Edith Kawelohea Kapule McKinzie

Edith Kawelohea Kapule McKinzie
Edith McKinzie is a member of the faculty of the Honolulu Community College and is researching, lecturing, and publishing in the area of Hawaiian culture.


I first became interested in the hula because I grew up in a musical Hawaiian family. I was performing with my family before I ever entered formal training and my Aunty Mary who was a dancer for the hula master Antone Ka‘ō‘ō encouraged me to take up the hula. Since that time I have trained under several different kumu hula and each one had his or her influence on me and my style of the hula.

I trained under Joseph ‘Īlālā‘ole for three years at Pālama Settlement, at Kulamanu in Kāhala, and at his home in Kapahulu. This was my first formal training and from him I learned hula kahiko. This entailed learning the basic hand motions and foot movements along with the names and symbolic references contained in each motion. The discipline under which this training occurred went beyond just a certain amount of time spent working at the dance. It included personal carriage, personal attitude, presentation of gestures and the necessary respect involved in the tradition of the dance. I am not certain who ‘Īlālā’ole’s teachers were; that was not an important question at the time.

Later I trained under Eleanor Hiram Hoke for eight years, dancing professionally for her, performing in tableaus, and learning the drumming and the dances associated with the hula pahu, which was her specialty. Eleanor held classes at her studio in Mānoa. She had been a student of Keaka Kanahele and during the period I studied with her, she was occasionally assisted by Katie Nakaula. Upon completion of my training, I went through the process of an ‘ūniki.
After a long period away from training in the hula, I returned to take lessons with Hoakalei Kamau‘u whose teacher has been ‘Iolani Luahine. This was a period of renewal and excellent reinforcement for me in hula kahiko. Hoakalei was the Director of the State Council on Hawaiian Heritage Dance program which allowed many students as well as teachers exposure to a variety of teachers and teaching styles.

While performing with Hoakalei s group at the Bishop Museums Heritage Theatre in Waikiki, I had several opportunities to seriously discuss chants with Pele Pūku‘i Suganuma, an expert chanter, trained by her mother, by Malia Kau, and others. I studied chant under her direction and her sharing allowed me greater insight into the art of oli. I will always be grateful to Pele for the training I received and for her recommendation that led to my working with Edith Kanaka‘ole in the State Council’s Mele Project.

During the last few years of her life, I was fortunate enough to spend a good deal of time with Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole, a master of many Hawaiian skills including hula and chant. I learned the basic chanting styles, a good deal of hula, composing, and she portrayed to me a fine example of a true Hawaiian and an outstanding kumu hula. Most of my training with her occurred at my home where she stayed when she visited O‘ahu. From Aunty Edith, as well as all of my teachers, I was taught to imitate their movements and sounds.

I have taught extensively throughout the State of Hawai‘i, Midway, Guam, and Alaska, and other places; and hula continues to fulfill and provide me satisfaction. I enjoy working with young hula dancers and chanters. Teaching is an integral part of my life.

I consider myself a traditionalist, but I teach both traditional and contemporary hula. My teaching reflects that which I learned from my teachers. Hula existed in a much different and smaller role when I was first learning than it does today when the value of it is being acknowledged by so many. To the kumu hula of today, I would remind them that every hula has a history, a story content, and a reason for existence. Don’t just pass along the motion. I would also say to the kumu and haumāna that the language is vital to comprehension and to the expansion of knowledge within the culture. To the students of today, I would say don’t expect your kumu hula to be your only source of learning in “na mea Hawaiʻi.” You have to seek knowledge diligently and invest energy if you wish to achieve excellence.