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Overview:
Eugene is home to a halau, an academy that teaches Hawaiian language, music and hula dance. The school is having its 12th annual ho’ike dance on Saturday, June 28.
Eugene’s hula dancers are ready to say “aloha.”
The students at the city’s hula academy (traditionally called a halau) Hula O Nā Pua O Hawai’i Nei are preparing for their 12th annual ho’ike showcase dance.
The ho’ike, which means “to show,” will highlight what the halau dancers have learned this season. Eighty dancers from the halau will perform this Saturday, June 28, backed by the California-based Hawaiian band Pōmaika’i.
Akiko Colton, the current kumu hula (or master teacher in hula) for the halau, spent her early years in Kumamoto, Japan, later moving to Hawaii to major in Hawaiian studies at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. She started attending classes after moving to Eugene in 2008, the year the Maui-born Pekelo Day established the halau.
Colton, who as a young ballet dancer found a love for Hawaiian culture through hula, said it’s important that the academy is like a real Hawaiian halau, not a stereotype-driven mainland hula group. Around a third of Colton’s dancers have direct ties to Hawaii, being from the state, having Hawaiian ancestry or previously living in the state.
“There is a typical type of hula for people who don’t know hula, grass skirts with coconut bra,” she said. “It’s easy to follow that pattern. I want to make sure what I teach is Hawaiian.”
Though only a few dresses come from dressmakers in Hawaii, there are no grass skirts and coconut bras here. The rest are made in Eugene by Colton and other dancers with sewing skills who order fabric and take measurements to custom-size costumes to dancers.
The first ho’ike in 2013 was more of a children’s fundraising event, Colton said. Since she took over teaching at the halau later that year, the ho’ikes are more like small festivals celebrating student work from September to June, with food and craft vendors in addition to the performances.
This year’s theme, “Mai Nā Kūpuna Mai,” translates to “from the ancestors.” The songs are classics, Colton said, a nod to the transfer of knowledge in hula dancing.
“Knowledge in hula comes from our ancestors, the generation before us,” she said. “It’s important to keep the tradition and pass it to the next generations.”
Keana Kalikolehua Lopez, a 16-year-old Eugene resident who will be dancing in this weekend’s ho’ike, started dancing at the halau after moving to Oregon from Oklahoma. Her mom, who is not Hawaiian but grew up hula dancing in Hawaii, knew that Oregon (like other West Coast states) had a higher Hawaiian population than other states and wanted to find a halau.
For Lopez, whose dad is Hawaiian and whose great-grandmother danced hula throughout her life, dancing at the halau is a way to tap into her own culture through storytelling. That’s not an unusual feeling for many of her peers, whose families are often watching from the crowd,
“You can tell when you watch our dancers,” she said. “You can see how important it is to them,”
How to attend Hula O Nā Pua O Hawai’i Nei’s ho’ike dance
The ho’ike is scheduled for Saturday, June 28, from 2-4 p.m at Willamette High School Auditorium, 1801 Echo Hollow Road in West Eugene’s Bethel-Danebo neighborhood.
Tickets are available online, for $25 for ages 10 and up and $15 for children ages 5 to 9.
The courtyard opens at 12:30 p.m., with plate lunches and pūpū appetizers for purchase.
