While he’d already recorded several albums of original songs, Tau‘a said there was an intense purity about chant that attracted him. Nae‘ole learned hula from Tau‘a, and says that, as a teacher, Tau‘a was strict, exacting and old school. She is the only woman lucky enough to be accepted as a disciple and study and earn the title of teacher (Kumu) under Grand Master (‘Olōhe) Solomon Kaihewalu in over 40 years. Even choosing a time to hold classes was tricky. Tau‘a says that if he has become a master of chant and other Hawaiian arts, it’s only because of the knowledge he received from his elders. Born on August 29, 1953 in Damien Track on the outskirts of Honolulu, Edward (Etua Lopes) is the youngest of 10 siblings. Read more. “My success is due to the mentoring of those people.”. Hula performer Kanoe Miller remembers it clearly when her 43-year-plus gig at the Halekulani Hotel came to a screeching halt. "Kumu" = teacher in Hawaiian. Although he’s been giving twice monthly hula lessons online, kumu hula Robert Cazimero confesses to “hating” teaching on Zoom, because it deprives him of the close connection to students. her background in art + design mixed with her love of hawaii's natural resources continually informs her design + style. CRAIG T. KOJIMA/CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM. My passions are jewelry making and painting/distressing furniture. Dalire has seen steady growth in interest in hula during the pandemic, with several beginners signing on. It was in the classroom that an eager student asked him to dust off his old recordings, and offered to help him copy his earlier albums from vinyl to CD. She has taught hula in the Malamalama Waldorf School, Na Wai Ola Public-Charter School, and Kea'au School summer programs, as well as being a Hawaiian Studies Hula Teacher in various public schools on the Big Island. “There was like ‘hot hula,’ and there was ‘Tahitian’ that people thought was hula. He was saying, ‘How much do you want this? Read more about our story on the About Us page. I set the physical path. Tau‘a acknowledges he’s never sought the spotlight. “I said, ‘Who am I?’ But [Pahinui] wanted the language, he wanted    the chanting.”. She and her husband, John, cleared out their living room, installed a dance mirror on the wall, upgraded their connectivity, bought cameras, lights, microphones and a “humongous, 70-inch TV screen” to watch her students. “It has been a most positive experience.”. “At that time, dancing wasn’t cool [for men].”. The thirteen-year-old student at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu had been raised in Kula, far from the ocean, but when, on a Saturday excursion to Waikiki Beach, his mates ran to the end of the concrete- and-stone breakwater and jumped off, he leaped too. “I said, ‘I don’t know if the kupunas are going to accept that.’”, “He said, ‘Kumu, you have to realize—you’re the kupuna now!” Tau‘a recalls. “We weren’t allowed to record in halau,” she said. KUMU HINA is the story of Hina Wong- Kalu, a transgender native Hawaiian teacher and cultural icon who brings to life Hawaii's long-held embrace of mahu - those who embody both male and female spirit, and were traditionally respected as caretakers, healers, and keepers of ancient traditions. She is known for her work as a kumu hula ("hula teacher"), as a filmmaker, and as a community leader in the field of Kanaka Maoli language … “I thought that was hilarious.”. She has several students overseas, including one in ­Italy and several in Japan. For over 127 years the vast majority Hawaiians have lived with little to no access to relevant education about their language, history, and national identity. While recording his latest album of chants, Tau‘a wasn’t satisfied with one of the tracks, and sat back in the Wailuku studio in frustration. The first film I watched was KUMU HINA in 2016. The main challenge is the delay caused by streaming over such a long distance. You have entered an incorrect email address! Here you can find the translation for "Teacher" and a mnemonic illustration to help you remember it. Kumu Hula - Frank Keli'i Chang Hawaiian / Polynesian Cultural Teacher and Craftsman Houston, Texas Area 500+ connections 2. “They’d go to concerts when the musicians used to come, so there’s a big draw towards hula. In addition to providing dance instruction, Wright also provides historical and cultural background to hula and Hawaiian history, finding illustrations to go with her presentations, with a book in Japanese based on her research in the offing. By Gayle ‘Kaleilehua’ Greco When the moments in between chicken skin are filled with laughter or tears, you know you are in the presence of the great storyteller, Kumu Hula Etua Lopes. Kumu is a Hawaiian term for "teacher" or "source of wisdom." Click on “Virtual Zoom Classes” to sign up for a Zoom link to a class. “Kumu’s teaching is the spiritual connection,” says Kimokeo Kapa- hulehua, himself a tireless advocate for Hawaiian culture. The teacher of hula is the kumu hula. “But I was struggling. Some of the Islands’ most respected cultural leaders consider him a mentor. Experienced students can compensate, Dalire said, while beginners are encouraged to send her videos of them dancing, which allows her to give more personal direction until they get it right. He is a teacher. When I lived in Oahu, I sang baritone at a Hawaiian civic club choir. Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Copyright © 2021 StarAdvertiser.com. But Zoom presents other challenges, since she is seen in reverse of what students should be doing — right becomes left and left becomes right. “I was overwhelmed with the response,” she said, with about 90 people signing up for one of her first sessions, about 50 of whom have stayed on. Hula workshops on specific songs, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Fridays. By reconceptualizing the kauhale, the program seeks to recreate a Hawaiian language immersion teacher educational kauhale in order to support this dedicated group. Although she admits that “I’m really afraid if we gather together what it will look like,” she said she’s learned to “let that go” and focus on specific techniques, rather than on keeping to the beat. Today the sixty-six-year-old Ha‘iku resident is an acknowledged master of Hawaiian music and chant, and an expert in traditional ceremonies. Show me what you want, and that’s what you will receive.’”. Kau‘i Dalire, the 1992 Miss Aloha Hula and now kumu to Halau Ka Lihilihi­lehua ‘O Hopoe Kuikanani, got a bit of a head start on the pandemic when she started teaching online a few years ago. Tau‘a said later that the hula class was one of the hardest things he’d ever done; at the end of each session, his legs were often so weak he could barely make it down the stairs from the second-floor studio. Wright, who at age 86 doesn’t “dance the way I like anymore,” sits at nearby workstations observing students performing remotely. “Each of those locations already have groups that are interested in hula and ­Hawaiian stuff,” she said. “When the hotel closed down on March 17, I was left with nothing,” she said. He enjoyed teaching ‘ukulele and island history, and had been playing and singing Hawaiian music in clubs at night to supplement his modest teacher’s paycheck, but Tau‘a hadn’t considered becoming a serious student of Hawaiian culture. Cazimero has given talk-stories on various subjects, appearing on panel discussions on hula or ukulele, which he finds “very rewarding.” But teaching hula is a different matter. © Maui Nō Ka Ê»Oi Magazine | Haynes Publishing Group, Top Five Places to Wine & Dine Your Date on Maui, Enter to Win a Romantic Dinner for Two at Banyan Tree, Attack of the Killer Daqs at Esters Fair Prospect. “I thought it was important because hula is so loved around the world, and people were dancing what they thought was hula,” she said. 710 likes. Kumu Hina tells the inspiring story of Hina Wong-Kalu, a transgender native Hawaiian kumu, or teacher, community leader, and cultural icon who brings to life Hawaii’s tradi-tional embrace of māhÅ« — those who embody both male and female spirit. 500 Ala Moana Blvd. Aloha mai welcome to Kumu Cards we are a Hawaiian owned grass roots education company, dedicated to perpetuating Olelo Hawaii (Hawaiian language) & ancestral knowledge. Here, she dances while looking at a large mirror, which allows her to observe her students on the flat-screen behind her. When I looked ahead and saw all the tourists on the shore, I thought, ‘Man, I got a long way to go.’”. … I was totally at a loss as to what to do.”, A performer and producer here and overseas, she had starting teaching in Japan six years ago and in Hawaii in 2019, all of it in-person. “It has given me a whole new way to teach, and I have loved it,” she said. The film traces Hina?s evolution from a timid high school boy to her position as a … Because of his knowledge of ancient protocols, Tau‘a’s been called on to bless everything from new canoes to a jetliner. Reason, cause. “Learning [Hawaiian] was a revolutionary and conservationist act. Info: Call 225-6599 or email johnboy19@mac.com for information. Foundation, basis. It wasn’t until young Keli‘i Tau‘a’s feet hit the water that he remembered he’d never learned to swim. She remembers her first Zoom class and being alarmed to see her 15 students “moving, all differently, and apparently not to the music,” she said with a laugh. *Kumu Life* Story by Ilima Loomis  |  Photography by Nina Lee. We would practice in the morning, early, before the sun came up sometimes. When the pandemic hit, one of her students suggested going to Zoom, and she made a major commitment to “just do it, because we felt like there was nothing else we could do.”. “Kumu teaches us that we must be spiritually connected before we can be physically connected. He’s led his hula halau, Maui Nui o Kama, for thirty-six years, and taught Hawaiian language and culture at Maui Community College for more than a decade. And last April, at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua’s Celebration of the Arts, Tau‘a received Na Mahana Award of Excellence in recognition of his lifetime of dedication to Hawaiian culture. Welcome to Hawaiian Hula Tutorials. KUMU HINA is the story of Hina Wong- Kalu, a transgender native Hawaiian teacher and cultural icon who brings to life Hawaii's long-held embrace of mahu - those who embody both male and female spirit, and were traditionally respected as caretakers, healers, and keepers of ancient traditions. The 2014 documentary Kumu Hina follows the journey of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (“Hina”), a teacher—or kumu—at a Hawaiian charter school in Honolulu, who is mahu. Welcome to Hawaiian Hula Tutorials where we guarantee a pleasurable, step by step musical, audio, and visual learning experience of this ancient Hawaiian tradition.