Robert Kalani
Title
Robert Kalani
Description
Robert Kalani
Robert Kalani began his hula training under Henry Pa at the age of eleven. Born in Paia, Maui, he has taught the hula for twenty-six years in Lahaina, Paia, Kula, andKahului.
When I went to learn the chants from my kumu, my mother was against it. My grandmother had been a kahuna and my mother didn’t want me involved in the old ways. My grandmother lived in Makena and when she walked along the streets, the neighbors would get so afraid of her. She would constantly oli until one o’clock in the morning and my mother didn’t want to see that happen again with me.
When I was eleven, I visited Honolulu during the summer months and I would stay with my aunt. Henry Pa would come over and use her house for hula rehearsals. This is how I got into dancing. Every summer I would learn new and different dances under Henry Pa. His classes would last for three hours.
I studied for three summers under Henry Pa and then I stayed back on Maui and went to Rena Ching for six months. 1 graduated from Rena Ching and went through a modern ʻūniki with her. After Rena, I decided to go back to Honolulu and that’s when I met Hattie Au and Tom Hiona. My aunt was being trained by Hattie for nine months and this was how I was taken into the hālau and taught the kuahu dances. I studied under Hattie for nine months and then I was led to Tom Hiona who has been the greatest influence on my career. Tom had the ability to teach and to find the right English word for Hawaiian ideas.
This was back in the early Fifties and Tom would not teach us at a studio but at a private home that we would go to on the weekends. We were trained in the different styles of traditional dance, and the different beats of the ipu heke and pahu. I spent three summers with Tom Hiona and I found him to be a very sensitive and demanding man.
I began to teach when I was attending high school. Some of the students wanted to learn, so I would have my mother translate songs for me and that’s how I started. My kumu taught me that what you want to explain to the audience through the hula comes from deep within you so you must show that in your expressions.
Robert Kalani began his hula training under Henry Pa at the age of eleven. Born in Paia, Maui, he has taught the hula for twenty-six years in Lahaina, Paia, Kula, andKahului.
When I went to learn the chants from my kumu, my mother was against it. My grandmother had been a kahuna and my mother didn’t want me involved in the old ways. My grandmother lived in Makena and when she walked along the streets, the neighbors would get so afraid of her. She would constantly oli until one o’clock in the morning and my mother didn’t want to see that happen again with me.
When I was eleven, I visited Honolulu during the summer months and I would stay with my aunt. Henry Pa would come over and use her house for hula rehearsals. This is how I got into dancing. Every summer I would learn new and different dances under Henry Pa. His classes would last for three hours.
I studied for three summers under Henry Pa and then I stayed back on Maui and went to Rena Ching for six months. 1 graduated from Rena Ching and went through a modern ʻūniki with her. After Rena, I decided to go back to Honolulu and that’s when I met Hattie Au and Tom Hiona. My aunt was being trained by Hattie for nine months and this was how I was taken into the hālau and taught the kuahu dances. I studied under Hattie for nine months and then I was led to Tom Hiona who has been the greatest influence on my career. Tom had the ability to teach and to find the right English word for Hawaiian ideas.
This was back in the early Fifties and Tom would not teach us at a studio but at a private home that we would go to on the weekends. We were trained in the different styles of traditional dance, and the different beats of the ipu heke and pahu. I spent three summers with Tom Hiona and I found him to be a very sensitive and demanding man.
I began to teach when I was attending high school. Some of the students wanted to learn, so I would have my mother translate songs for me and that’s how I started. My kumu taught me that what you want to explain to the audience through the hula comes from deep within you so you must show that in your expressions.
Citation
“Robert Kalani,” Nā Kumu Hula Archive, accessed November 16, 2024, https://nakumuhula.org/archive/items/show/55.