Kumu Hula Aloha Kekoolani teaches classes and conducts workshops through her halau (school) Ka Hale o Na Alii o Ke Kapu Ahi. Aloha trains students at all instructional levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Special keiki (children’s) classes are also available. Please contact Aloha Kekoolani for class availability and rates.

DANCE

• Hula (Modern & Ancient)

• Tahitian (Basics, Tamure and Otea)

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Papa Oli - Hawaiian Chanting

• Kapa Making

• Understanding Hawaiian Sculpture

• Understanding Hawaiian Music

• The Art of Hawaiian Story Telling

• Playing the Ukelele

LANGUAGE & HISTORY

• Hawaiian Language

• Hawaiian History

• Hawaiian Genealogy

Ellarene Papaihaleonaalii Moi Kaawa

Tutu Papa’i

(1881-1946)

The Halau of Kumu Aloha Kekoolani

Aloha Kekoolani’s halau is named in honor of her great grandmother Ellarene Papaihaleonaalii Moi Kaawa,  affectionately known as “Tutu Papa’i”. Born in 1881, Tutu Papa’i was from the Ka’u district on the Big Island, a bastion of traditional Hawaiian culture during the 19th century. The traditions of Ka’u were studied by Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui in her book The Polynesian Family System in Ka'u, Hawaii. Tutu Papa’i brought her Ka’u ways north to Waipio Valley on the Hamakua Coast when she married George Alika Hussey (Sr.), son of Alexander Pollard Hussey and Aloha’s great grandfather.

Tutu Papa'i passed her Hawaiian cultural expertise and Ka’u hula traditions to her daughters and granddaughters. As a youth, Aloha learned Hawaiiana from these women, including her aunts Kumu Hula Myra Kekoolani Chartrand (“Kolani”), Kumu Hula Katherine Kekoolani Dambley and family historian Amy Kekoolani Akao.

Teaching is a family tradition in the Kekoolani ohana. Aloha’s grandfather Nawai Kekoolani (Sr.) was a respected and beloved school teacher on the Big Island and O’ahu. In 1955, he became the first delegate to the National Education Association conference in Washington D.C. to represent Hawaii . Aloha learned Hawaiian language from her great aunt Aina Kekoolani Keawe, a veteran educator and linguist reknown for her expertise in traditional Hawaiian children’s games.

Critical to the development of Aloha’s halau and philosophy of Na’au Poi are the writings of her great-great-grandfather, the ali’i Solomon L.K. Peleioholani. His famous genealogical masterpieces, transcriptions of ancient chants and commentaries on history are touchstones of the Ka Hale o Na Alii o Ke Kapu’s educational system.