© Nelson Makua

Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hālauaola

KAMAU KE ‘EA MAI KA HĀLAU A OLA!
Dip into the inner reservoir of hula and experience life!

In celebration of the quality of life that the traditions of the Hula have brought to the Hawai‘i Native and non-native alike, the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation and the Lālākea Foundation were proud to host Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hālauaola. A gathering for Hula practitioners and enthusiasts alike, this unprecedented international hula conference was hosted in Hilo, on the island of Hawai‘i, July 29 thru August 4, 2001. Over 120 Kumu Hula (Hula Masters) and practitioners gathered to share their knowledge and practices of Hula, an ancient Hawaiian art.

CONFERENCE GOALS

• To provide an opportunity for kumu hula and practitioners to share knowledge and insight about Hawaiian culture through hula.
• To provide a learning and enrichment platform for hula practitioners and cultural learners from Hawai‘i and around the world.
• To encourage the preservation of the ancient art forms of Hawai‘i.
• To educate practitioners about the need to protect and nurture our fragile environment in order to ensure continual access to the plants and resources that are necessary to maintain our culture.
• To demonstrate our oral traditions, teachings and ways of transmitting knowledge through the generations.

KUAHU HULA

There are three kuahu hula (hula shrine) that are recognized by the guild of hula practitioners. The greater and primary kuahu is our native forest, the second kuahu is the miniature of this native forest that is assembled in the hālau hula, and lastly, the very body of the hula practitioner becomes a kuahu when their limbs, neck and head are bound and knotted with native forest greenery. All present day practitioners of hula continue at least one of the kuahu practices as ordained by our predecessors. The esoterisms associated with the kuahu hālau hula are numerous, but all have their genesis in the intrinsic understanding that the forest is key to the spiritual, artistic, and the mundane spheres of hula.

Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hālauaola, the World Conference on Hula promotes the practice of kuahu, for only in the understanding of the basic needs for kuahu will our hula continue to flourish. The health and continuance of our hula is determined by the health and continuance of our native environment. The kuahu hula of Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hālauaola is a reflection of the very beginnings of our Hawai‘i Island forests. Just as the kupukupu fern, sprouting in crevices of cooled lava, announces the conception and future birth of a forest, we invite you to witness the rebirth of a forest as seen through the unequivocal understanding of the hula practitioner.