Hula Beyond the Ala #7

Hula Beyond the Ala
In Honor of Hālau o Kekuhi

When I think of Wednesday night Hō‘ike, I hear the voices of Hālau o Kekuhi before any other memories rise beneath my skin.

The elements stand still when Hālau o Kekuhi makes their way to the Merrie Monarch Stage. The air becomes electric and when you look around, everyone feels it and sits taller in their seats. The anticipation and excitement that fills the Edith Kanaka’ole Stadium is palpable. When the anaina sees them come up the entrance ramp, the roar of the crowd reaches the sky.

The power of their leo oli feels like the wind that travels up the pali of the lua pele and makes you plant your feet more steadily on the ground. The intricacy and sacred commitment to detail that goes into the preparation of their ‘a‘ahu, lei, mele, and hula is a ceremony in and of itself. I have been blessed to witness glimpses of their ho’omākaukau process of printing their pā‘ū and making their lei. There is a meaning and a purpose to everything they do and there is a reverence that they hold for every part of being an ‘ōlapa that brings tears to my eyes.

When the frontline stand of 2019 began and Aunty Pua Kanahele was arrested protecting our Mauna, the family that holds these sacred ancestral traditions came to the ala to hold Aha three times a day every single day for months on end. Aunty Kekuhi, her children, and grandchildren along with her husband and his Hālau, wove the strands of this aha and insured that it was strong. They made way for many Kumu from here and beyond our shores to learn and to offer. Aunty Kekuhi’s friendship and sisterhood with my mother will always, all ways, set the bar of intentional and deep pilina in my life. She will always be my Mama Mauna and her children, nieces, and nephews will always be my Mauna siblings.

I will never forget when Kumu Nālani Kanaka’ole and Kumu Huihui Kanahele-Mossman lead Hālau o Kekuhi to the ala to offer ho’okupu to the Mauna. It makes so emotional just going back into my memory. They came when the kia’i needed strength and restoration. I saw their hula and oli make every one sit and stand taller where they were. And it was beautiful.

‘Eli‘eli kau mai!