Volcano Art Center is celebrating the hula arts at Kilauea with its Hula Voices program from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, featuring kumu Ha‘amauliola Makua Aiona.
Volcano Art Center is celebrating the hula arts at Kilauea with its Hula Voices program from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, featuring kumu Ha‘amauliola Makua Aiona.
Hula Voices presents an engaging, intimate “talk story” session with Hawaii Island’s kumu hula who eat, sleep and live lives centered on the practice of hula and its associated arts. These free, educational offerings occur regularly on the first Thursday of each month (excluding December) at the art center gallery in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Desiree Moana Cruz will moderate the gathering with Aiona, a hula student for more than 25 years and instructor for kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho with Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua for 15 years.
Aiona has a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies, is a certified teacher through the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Preparation Program and has a master’s degree in education.
Aiona also has 15 years of teaching experience at Waiakea High School and Ke Kula ‘O Nawahiokalani‘opu‘u. At Nawahi, Aiona established a holistic Hawaiian language fine and performing arts program called Mahu‘ilani.
The focus of this program is sharing the traditional arts of hula instrument creation, ‘ohe kapala, hula, oli and hana keaka, or theater performance.
Mahu‘ilani shares the students’ various artistic creations through community classes, demonstrations, exhibitions and hula dramas all through the Hawaiian language. Aiona finds inspiration to perpetuate these arts through the beauty of her homeland.
Hula Voices is supported in part by a grant from the Hawaii County Department of Research and Development and the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Park entrance fees apply.
For more information about Volcano Art Center programs, visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.