E Pili Kākou

Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa is a native Hawaiian from the island of Maui. She is a progressive pioneer with 30 years of experience in conducting research in various Hawaiian practices of time keeping, lunar calendars, heiau ritual, ceremonies and epistemologies connected to phenology, strategic resource management and social wellbeing. Her expertise is Papahulilani, the study of celestial cycles and atmospheric phenomena. She uses art, photography, chanting, and Hawaiian epistemologies to effectively incorporate and bridge Hawaiian practices into strategic plans, organizational missions, and core community values that successfully drive Hawaiʻi organizations. A critical thinker, recognized kilo practitioner, academic, philanthropist and advocate of access to traditional knowledge, she uses traditional methods to create and enrich healthy environments and situations where people can thrive.  Kalei encourages people to strengthen their kilo or keen observational skills and has invited the community to participate in Kilo Malama.

Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa curates and leads Kanaenae Together.

Kanaenae Together is part of the Mauliola Endowment ecosystem providing opportunities for daily ritual for releasing stress. Our gatherings support healthy mind, body, and spirit through Hawaiian practices. Born out of the need to find positive ways to overcome the crushing stress generated during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Kānaenae Together was organically created.

In 2013 our production of Ka Leo Kānaka—Voice of the People was inspired by a phenomenal project called ʻIke Kūʻokoʻa — Liberating Knowledge— where volunteers manually transcribed century-old Hawaiian Language newspapers to create a searchable data base from a treasure trove of historical knowledge.

A friendly competition ensued, prompted by the project’s leads, Puakea Nogelmeier and Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit. They put out the call to countless hālau, schools, civic clubs, universities and other organizations in Hawaiʻi and beyond to see who could transcribe the most pages in a friendly competition-of-contribution.

Nā Lei Hulu transcribed over 1200 pages which landed us in first place. As a kumu, I consider this to be one of our hālau’s most significant accomplishments.

Awaiaulu is dedicated to developing resources and resource people that can bridge Hawaiian knowledge from the past to the present and the future. Historical resources are made accessible so as to build the knowledge base of both Hawaiian and English-speaking audiences, and young scholars are trained to understand and interpret those resources for modern audiences today and tomorrow.

Throughout Hawaii in the 1920s and 1930s, one could find orchestras playing Hawaiian Swing and the house would be jumping. Kahulanui borrowed from these influences and performs classic Hawaiian songs in a syncopated style making Hawaiian Swing vibrant and alive in Hawaii today.

In October 2019, we were excited to collaborate with Kahulanui for a weekend of performances at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

Keauhou joined us at the Palace of Fine Arts October 2019 for our Hōʻike Nui.

The Keauhou Story

By Constance Hale

In 2017, a trio of twenty-somethings came out with an album, Keauhou, that took Hawai‘i by storm. The three musicians are brothers Zachary Alaka‘i Lum and Nicholas Keali‘i Lum, along with fellow Kamehameha School graduate Jonah Kahanuola Solatorio.

It may seem like Keauhou (the name of the group as well as their first album) suddenly burst onto the scene, but all three men were steeped in music. Jonah’s dad is a musician, though he was more partial to R&B than to traditional Hawaiian music. Zach and Nick’s father once played in the band O‘heo and taught his sons to play ʻukulele, guitar, and slack key. They started appearing professionally with their aunty on their mom’s side, Kahalepuna Richardson Naki.

“My first musical memory would be going on the trolley during Christmas,” Zach says. “My aunty and her family would bring their instruments, and we’d all sing as we went through Honolulu. One of my uncles suggested that I join the Honolulu Boy Choir. Then I got into the Kamehameha Schools Elementary Choir. In middle school, I went into Alan Akaka’s Hawaiian Ensemble. I figured out the bass and took lessons in steel guitar from Alan Akaka.” (He also played saxophone and drums in the school band.)

In the high school Concert Glee Club, Zach met Jonah, and the two formed a trio with another classmate. “Around 2008,” Nick remembers, “they were playing in Midkiff Library, standing next to a bookshelf. Over the bookshelf hung a waʻa (Hawaiian canoe) whose name was Makani Hou o Keauhou, or ‘the new wind of Keauhou.’ Someone asked, ‘What’s your name?’, and they said they didn’t have one.” Nick remembers that Hawaiian language teacher Hailama Farden, himself a scion of a musical family, said, “Your name is Keauhou.”

By 2009, Nick had joined the trio, replacing the classmate. They were playing the circuit—Honolulu venues like the Imua Lounge and the Ilikai Bar and Grill. Soon the name of the waʻa took hold as the group’s name. Jonah translates it as “the new generation,” because they want their songs to inspire others to learn and preserve Hawaiian language and culture. Not coincidentally, Jonah is a Hawaiian language teacher at Kamehameha Schools, where Zach is choral director. Nick works for the Department of Education designing tests for immersion schools. All three are fluent in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language).

Nick says he listens to a variety of genres and often wants to “push the envelope.” But the three agree that their kuleana (responsibility; calling) is to stay in a deeply Hawaiian vein. Hula and music go hand in hand, says Nick, citing an ‘ōlelo no‘eau, or proverb: I le‘a ka hula i ka ho‘opa‘a (“The hula is pleasing because of the drummer”). But it’s not just the rhythm of the “drum” that makes this musical style so exciting for the hula dancers. Zach Lum’s hakumele (poetic lyrics) inspire the dancer with their natural imagery. Nick Lum’s rich tenor and Jonah Solatorio’s sweet falsetto help the dancer embody the joyful spirit of the song. And it’s sheer fun to paddle a canoe when they sing “Hoe, Hoe Nā Wa‘a” (“Row, Row the Canoes”).

Keauhou has accompanied hālau hula for performances, they have had their own concerts on the mainland, and they travel frequently to Japan, but this is their first appearance in San Francisco.

Kapaemahu is a multimedia education and community engagement project rooted in Hawaiian culture and dedicated to acceptance, respect, and inclusion for all.  It is based on the story of four large stones that were long ago placed on Waikīkī beach as a monument to the mahu – extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit – who brough healing arts from Tahiti to Hawai’i.

Few of the millions of people who pass by the stones of Kapaemahu today know their true meaning and significance.  Our hope is to start a conversation that will restore this storied site as a permanent reminder of Hawai’i’s long history of healing, inclusion and aloha.

To ensure that a broad cross section of the public is aware of the stones of Kapaemahu and the messages they embody, our team has developed multiple presentations of the story and its history:

• Animated short film
• Bilingual childrens’ picture book
• Feature length public television documentary
• Museum exhibition
• Academic article
• Online virtual hub
• Hawai’i Convention Center exhibition

For many years, we have been fortunate enough to collaborate with musical legend and Kumu Hula Robert Uluwehi Cazimero and his hālau Hālau nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua.

Our 2013 coproduction Hula Guyz,a was a dazzling program featuring kumu hula, musician extraordinaire, and Hawaiian cultural treasure Robert Cazimero.

The show featured the men of his hālau, Hālau nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua, and the men of Nā Lei Hulu. Some of our wahine joined the fun, too!

Kūpaoa has been our house band since 2003. They were just starting out as a band at the time and I don’t think that either of us imagined we would be celebrating our 20th anniversary soon. Yet here we are!

COVID kept us apart for a few years, but we recently came together for our performance at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival this past June. It was an aloha-filled reunion, with their melifluous voices filling the air and our hula hearts.

Not much has changed for them since we last saw each other. Wait a minute. A lot has changed! They now have two lovely little girls and have started a new clothing line of casual Hawaiian apparel—Puahina Designs.
Check it out: puahinahawaii.com

For our 2022 production, Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu returns to the Palace of Fine Arts with Māhū, an all new hula production featuring a captivating cast of māhū guest artists: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Kuini, and Kaumakaʻiwa Kanakaʻole.

Artistic director Patrick Makuakāne says, “This year’s show features some of the most talented māhū artists in Hawaiʻi today—each of whom possesses a unique vibe and persona which arouses a distinctive choreographic approach generating hula that feels fresh, possibly forbidden, and slightly dangerous.

“Every song, dance and luxuriously-sequined garment were chosen as deliberate opportunities to 

be extravagant or at the very least pleasurably provocative. No fillers allowed.”

I first met Pat & Scarlet Eskildsen of Kona, Hawaiʻi  when they travelled to  San Francisco to in 2018 for our production of I MUA – Hula in Unusual Places. They were a part of Kahulanui—my favorite Hawaiian jazz band.

It was then, they asked if I would be interested in collaborating with them on recording an album, which resulted in KUPUKUPU. Iʻve been having a blast crafting music with Pat & Scarlet! They recently started their own production company called Saddle Road Productions. Their mission is to work with creative individuals on projects that inspire, encourage growth and unity through collaborative efforts.
http://saddleroadproductions.com

Established in 1991, Storyteller is committed to assist cultural organizations in building community support and keeping their voices strong. Storyteller is experienced in working closely with culture bearers and cultural leaders to preserve cultural resources and provide resource access within the community. Wallace Murray is the founder of Storyteller and has over 40 years experience in producing and directing film and video projects.

Since 1998 Wally has produced documentary videos for Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu with Kumu Hula, Patrick Makuakāne.

Michael Jackowitz is a Tony-award winning broadway musical producer (Diana, ESTELLA SCROOGE – A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH A TWIST, Once Upon this Island) . Several years ago, he asked me to be the choreographer for a new musical being based on the epic tale of Hi’iakaikapoliopele, a beloved mo’olelo for hula peeps.

It eventually evolved into also co-writing the story and serving as part of the creative team, along with Keali’i Reichel and Roslyn Catracchia. We’ve been collaborating for many years and hope to finish by the end of this year.  Crossing fingers!