Week 15: Hula Time!

Blogger’s Note: I wanted to finish off most of my Cayman Island shirts, but I felt it was appropriate to write about hula this week. The Merrie Monarch Festival, the Olympics of Hula, just concluded in Hilo, Hawai’i last weekend, and this weekend is our hula workshop in Sacramento, California. Cayman shirts will conclude next week.

One of the activities that I enjoy is dancing hula. Every one has probably seen hula dancing, especially if one has been to Hawai’i. To an untrained eye, one may just see beautiful ladies dressed in grass skirts or beautiful dresses, decked–out with flower garlands, and dancing with graceful flowing movements to the sounds of an ‘ukulele or guitar. However, to any student of hula, it is so much more than that; hula is preserving Hawaiian history and culture, and has deep meaning. According to King David Kalakaua, "Hula is the language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people." For me, personally, dancing connects me to my spiritual side.

Over the years, I have enjoyed any number of intensive weekend long workshops either in Sacramento or in the Bay Area. Epilikakou workshops were one of them, and is where I acquired this T-shirt. On Epilikakou weekends, we were taught by kumu hulas (hula teachers), most of whom are from Hawai’i. We would enjoy four classes, each from a different kumu hula and then perform that hula or chant to the entire group that evening. This can be hundreds of people – but it was a lot of fun! Due to budgetary reasons, I cannot attend Epilikakou anymore since they are now only held in Kaua’i.

Fortunately, I was able to find another intensive workshop taught by Kumu Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett. Kumu Frank is sometimes called a Loea, or some one who is an expert in the art – and that he is. Kumu Frank has been teaching hula for more than 50 years, ever since he was a young child. I took my first workshop with him in my first Epilikakou workshop. He was very strict and tried to instill discipline – wanting all of us to apply ourselves 100% while learning the hula and the related, accompanying chant.

Since that first outing, I have enjoyed my taking Kumu Frank’s hula workshops in Sacramento for several years. As of last year, the workshop is also offered in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Students can attend two classes from him per day, or four for the weekend.

This particular shirt represents Kumu Frank’s tattoos. The one in the front view is his tattoo on one of his shoulders (right, I believe). He once shared with us that these tattoos represent his aumakua, or ancestral guardian spirits. He was one of the first kumus to get a tattoo in Hawai’i.  I really like this shirt for that reason and also, it reminds me of my classes with him. I think it also looks like a neat abstract work of art.

I greatly enjoy attending his hula workshops. Not only do I get to learn new hulas, but I also get to learn a detailed cultural background of the dance as well. Sadly, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I could not attend this year’s spring workshop, which is one more reason that I am writing about this unique shirt. I do plan to attend the one in the fall.

For more information on Kumu Frank’s workshops in California, check out Holistic Honu’s classes in California.  For additional information on hula, check out this article and photo essay on Island’s Magazine. For those who would like more information on the workshops in Kaua’i, consult the workshop home page.