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Dancing in the Sea of Life Hula Newsletter                    
                                                                              ' Waimea '                           Photography by Charmian

Ka ua Kipu'upu'u o Waimea.
The Kipu'upu'u rain of Waimea.
An expression often used in songs of Waimea, Hawai'i, when Kamehameha organized an army
of spear fighters and runners from Waimea. They called themselves Kipu'upu'u
after the cold rain of their homeland. 
      

'Olelo No'eau - Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, #1571

Collected, translated and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui   

   

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In This Issue
Michael Pili Pang
Kumu Hula
Michael Pili Pang returns to Chicago!
 
Kumu Michael Pili Pang
We are honored to have Kumu Michael return to Chicago!  He will teach
Hula & Oli Workshops
that are not to be missed!! 

Kumu Michael's workshops are for experienced dancers.
May 10th   9 - 11 am - Auana Workshop

May 11th  12 - 2 pm - Kahiko Workshop

May 11th  2 - 3:30 pm - 
Chanting Workshop 


Kumu June teaches
Beginner Auana Workshop
May 10th  9-11 am
no experience needed

38 Lake St, Oak Park  
Still Time to
AND

May 9 - 10, 2014
featuring speakers and  performances by Jason Poole, Kumu Michael Pang and Halau Hula Ka No'eau, Kumu June Tanoue and Halau i Ka Pono

DePaul University's Cortelyou Commons
2324 North Fremont St. Chicago
(see performance times in block below)
Free and Open to the Public

 It's almost here - please join us for an unforgettable Hawaiian cultural experience! 

Halau i Ka Pono  Free Hula Performances in MAY
Kodomo No Hi
Children's Festival
Saturday, May 3rd
10:30 am - 4 pm

Matthew Bieszczat Volunteer Resource Ctr

6100 N Central Ave.
Chicago, IL
HIKP performs at 12:30 and 1:30 pm
Free
**********

DePaul University Humanities Center presents
"Paradise Lost and Found" Conference

Jason Poole aka The Accidental Hawaiian Crooner
6:00 pm Jason Poole
6:30 pm Kumu June & Halau i Ka Pono
7:00 pm  Kumu Michael Pili Pang & Halau Hula Ka No'eau
Halau Hula Ka No'eau
DePaul University Cortelyou Commons
2324 N Fremont St
Chicago
FREE

A wonderful way to feel the energy of Hawaii, gently tone your body, strengthen your core, and enjoy dancing to the beautiful music of Hawaii. No experience necessary. Men, Women age 16 years and older welcome!   

Mondays

6 - 7 pm 

Tuesdays 

11 am - 12 noon 

Saturdays

8:30 - 9:30 AM 

   

Men, Women aged 16 years and older.  6 months experience or permission of Kumu.  Dance to the melodic music of Hawaii.  

Wednesdays 

7 - 8 PM  

 

Go deeper into the culture of Hawaii through the chants and hula of Hawaii.   Men and women age 16 years and older.  6 months experience or permission of Kumu.    

  Wednesdays    

6 - 7 PM     


Check our website for class schedules. 

All classes are held at our sister organization:   

 Zen Life & Meditation Center 

38 Lake Street  

Oak Park, IL.    

 

For more information call 708-297-6321 or email

[email protected]

 

MAHALO NUI LOA/
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

A heartfelt mahalo (thank you) to everyone who helps Kumu June and Halau i Ka Pono.  Your aloha and support makes a tremendous difference!!! 

Special thank you's to:
Czerina Salud, Lori Murphy, What's on Dec with Billy Dec, Peter Steeves and DePaul University Humanities Center, Ed Leinartas, Hoda Boyer,  Photography by Charmian.  

May 2014
Kumu June Kaililani Tanoue
I'm now going through a process of truly letting go of the house that my husband and I have lived in and loved for ten years.  It's a process that I've put off doing because I've had a wonderful time in this house - my home.

This reminds me of selling our home in Waimea, Hawaii over a decade ago.  It was a sweet ranch house set amidst lush, green Hawaiian pastures with an amazing view of hills rolling toward the famous Mauna a Wakea.  I remember the Kipu'upu'u rains -  the cold that came down with the wind.  Although those rains could be fierce, I loved being there with the biting rain and the great mountain.

I couldn't bear to sell that house quickly so we rented it out when we moved to Santa Barbara in 2001. About a year later we were living in Western Massachusetts, and I knew we wouldn't be coming back to live in Hawaii soon.  So we sold the house to our renter.  He loved it too.

Our Oak Park house has been on the market since mid-March, and no offers have been made even though we've been showing it pretty steadily.  I think if I'm serious about letting go, I need to let go of any psychic ties that I have to this place.  I need to make room for someone else.  

We've taken bookcases and many boxes of books out of the house.  The physical move has begun.  Now it's time to release and let go of any emotional ties.  To begin this process, I stood quietly in each of the fourteen rooms of our home, looked around, and let the memories of different events come up.  I let myself stay - taking time to remember them fully.  Then I carefully put them into a kind of imaginary suitcase of my heart.  I found myself thanking each room for all the events that had happened there, and, when I felt complete, I moved to the next room.  Some memories that arose were painful, but that was alright.  All were good learning opportunities.  I included everything.  

When I was done, I felt filled, yet my heart remained open.  Some tears gently flowed.  It's sad saying goodbye to the part of my life that was entwined with this house.  But is it really goodbye now that I have my suitcase of memories with me?  I know it's time to move on.

It's been raining - cold but gently - this past week.  The process of letting go can be hard. It's about beginnings and endings.  Birth and death.  I'll end with this quote from Jack Kornfield.

"In the end, just three things matter:
How well we have lived
How well we have loved
How well we have learned to let go"

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


June Kaililani Tanoue
Kumu Hula

 

P.S.  In case you missed it last month, here's a slideshow of our "Many Traditions - One Heart" performance this past March with photographs by Ed Leinartas and Robert Althouse.  Music is Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom's song Napua.

Michael Pili Pang
Kumu Michael Pili Pang
This interview is re-printed from the March 2012 issue of Dancing in the Sea of Life Hula Newsletter.

Michael Pili Pang was ten years old when he started hula in grade school in Honolulu. His teacher was Kealoha Wong, a dancer of the great Maiki Aiu Lake. He danced until high school, and then danced with Mrs. Lake until her passing in 1984. In 1985, he went through his second 'uniki (hula graduation) under Mae Kamamalu Klein, the first Kokua (assistant) Kumu Hula of Maiki Aiu Lake. There he received his kihei (garments) and title of Kumu Hula.

 

Michael is the kumu hula of Halau Hula Ka No'eau, a hula academy in Waimea on the Big Island and in Honolulu.  He studied chanting with Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele.  He is my kumu hula - my teacher, mentor and guide - in the hula world. We talked by phone recently, and I asked him about the cultural context and history of the Hula. Our conversation follows:

 

Michael Pili Pang: Dance is a reflection of a group or community of people. In this case a group of Pacific Islanders with cultural ideas/idioms - cultural DNA are embedded in the hula. As hula moved through time, with the influx of foreigners/westerners, the cultural DNA shifted in Hawaii, and so did the dance form. It moved from religious to honorific to entertainment to cultural identity - all of which are embedded in hula.

 

June Tanoue: What was one of the most important things you learned from Aunty Maiki and what do you hope that your students learn?

 

MPP: As a teacher she was most inspiring. She didn't just teach us hula. She taught us that it was a way of life. We no longer just saw a flower on the tree - it was part of a lei. We looked at mountains as poetic forms of people and places. We looked at the sunrise and sunset as a gift from God. It's not just a matter of learning how to dance. We learned how to live hula, and how hula is a part of us everyday. We learned life values: she taught us that you treated others and especially your elders a certain way. Though not related, she became like a mother to us. When you went to learn with Auntie Maiki, it was a family atmosphere. We had hula brothers and sisters. The elders became our aunties and uncles.

 

JT: You were very close to her husband Kahauanu Lake. What did you learn from him?

 

MPP: Uncle K was a ukulele virtuoso, musician, and composer as well as a great community leader. Working with Uncle K on projects and just hanging out with him, I learned so much about the history and genealogy of songs and how he as a musician composed and arranged music. It gave me a better understanding of how Aunty Maiki choreographed - very much in sync with the music. In the dance Pua Ahihi (a distinct species of ohia lehua flower) - the word pua ahihi stretches over 8-counts. We don't just describe the flower - we pick the flower and lift the flower to show that it grows up on the mountain. The choreography moves with the music instead of just describing the poetry. My understanding of how she created and how the music flows with the dance made me appreciate her choreography.
 
JT: What are some of the key things that you learned while getting your MFA in dance and hula in particular?

MPP: The major thing I learned was to understand that all communities and cultures dance, and we all have our own reasons. It made me look at hula from an outside point of view and taught me how to explain it a little better. For example, you can take a hula and look at it's structure - how it was created, why they dance it, what are the links that make this Hawaiian hula. It taught me how to use body gestures and helped me to understand another level of kinetic movement - of moving my body through space.   Where once it was just
ho'onana(watch), ho'olohe(listen), ho'opili(mimic) - now I can take it all apart and explain the details of each gesture and movement. I learned how to break down the movement.
 
However, although I can make a dancer a better technician, it doesn't mean that the eha (essence of the dance) is always there. Eha is one thing that the University does not teach, and alo to alo (face to face) experience with the kumu hula is very important. You have to be dedicated, physically and mentally present, to be a great hula dancer. For us, it's not just learn a hula and do it on your own. For example, our style of hula - the hula ku'i style takes a tremendous amount of teacher/student relationship to pa ka na'au(get it in your body, mind and heart).
 
JT: You learned about the rites of passages, the graduation or 'uniki of hula. What do you feel is important in this process?
 
MPP: The process of graduating takes place not when the student is ready. It happens when the kumu is ready to pass the knowledge on and move the student forward. As a kumu hula, I have to be ready - it's a life changing experience, and I have to be ready for all of it. When I do begin, I start by hoping that what I pass on to my students will be understanding and respect for our styling of dance and our culture. I expect my students to understand how to keep the mannerisms and protocol of the dance intact, and to understand the kaona (hidden meanings) of our hula traditions and our lineage. There are plenty of people in the world who understand hula - but not our lineage, nor our style.
 
It is important first to understand what it takes to be a dancer - dedication, hard work, the qualities of respect and patience. The whole concept behind it is a master/apprentice time frame. It is a very serious endeavor.

JT: You've been teaching for 26 years now and dancing since you were 10. What insights would you like to share about the hula?

MPP: Hula is and has always been a privilege that we never take for granted. Everything that we see and try to do for hula is purposeful. Sometimes I may drive my students a little nuts by making them go the extra route, such as 'let's make a lauhala mat or a new feather lei.'   We never took the short route and became frivolous because I value it so much. Hula is not a matter of convenience. It takes lots of work and lots of dedication. Ten people will drink from the well, but only one or two will actually be nourished and walk away with what we are all about. Not everyone will get it. And that's okay because hula should be enjoyed by everyone, but only a few will move to the next level.
Mauna A Wakea Update
 
Hawane Rios On Mauna Kea
Hawane Rios On Mauna Kea
About Us
Halau i Ka Pono at "Many Traditions - One Heart," March 30, 2014

 Halau i Ka Pono - the Hula School of Chicago is a sister program of the Zen Life & Meditation Center of Chicago located in Oak Park, IL.  Kumu Hula June Kaililani Tanoue established the school in 2009 and has been teaching hula since 2003.

 

Halau i Ka Pono means School that Cultivates the Goodness.  We teach Hula which is defined as the art of Hawaiian dance expressing all that we see, hear, taste, touch, and feel. Hula and healing go hand in hand in our Halau.  The dance connects us to the grounding energy of the earth and opens us to the warm spirit of Aloha (love).  Come join us!  We have wonderful introductory classes for adult beginners!  No experience necessary.

 

Contact Kumu June at [email protected] for more information.  May your lives be full of aloha blessings!