Rena Maile-Māhoe Apo Ching

Rena Maile-Māhoe Apo Ching
Rena Ching began her training as a hula student on Maui and currently makes her home in Kahului.

My first hula teachers were actually my family and I was pushed into it whether I liked it or not at the age of four. My grandmother Annie Kala‘au had come from Kona and she had been trained in ‘ōlapa. My aunty Helen Apo Hanu was taught by my grandmother and she was my first teacher. My first kumu outside the family was Alice Keawekane Garner. She would put on concerts at the county church and she was a member of the Mormon Church. Aunty Alice needed a place to teach so my mother offered her our home because we had a big lānai. She would teach and I would sit down and watch. I graduated from Aunty Alice in her home in a very modern ‘ūniki.

When Aunty Alice left Maui I returned to study with my aunt Mrs. Helen Apo Hanu. Then I began to dance professionally for Eddie Tam, the late mayor of Maui. When I got married my husband refused to let me dance professionally so I began to train my little girl who was seven. After awhile I wanted to learn ‘ōlapa so I could teach it to my daughter, so my mother recommended Manuel Silva. My mother wanted me to take from Manuel Silva because he was known for his chanting and ancient style of dancing. So my husband and I went to Honolulu to see Mr. Silva who was living in the Kaka‘ako district in the back of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin building at that time. He told me that if he didn’t know my mother he would’ve sent me away because he didn’t take new hula students anymore. His basics were really hard. You had to lay back on the floor with your legs folded under your thighs. You were then required to roll your torso while in that position. Then he would walk on your thighs to limber the leg muscles. I also had to lie flat on my stomach and he would bend my legs back. These were the regular, preliminary exercises prior to learning the hula. When finished with these exercises, I was exhausted. I learned never to complain because he would tell me simply that I was free to leave if I didn’t want to learn. Before learning the movements of the dance, he trained me to pa‘i the ipu and chant the mele.

My ‘ōlapa was kapu which meant I could only dance them in certain areas and my dancers had to be trained in certain duties. I did not take the kapu responsibilities because Uncle Manuel did not want me to get hurt if any students were kāpulu in their duties. Unfortunately this meant he would be the one to suffer the consequences for any of their actions which may have unknowingly been affected by the kapu.

My kumu Alice Keawekāne Garner and Aunty Helen Apo Hanu taught me hula ‘auwana, and Manuel Silva gave me my foundation in ‘ōlapa. But it was my mother Mary Elizabeth ‘Aikau who encouraged and gave me support to become a kumu hula. She would watch me dance in front of her and she would be my critic. She made sure everything was correct. She was my inspiration.