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Hula class offers a taste of Hawaiian spirit
Friday, June 8, 2007
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff Photos by Gary Smith
Aria Curameng, 9, front, of Indian Head practices during a Saturday class at Halau O Na Hali’a. Other dancers include Beth Mizuno, far left, Sarah Dagen, Ken Alcain and Makana Alcain.
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Or as close to the Aloha State as a home in Waldorf’s Sentry Woods can get.
Patty Makanui’s house currently doubles as the studio for Halia O Na Hali’a, or School of Fond Remembrance, School of Memories, where hula is taught all day most Saturdays.
Traditional Hawaiian instruments like the ipu heke, the double-headed gourd, rest next to the giant flat screen television. Sofas and armchairs are stacked, Tetris-style, off to the side to allow open space for practice. Tables, weighted down with framed Makanui family pictures, are pushed against walls.
Students — the girls wearing handmade full skirts in various island shades and patterns — huddle near the breakfast bar, where they ‘‘chant-in,” or ask permission to enter the school.
‘‘You have to ask permission to come in,” said instructor Makanui, a native of Oahu. ‘‘It shows you want to focus, you want to be here.”
Fellow instructor and Maui native Debbie Burkle added, ‘‘Learning is a privilege, not a right, in Hawaiian culture.”
Established by Makanui, Burkle and Oahu native Keoni Paul in 2003, the hula halau (‘‘halau” means ‘‘school” in Hawaiian) once was an informal gathering that has evolved into a family of about 15 students.
The Hawaiian culture is steeped in traditions, said Makanui, who learned from hula masters, her ‘‘aunty” Mary Folk and Kamaki Kanahele.
Once on the mainland, she was reintroduced to hula by renowned teacher Wayne Kaho’onei Panoke. Ladd Kahele Heleloa, an instructor in Las Vegas, Nev., visits Maryland from time to time to help run classes at Halau O Na Hali’a.
Among hula and the importance of food (‘‘Eating is a big part of the culture,” she said), the strongest tradition might be that of ‘‘ohana” or family, Makanui said.
Family traditions
The classes last close to all day, with parents like Ron Curameng stopping by to collect his daughter, Aria, 9, but hanging around for a bit to chat and catch up.
With his family originally from Maui, Curameng said Aria is enrolled in the class to learn her culture, and hula is a family tradition.
‘‘I learned it, too,” he said.
Ken Alcain, 13, who takes the class with his sisters, Makana, 14, and Aliah, 11, is the only ‘‘kane” or male dancer (other than instructor Paul) this particular Saturday.
Ken’s mother, Angela Alcain, enrolled her kids in the class because their father is Hawaiian.
‘‘It’s a way for them to be connected to their culture,” said Alcain, of Waldorf. ‘‘They really like it. And there is a nice sense of community, too.”
During a break, teens hand out ropes of red licorice and lean against each other tiredly.
Expectant mother Sarah Muira, her swollen belly hanging proudly over her full skirt, is warned not to show up again (she drives to Waldorf from West Virginia to attend class) until after she delivers. Noe Burkle, her jeans rolled to her knees, hidden under a skirt, goes outside to play with the Makanui’s dog.
‘‘You have to give me your whole day,” Makanui said. ‘‘If you’re a dancer, your boyfriend, husband, mom, your family is welcome, too.
‘‘This school is Ohana-based,” she continued. ‘‘It gives them a right to criticize each other.”
It also gives them a right to care.
That’s what the instructors wanted when they started the school: to create not just a place to learn moves, but an opportunity to carry on the rich culture of Hawaii.
Hawaii. Hula. Heritage.
At Halau O Na Hali’a, the Hawaiian heritage is folded into dance instruction.
‘‘In Hawaiian culture, everything has a purpose or a soul. We value the land, because it’s limited. The land, the oceans, the mountains, the winds. Everything. We have respect for everything in nature,” Makanui said.
Some believe hula is the soul of Hawaii expressed in motion.
Now a form of entertainment, the dance was originally a way of worship or pray.
Every movement is imbued with meaning; every wave of the dancer’s hands has significance.
The school focuses on ‘‘kahiko” (traditional), ‘‘auana” (contemporary) and ‘‘oli” (chant) dances. While Christian-based, the instructors of the Hali’a ask students to chant to Laka, an acknowledgement to the Hawaiian goddess of hula.
‘‘You can come into this family,” Makanui said, ‘‘but there are rules.”
Rules — such as hair being tied back, shoes left outside by the door or wearing the required clothing — are followed because Makanui is a visual person.
‘‘I like to see your face,” she explained, adding that she also requests that female students wear a flower tucked in their hair. ‘‘A flower in the hair makes you feel a little ... ” she searches for the right word and smiles, ‘‘aloha.”
The students do not dance at functions, such as weddings or corporate events.
It is a decision the school’s founders adhere to, even if they do perform at cultural festivals.
‘‘We don’t want to be a novelty,” Makanui said. ‘‘And we don’t do private things because it takes away from the class and the teaching time.”
More than a dance
Makanui used to pester her sister, a hula instructor, to teach her.
‘‘Hula is a part of my life. I breathe it, I live it,” said Makanui, a mother of two teenagers. ‘‘I always thought that hula is something everybody did. Like everybody eats dinner? Everybody hulaed.”
Most of the students have a connection to Hawaii — either by blood, former residence or just curiosity.
Stationed in Hawaii while in the U.S. Navy, Jennifer Howard of Waldorf grew enamored of the island. She always wanted to learn to hula, but never had the opportunity.
Now, the mother of an 8-year-daugther has the time.
‘‘I always enjoyed the local [Hawaiian] culture, and hula represents the culture and history. It’s not just about dance.”
Beth Mizuno of Bethesda and her husband were raised in Hawaii and wanted to continue celebrating the culture.
‘‘It’s sort of special,” said Mizuno, who has been a halau student for four years. ‘‘Not only the dancing, but the way people are. The generosity and sense of kindness ... it’s ‘aloha.’”
Adding that the level of dance is worth the drive from Montgomery County, Mizuno is happy hula is somewhat hip.
‘‘Growing up, hula was not valued,” she said. ‘‘There was a renaissance in the ’70s, and we’re the beneficiaries of that now.”
Muira, whose middle name, Wahineaukaikaiminaauao, translates to ‘‘woman who traveled across the ocean,” is Hawaiian, but said she still enjoys coming to class in Makanui’s suburban two-story home.
‘‘You become more Hawaiian here,” she smiled.
‘‘It’s not a hula class,” said Katherina Deery, another Hawaiian transplant. ‘‘It’s a community.”
E-mail Sara K. Taylor at staylor@somdnews.com.
