Marilyn Leimomi Ho

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 and therefore they conveyed the feeling she wanted when they danced. She gave you a special feeling for every subject you danced.

My last two formal teachers were Hoakalei Kamauu and Pele Pūku‘i Suganuma. Hoakalei was teaching through the Model Cities Program and after I gained the consent of Aunty Mā‘iki, I began to train under her. Hoakalei taught me new hula movements, chant styles, meanings of chants, and the use of the pahu and the ipu. She used the old style of training which asked the student to watch, listen, then imitate repeatedly until the dance was executed correctly. Hoakalei was the first kumu to start performing the deep kahiko chants and that’s why I credit her with the great revival of hula kahiko.

With the consent of Aunty Hoakalei I began to train under Pele Pūku‘i Suganuma and she became like a mother to me. Aunty Pele was always strict with those that she cared for. I was always in the habit of putting my hands behind my back but in the Hawaiian culture that means that you are ho‘okano, so I was always getting punished because I didn’t know any better. She couldn’t understand why a lot of people asked questions that she thought were so obvious. She tooks things for granted because she was brought up in a Hawaiian atmosphere. She was a woman of her own and very selective of who she opened up to.

I began to teach in the early Seventies as an apprentice teacher under Aunty Hoakalei.
I worked through the Model Cities Program and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. I went on to work with my hula sister Jan Kahoku Yoneda in teaching students of Moanalua High School and we eventually formed a hālau which was named Pohai Na Pūa O Laka, by Edith Kanakaʻole.

It’s hard to get the elders of the Hawaiian community to share their knowledge because some students use the knowledge out of context. The dance has become a very modernistic expression and its appeal is to a young modern audience. Most students still exhibit a great deal of respect for the hula and to their kumu but with the influx of all the different races into Hawai‘i, the kahiko is not purely Hawaiian anymore. I see teachers like Frank Hewett and Bobby Cazimero having the most impact on young people and that will fashion the kahiko of tomorrow.