices, I could hardly walk down the stairs of the second- floor studio. The “Hawaiian Renaissance” to coin a phrase of that time, was just starting to turn its wheels. Anything that was Hawaiian was a joy to learn. I think the greatest thing that I came to recognize was that hula was not just motions but Hawaiian life, language, and folklore. That was the greatest joy, being in a place where I was learning not only the dance but something about myself in relationship to the past Hawaiian culture. What was there, and what it could be in the future. More answers came from another kumu named Kau‘i Zuttermeister. I started studying intensively in 1973 with style and a feeling that I still possess today and transfer the stylings of Aunty Kau‘i to others. I started to teach in 1975. Two of my former classmates in Aunty Mā‘iki’s hālau, Robert Cazimero, and John Topolinski were really getting into men’s hula and it was exciting to me. There had been men’s hula when we were learning but there weren’t hālaus as we understand it today. They set the pace and helped to establish respectability for men to dance. My approach was to sh…

Keith Kalani Akana
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Keith Kalani Akana - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 8
description: Keith Kalani Akana A teacher for the Hawaiian Immersion Program at Waiau Elementary School, Kalani Akana is kumu hula of Ka Pā Hula Hoʻoheno Hawaʻi established in 1987. In school I didn’t consider myself a good hula dancer and I didn’t think I had a strong voice since I flunked concert glee. But I listened to the chanting of Ho‘oulu Richards, Nona Beamer. Hoakalei Kaniauʻu and Kalena Silva and they became my models. It wasn’t talent but I believe it took hard work and dedication that developed my voice. When I was a sophomore at the Kamehameha Schools, I was hired by my teacher Sarah Quick as an aide for Hawaiian language but I also helped Hoʻoulu Richards teach hula to the students in the school’s Explorations Program. I was really shy but she compelled me to teach. She ingrained poise and confidence in me. Watching the effect she had on the students kindled my interest in hula as a teaching tool to reach children. Shortly after, my relative Palani Kahala, a fellow Hawaiian language student and classmate, persuaded me to learn hula from him. One afternoon in Aunty Nona Beamer’s room, he started teaching me the rudiments of hula. Aunty Nona was very supportive of us by giving us access to her files and her advice. She even entered us in a hula competition at St. Andrews Priory in 1974. That’s where I first saw Kahaʻi Topolinski’s men perform. They were masculine and powerful. After graduating in 1975 I wanted to paddle canoe but I saw a newspaper ad for hula classes from Ka Pā Hula Hawaii. Remembering Kahaʻi’s men’s hula, I signed up and traveled all the way to the Waiāhole Poi Factory where the classes were held. Kahaʻi has been my kumu ever since. Kahaʻi engrained in me the love for the traditions of hula; particularly how it’s passed down from kumu to kumu and through family. I was especially touched by his treatment of his family chants. I could see the direct tie between kumu, family, and the past. As a history buff he brings a great knowledge to each of his hu…

Kealoha Kalama
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Kealoha Kalama - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 47
description: Kealoha Kahuna is a kumu hula, producer, entertainer, musician, and recording artist. In 1971 on the premises of the Bishop Museum, she opened Hālau Hula O Pohai Kealoha which means “hula studio of encircling love.” I was raised in the country growing up with lots of music and hula. It was a good life and I was fortunate to have parents who gave us what they could. I was always involved in music: singing, playing the ukulele, piano, and guitar. My mother Mrs. Virginia Hainan Kalama was, and will always be, the biggest inspiration in my entertainment life. She was the community association president, the Nānākuli Hawaiian Civic Club president, and was very much involved in politics. She was a true Republican who worked hard for her community and she always enjoyed playing music. My big love in those days was the hula. I learned to dance in elementary and intermediate schools from teachers and sometimes from our kupuna. Back in the 1950s hula was a big thing in Hawaiʻi. Miss Puanani Alama was my first hula instructor, and she was such a beautiful hula dancer and a wonderful instructor. We didn’t do many chants because it wasn’t as important as it is today. I also met John Pi'ilani Watkins and was very honored to perform for his group. Brother John was such a great composer, beautiful singer, musician, and fantastic entertainer. He w as my kumu in hula and music. Back then in the late Fifties we put on shows at the military bases, the old Kapahulu Tavern, the Waikīkī Sands Club, and on the neighbor islands. I met Joseph Kamoha‘i Kahaulelio through Brother John. Joseph and Aunty Pauline Kekahuna were looking for hula dancers for their big show in the Princess Ka‘iulani and the Moana Hotels. Before I started taking hula lessons from Joseph Kahaulelio, John Piʻilani Watkins gave me his blessing to learn ʻōlapa. I also danced for Aunty Vicky I‘i, Aunty Genoa Keawe, Uncle Bill Aliʻiloa Lincoln, Louise Kaleiki. Leina‘ala Haile, and Leina‘ala Simerson. I was blessed to have b…

Keali‘inani‘aimokuokalani Reichel
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Keali‘inani‘aimokuokalani Reichel - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 100
description: Na Hoku Hanohano award winner Keali‘i Reichel is a popular singer, composer, and the kumu hula of Hālau Hula o Ka Makani Wili Makaha o Kauaʻula. In comparison to other people I started hula late. I was exposed to hula through the Hawaiiana Club at Lahainaluna High School when I was a freshman. The club was under the direction of a senior named Peter Day. At the time he was considered to be a child prodigy. He studied under ʻIolani Luahine and Henry Pa when he was about seven-years-old. I studied with Peter for one year in high school. He didn’t explain too much about the chants. I le just showed us how the mele was danced. I was a bad dancer in high school. I had no rhythm, nothing. When we had performances, the other students used to forget my outfits on purpose. Finally after the twelfth or thirteenth time, I caught on that they didn’t want me to dance. When you’re fourteen-years-old that’s hard to take so I quit and studied on my own. I practiced everyday in front of the mirror just to perfect my timing. After a couple of years Peter saw me dance again for the Hawaiiana Club and he was impressed. He had just formed his hālau and he wanted me to dance for him and help teach the students when he wasn’t there. During that time I was able to improve my teaching skills. You can have all this knowledge but if you don’t know how to convey it, there’s no sense. It was an intense several years that I studied under Peter. I learned dozens of dances. Then suddenly in 1981 Peter moved and left the hālau. Within a two-day period he just up and went. He had all these students who were hungry for more hula and because I was the alaka’i, they asked if I could stay and continue the training as best I could. At first I told them “no” because I wasn’t qualified. But other kumu hula on Maui urged me to continue and said they would be there if I needed help. When Pua Kanahele came to Maui to teach Hawaiian language, I jumped at the chance to study with her. I quit all my jobs and I b…

Kawai Aona-Ueoka
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Kawai Aona-Ueoka - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 1 Page 14
description: Kawai Aona has served as kumu hula for the Queen Liliʻuokalani Childrenʻs Center since 1979. I was hānai by my Tūtū Mary C. Pua‘ala Aona from the time I was a baby. I knew basic Hawaiian words and phrases and some hula ‘auwana from my tūtū but to me it was nothing because Tūtū could speak Hawaiian fluently, and I’ve been told that she also taught hula kahiko. When I first went to the University of Hawai‘i, I was this tita from Nanakuli. I was dorming on campus and one day these two Japanese exchange students came up to me and asked, ‘Are you Hawaiian?’ I answered yes proudly and then they asked, ‘Can you do the hula or speak Hawaiian?’ I said no, and they gave me a funny expression and said, ‘You not Hawaiian then.’ I got very angry but I found the strength to control myself and went to my room to think. I came to the conclusion that they were right. I was born with Hawaiian blood and my tūtū had a wealth of knowledge but I never really understood it. The Hawaiian culture I knew was surface. Having the Hawaiian blood and doing things Hawaiian is not enough. You have to understand, and have a respect and feeling for the culture in a deeper sense. The kaona was the essence of all mele because our kupuna were not surface people. After that incident, I made it a point to learn more of the language and more of the hula. I was introduced to Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu Lake by some friends that were taking hula ‘auwana classes from her. It took about a year of taking ‘auwana classes before Aunty invited a few of us to enter her hula kahiko class. I studied with Aunty Mā‘iki for two and a half years and she made Hawaiian history come alive through the mele. Her requirement for research gave me an understanding of the many things my tūtū had said and done but didn’t know how to explain. I began to understand the depth of Hawaiian values and the importance of respecting all that it stood for. I graduated traditionally from Aunty Mā‘iki’s ‘Ilima class in 1975, and I went on to Aunty Edit…

Kaulana Kasparovitch
description: Kaulana Kasparovitch Originally trained in fine arts and classical music, Kaulana Kasparovitch established the Lehua Dance Company and has taught the hula for the past eight years in Honolulu. We are close to a point of saturation in the hula right now unless there is something new that arises to keep the next generation interested. In any culture you will have peaks and valleys. In the next three to five years the interest in the culture will level off and possibly turn downward. Other things will arise because today Hawaiʻi is cosmopolitan. My grandmother Minnie Liliaokalani Wilhem Jones was the one that saw to it that I was introduced to Hawaiian music and dance. She introduced me to a lovely lady named Emily Thomas who had an ‘ohana group that were all friends of my grandmother and this was how I started. My first kumu was Manuel Silva who was a member of this group and he taught my cousin and I to chant for three years until he passed away. I was being taught Hawaiian music at this time by Aunty Pauline Kekahuna and in 1971 her dancers decided to retire from the Hau’oli group. Aunty Pauline and one of her musicians decided to open a hālau under the Hau‘oli name and this is how I came to dance under Leilani Mendez. In ancient Hawai‘i people lived the hula, but the hula today is entertainment and a leisure-time activity. What Leilani taught me was that I really had to work hard at the hula to be good. She disciplined my attitude toward work and hula. We had to be good because we had to do shows and there wasn’t a margin for sloppiness on stage. I went on to train under Uncle Henry Pa at a class he opened at Kamehameha Schools for the Kamehameha Hawaiian Civic Club. I admired Uncle Henry because there was such a joy in all of his hula and even in his kahiko. What he gave me was the essence to create. He would sit us down and say this is the mele in Hawaiian, this is the mele in English, now create your own motions and we will pick the best motions from the class. …

Kathleen Malama Leleo
description: Kathleen Malama Leleo Kathleen Leleo served as alaka'i to the late hula teacher Samuel (Kamuela) Nae‘ole of Waimanalo. She currently is affiliated with the Kalihi-Palama Culture and Arts Society as a hula instructor. When I think of traditional hula I think of Lokalia Montgomery and George Nā‘ope. There would have to be limitations on creativity if one is to go strictly traditional. The old style of traditional hula is vanishing and most of our kupunas that practiced it are gone. The hula of today is exciting but there’s not enough people alive today to show us or teach us what ancient hula was really like. It’s difficult to say what it is and what it is not. I became interested in hula at a very late age. My children were grown and all in school and there was nothing else for me to do. So I became a member of the Kalihi- Pālama Hawaiian Civic Club which my late brother founded. I became very interested in Hawaiiana and at this time, George Nā‘ope began his hula classes in Kalihi and the members of our club were encouraged to join. This was my start in hula. I studied with Uncle George for five years and I was trained in hula kahiko, hula ‘auwana, and chanting. We were never told what the chant was about so we did research on our own time. At the end of my fifth year of training I was graduated by Uncle George as a kumu hula. I went on to train under Samuel Nae‘ole and I found him to be someone who really cared about his dancers and how well each one did. He helped me to better myself in the hula ‘auwana. I remember when we went out to perform, Uncle Sam would charge a quarter for every mistake we made. He trained five of his students to become kumu hula and I was very fortunate to be one of those students. He stressed the importance of the mekona and the ‘okina, and he started our training by focusing on memorizing the chant, proper pronunciation, translation, expression, and significance of the chant or dance. Uncle Sam gave us the resources and we did the researc…

Karen Kaohulani Aiu Costa
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Karen Kaohulani Aiu Costa - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 35
description: Karen Costa, daughter of the late renowned kumu hula Māʻiki Aiu Lake, established Nā Wahine No Me Ka Ha‘aha‘a Mai Māʻiki and Nā Kāne O Kaohulani in 1984. Back in the early 1960s training as a dancer was very important and valuable as far as where our beginnings came from and where hula started. Kahiko was not as popular as it is today. Chants such as “‘Au‘a‘la” were very precious to Hawaiians and were taught only to the special students. I became a student of my mother Māʻiki Aiu from the age of six or seven. As I got older I was fortunate to become an extension of my mother in the running of the hālau business as well as learning our culture of the hula. For twenty-two years I was very privileged to hold this position. In 1970 my mother opened up a class for anyone interested in studying to he a kumu hula. It was decided by my mother’s aunty Hoakalei Defries that I attend these classes. All the young people who came to that first kumu hula class were there by choice. For me it was an obligation. It was meant for me to carry on the family tradition into the future. Our class started off with a total of at least seventy-eight students but dwindled down to about fifty-two. The desire to be a kumu and to learn what a kumu’s responsibilities are were not as easy as we thought. The formal training lasted over two years with long hours learning chants of our ancestors, making our own instruments, and training as ‘ōlapa and ho‘opa‘a. Only then were we given the title of kumu hula. This title was bestowed onto us after all of this training in 1972. I accepted the title but I didn’t acknowledge it because of all the duties and responsibilities that such a gift carried. My mother gave us the opportunity to write notes and to ask questions regarding any chant, song or dance that we were learning. She also issued some chants that we never heard of on paper to make it easy for us. Tūtū Kawena Pukui encouraged her to satisfy the need for paper and pencil because when we went home…

Kamalei Sataraka
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Kamalei Sataraka - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 103
description: In 1976 Kamalei Sataraka opened her hālau Hui ‘O Kamalei so she could share her love of hula with the people of Hawaiʻi. Hula teaches you everything about life. It teaches you about nature, respect, and about God. It teaches you how to be humble and disciplined. My mother thought that I was born to hula. She took me to Sally Kamalani when I was two-years-old and even at that young age I remember enjoying hula. A year later we moved into town and I remember going to Emma Bishop who taught on McCully Street. Emma Bishop used to take us to perform at the Kapi'olani Bandstand where we wore paper leis and mu’umu’u. In those days the people threw money when we danced. Everybody used to laugh because I would sit down and collect all the money and take it to my mother. Those were the good old days with Emma Bishop. I stayed with her until I was about six or seven-years-old. I ended up taking hula from John Pi'ilani Watkins. I started when I was nine and I graduated with him twice. His graduations weren’t the traditional graduations. At that time people didn’t put an emphasis on traditional ceremonies like the ‘ailolo ceremony. It was more like a recital. We graduated to another level and he gave awards. To graduate he wanted us to pass a test. He used to give us a written exam and a dance exam. As long as we passed, we could go to the next level. The written exam was about the songs: the background of the songs and how well we knew the words and the translation. That was his criteria for passing. Because I was teaching for him, I was embarrassed if I got a low grade so I tried my best to get As. Whenever he was busy or he couldn’t be there, he asked me to open the hālau and teach for him. That’s where I learned to teach. I taught for him many times and I ran his hālau for him while I was in high school. I attribute most of my hula training to John Pi'ilani Watkins. He was really before his time. What I got from him was basically show business and not much tradition. He took…

Kalena Silva
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Kalena Silva - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 104
description: Kalena Silva teaches hula and chanting as part of the Hawaiian Studies curriculum at the University of Hawai'i- Hilo Campus. ‘Ano ‘e nō paha ko‘u komo "ana i loko o kēia hana ‘o ka hula. Ua ho‘omaka au ma ka noho ho‘opa‘a ‘ana no kekahi mau haumāna hula a ma hope mai, komo pū akula au ma ia hana ‘o ka hula. I ko‘u manawa e hele ana i ke kula ki‘eki‘e ‘o Kamehameha, ua ‘ōlelo mai ‘o Aunty Winona Beamer e lilo au i ho‘opa‘a no kekahi mau hoa haumāna e ho‘omakaukau ana no ka hōʻike o ka Ho‘okūkū Hīmeni o kēlā makahiki. No ko‘u ho‘omaopopo ‘ana i ko‘u nanea nui palena ‘ole i ka noho ho‘opa‘a ‘ana o Aunty Kau‘i Zuttermeister no kana kaikamahine ‘o Noenoe i hula ma kekahi ‘aha‘aina Hui Kiwila Hawaiʻi i koʻu manawa he ‘elima wale nō makahiki, a no laila, ua noho ho‘opa‘a akula au no kēlā mau haumāna hula. I loko nō na‘e o ko‘u noho ho‘opa‘a ‘ana no lākou, ua ʻike no hoʻi au ‘a‘ole au i ‘ano mākaukau loa. A no laila, ua hele au iā Ho‘oulu Richards ma Kamehameha, a ma laila au i ho‘omaka ai i ke a‘o i ka hula me ke oli. A pau, ua hele pū māua ‘o Ho‘oulu iā Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu Lake ma ka Hālau Hula O Māʻiki. A hala akula kekahi mau makahiki, ‘ūniki au ma kona Hālau i ka MH 1972 ma ke kūlana he ‘ōlapa me ka ho‘opa‘a. Ho‘okahi makahiki ma hope mai, ‘ūniki hou au ma ke kūlana he kumu hula. Pau, hele nō ho‘i au iā Aunty Kau‘i Zuttermeister me kana kaikamahine ‘o Noenoe ma Kāne‘ohe. Pau, hui au me Aunty Lōkālia Montgomery a, aia aku aia mai, ke maika‘i kona ola kino, a‘o mai no ho‘i ‘o ia i ka hula. ‘O Ka‘upena Wong ‘o ia kaʻu kumu oli. Oiai ua aʻo mai ka‘u mau kumu a pau i ke oli i pili i ka hula, na Ka‘upena i hoʻakea a‘e i ko‘u ʻike ma ke a‘o mai i nā ‘ano mele me ke oli ma waho o ka hula. No ka nui palena ‘ole o ka waiwai me ke kū‘i‘o o ke a‘o a ka‘u mau kumu a pau, a no laila, aia iā lākou ko‘u ho‘omaika‘i me ka ho‘ohanohano mau. I ko‘u wāʻi a‘o ai i ka hula me ke oli, ua a‘o au no ke kō wale ‘ana no o ko‘u ‘i‘ini e ‘apo i ia mau mea, ‘a‘ole no ko‘u mana‘o e a‘o aku au i kekahi …

Ka‘aiikawaha Kekau‘ilani Kalama
description: Ka‘aiikawaha Kekauʻilani Kalama Lani Kalama, cousin of Māiki Aiu Lake, serves as a hula consultant for various hula halaus throughout Hawaii. She currently resides in Kailua, O‘ahu. When I was fifteen-years-old, my friend Nellie Wong told me she had heard of a lady named Lokalia Montgomery who was teaching the hula pahu in Kapahulu. My yearning to further my knowledge in the hula prompted me to pay fourteen dollars to learn which was a lot of money in those days. I didn’t dare ask my grandmother because I was sure she wouldn’t let me, so I broke my piggy bank and I took that money to Lokalia to pay for my lessons. My formal hula training actually began at the age of seven under Tūtū Keaka Kanahele and Gertrude Makini at Aunty Gertrudes home on Rose Street. The class was made up of all the neighborhood children and the kids in my family. The Makinis’ had a big yard and a large home and we would move all the chairs in the living room, and that’s where we would dance. We would go to class everyday and if Tūtū felt like it we were there for hours. If she was tired the class would be cancelled for three or four days. I graduated traditionally with Aunty Gertrude and then I went on to Harriet Kepelino Fernandez who trained me in hula ‘auwana. I went through the hula kapu training with Aunty Harriet but when it came time to perform the rituals myself my grandmother stopped me. I am especially grateful to my grandmother Helen Pamaiēulu Ha‘o Correa who exposed me to the hula at a very tender age. She made me aware of the mannerisms and protocol of the hula because back then the definition of hula ‘auwana meant hula that was free of any ritual ceremony or kapu and had nothing to do with creativity or musical accompaniment. I graduated traditionally from Aunty Harriet at fourteen but I wanted to study more of the hula pahu and that is how I was led to Lokalia Montgomery. In Lokalia’s dining room she had a great dinner table where she would talk with her guests. Beautiful Hawai…

Johnny Lum Ho
subject: Nā Kumu Hula Johnny Lum Ho - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 72
description: For over twenty years Johnny Lum Ho has been teaching hula at the same location in downtown Hilo. He named his studio Hālau Ka Ua Kani Lehua which means “the rain that patters the lehua. ” When I used to sing for George Nā‘ope and Edith Kanaka‘ole, I would enjoy and admire the hula gills during their performances. I never took hula lessons. I just watched and started my own. My mother who spoke Hawaiian was there to help me when I needed the meaning of a word. From there I made my own motions. The steps I teach are basic steps and yon can pick it up fast. So long you have the basic steps, know the words and think about it, and the music, the hula will come together. I have my own style but I do not think I deviated from the hula. To me it is exciting to do something not like the others. I always thought that if they can make their rain one way, I can do rain my way. You must be yourself. You cannot be another ʻIolani Luahine. God did not make everybody to be the same. I teach my children songs that I composed and I usually teach them the way I feel I want it to be. I sometimes have something in my mind, like a pig, and I tell the girls to try to imitate a pig. I will look around and everyone will do their own and I will see the one I like. Everybody in the hālau takes part in the choreography. I do not take the credit alone but together all of us help. My dances express my feelings of the song that I composed. If people like it, good. If not, they can look at another hālau because for me I am happy with what I do. My joy in my teaching is knowing that what I composed has been completed when the dance and the music come together. For a competition I take time to choose the song and I already know which girl I want because I can see how her expression and moves are going to be. That is how my Miss Aloha Hula is chosen. To me the judges are just a little portion of the whole crowd who paid to come and see you. And if I captivate them all, right on! When the crowd appre…

John W. Keanuenue Ka‘imikaua
description: John W. Keānuenue Kaʻimikaua John Kaʻimikaua began to formally teach in 1977 with the establishment of Hālau Hula O Kukunaokalā. I was but a very young boy of fourteen years standing six feet tall when I first met my benefactor of Hawaiian knowledge. Her name was Kawahinekapuheleikapōkāne and she was ninety-two-years- old. She stood erect and tall, six feet four inches to my six feet, like a young woman in an old womans body. She asked if I was interested in my Hawaiian culture to which I answered in the affirmative. She told me she had in her possession a compiled record of hulas, chants, and stories of our Hawaiian people and no one in her family was interested in learning them. She then told me she had been waiting and praying for a very long time for someone to come so that she could teach and pass on this knowledge. But each year passed and no one approached and she thought the knowledge she possessed would die with her. The woman was extremely well-preserved. She had short, white hair, a rather dark complexion, and very dark, piercing eyes which made one feel as though she were looking into the very depths of your soul and comprehending everything about you. Her voice was captivating, and when she chanted in the oli fashion she didn’t have to tell me what the oli was about for her voice tones were made to sound like the waves washing over the sand or airy like the winds above a cliff or whispery like the soft rustling leaves. She made me feel as though I were a part of the very essence of nature itself. To me, I was the earth, the wind, the seas, and the skies. For two years I met with her at her home everyday after school. She taught me well and I was fortunate to be able to absorb all she had to teach me in the very short time we had. In 1975 at the end of my junior year in high school she passed away. I never knew if she had an English name or even what her family name was. I never knew if she had any family because when I visited with her she was always al…

John R. Kahai Topolinski
description: John R. Kaha‘i Topolinski Kahai Topolinski, kumu hula for Ka Pā Hula Hawaii, has taught traditional hula on O‘ahu for the past ten years. Mrs. (Kawena) Pūku‘i told me that hula is not only for our people. It is for anyone who has the desire. You do not have to be Hawaiian to dance. If you want it to live, you must give it to everybody so that it can create a better understanding about Hawai‘i and the culture. The fact that non-Hawaiians want to learn the dance should be a compliment. When I went away to college on the Mainland, I was asked to dance at a “get together” of Hawai‘i students. And I couldn’t. The remark was of course, I am Hawaiian but can’t even do the national dance. That was the spark that told me to come back home and learn to dance. In 1971 I met Aunty Mā‘iki Aiu Lake and she became my first kumu hula. I studied under Aunty Ma‘iki for two-and- a-half years and she was a very positive influence on my life. She was very strict in her hālau but at the same time very giving. She would explain the dance out thoroughly, clarifying the abstract motions and meanings and giving us the background on the kaona of each mele. I graduated traditionally from Aunty Mā’iki in 1973 and I went on to study informally under Henry Pa, Sally Wood Nālua‘i, and Kawena Pūku‘i. Looking back I feel that all my kumu were equal in their influence on me because they each opened up a facet of the hula that I was unaware of. Mā’iki gave me the confidence that I was kumu hula material and she gave me my foundation in the hula. Uncle Henry showed me how to create variations in the dance by combining foot movements to create a nice, balanced picture. Sally Wood Nālua‘i trained me in the drum techniques of Pua Ha‘aheo, and Kawena Pūku‘i passed on to me an in-depth philosophy of the hula. Her daughters Pat and Pele taught me how to chant and create in the traditional framework using traditional Hawaiian motions as opposed to Western dance motions. Of my kumu I have been with Mrs. Pūku‘i…