What a charge to return to my roots on the Big Island of Hawaii and to dance with all of my hula 'ohana (family) again! My kumu (teacher) has accomplished so much in 25 years - and yet it seems like a twinkling of the eye! We are born from this beautiful 'aina (land) of Hawaii: its massive sacred mountains - Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai and Kohala; its creative energy from the erupting volcano and its goddess Pele; its vast, deep, life-sustaining Pacific Ocean; its rain, mist, thunder and lightning, the bubbling fresh water streams; its abundant plants and animals gracing the land. I saw all this in a special hula performance last month.

The 25th Anniversary Performance of Halau Hula Ka No'eau was entitled, "The Art of Hula - 25 years of dance, chants and traditions - artistic experience, traditional ingenuity, deceptive simplicity." Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang gathered his haumana (students) - 15 kumu hula (master teachers of the hula), 26 'olapa (graduate dancers)and ho'opa'a (graduate chanters), and some 40 gracious ladies and keiki (children) in a sold out performance.

The staging was simple yet dramatic - there were three, huge, beautiful ohia lehua branches that looked like graceful trees in a forest clearing. Six sections formed the body of the production.

The first was called "Hawaiian Legends Told in a Church Basement." It is about Kumu Michael's elementary school days when he learned Hawaiian legends in the basement of a church. Michael recreated his three favorite legends by merging Hawaiian chants and dance with the ethereal music of Ave Maria.

The second section was for Pele, the Volcano Goddess, alive and well on the Big Island. Younger girls and keiki, taught by Na Kumu Keikilani Curnan, Liana Aveiro, and Lehua Bray, danced. Some wore black skirts splashed with brilliant crimsons and gold. Others wore red, the color of molten lava. Gray hinahina (Spanish Moss) leis adorned their heads and flowing, long, black hair.  These matched the hinahina worn around their necks, wrists and ankles. The chanting was strong and steady for the beautiful young dancers.

The third section was a tribute to the people of Waimea - the beautiful town where Michael moved in 1986 to begin teaching hula. This section featured songs written for the area. The Honolulu halau (school) performed Hole Waimea and three young boys did a delightful hula noho (sitting hula) titled Hole Waimea Elua. We also danced one of my favorites, Waika, as sung by the Cazimero Brothers. Waika is a dance that always ended our three-hour practice. Often we would be drenched with perspiration from our vigorous practice - though it was dark and cool outside the halau. Waika became my love song to the place where we lived. When the familiar strains of the melody began, tears filled my eyes as I danced this mele (song) in step with my beloved hula sisters. After all those years of practice and performance, through thick and thin, here we were all together again, dancing in that sweet spot of aloha.

Performance always passes quickly. Soon it was intermission and time to change. You could tell there were many experienced dancers around by how quickly they pitched in to help the keiki and each other. This made costume changes easy.

The fourth section was called "Traditional Ingenuity" and honored Maiki Aiu Lake who is often credited with beginning the Hawaiian Renaissance. By her understanding of tradition combined with Western teaching methods, she built the foundation for Hula as we know it today. This was the hula pahu (drum) section. Drumming with my kumu sisters evoked for me the kupuna (ancestors) - our living hula lineage passed down from kumu to haumana through the years. The 26 'olapa danced to the drumbeats and chants of the 15 kumu, and we became one powerful, resilient body.

The fifth section was called "Deceptive Simplicity" where Kumu Michael said candidly, "Two times to the dentist, don't make you the dentist." He also said, "Many beginners think that they will learn a dance when they first come to class. But we don't teach hulas, we teach how to hula and all that hula encompasses." This section featured the monarchy piece for the
Ali'i (Hawaiian royalty). Many of these dances are hula noho (sitting hula) that my kumu sisters and I used to perform with implements such as the 'uli'uli (feathered gourds) and pu'ili (bamboo rattles). We chanted and harmonized the poetry, music, history and culture - all inherent disciplines of hula. And so are the values of integrity, humility, patience and aloha.

And the final section was called the "Art of Hula". Aunty Maiki said that, "Hula is the art of Hawaiian Dance expressing all that we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and feel. "   Kumu Michael added, "We create with an understanding of the past, we rely on our life experiences, and we maintain the traditions of our elders. This is the Art of Hula! This is who we are!"

The finale was Pua Lililehua, a song written for Aunty Maiki by the famous Hawaiian singer, Kahauanu Lake, who later became her husband. It is a dance classic - a standard in the Maiki Aiu Lake lineage - beloved by all of her students and their students.   It speaks of a mo'o (lizard guardian of a pond) who sees a beautiful woman bathing there, and is smitten by the sight of her. The rendition was sung by the Kahauanu Lake Trio.

The 25th Anniversary Performance was just the tip of the iceberg of what Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang has accomplished with his haumana in carrying out his love and dedication to Hula. Much knowledge, maturity and a deep inner strength is needed to create such an excellent performance. A lot of work by many people goes on behind the scenes - but especially by the Kumu. Ha'upu mauna kilohana i ka la'i!

Malama pono (take care of body, mind and heart),

June Kaililani Tanoue

Kumu Hula