The Volcano Art Center’s 2017 Hula Kahiko series continues at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a performance featuring students of Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniʻopuʻu Public Charter School under the direction of kumu Haʻamauliola Aiona.
At Nawahi, Aiona established a holistic Hawaiian language fine and performing arts program called Mahuʻilani. The focus of this program is sharing the traditional arts of hula instrument creation, ʻohe kapala, hula, oli and hana keaka or theater performance. Mahuʻilani shares the students’ various artistic creations through community classes, demonstrations, exhibitions and hula dramas all through the Hawaiian language.
The seventh- and 10th-grade students of Nawahi will share famous stories of ancestral gods, famous chiefs and significant role models such at Iosepa Nawahi and his wife, Emma Aʻima Aʻi Nawahi.
The performance is part of a year-round series sponsored by the Volcano Art Center. For the series, hula halau from throughout Hawaii are invited to perform each month in a one-of-a-kind outdoor setting at the kahua hula (platform) in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The performances are presented authentically in an outdoor setting, rain or shine without electronic amplification. Audience members are encouraged to bring sun/rain gear and sitting mats.
Held in conjunction with the Hula Kahiko performances, the public is invited to join cultural practitioner Kamaolipua Grace and members of Halauolaokalani from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on the lanai of the Volcano Art Gallery. Presenting a lovely display of Na Mea Hula (all things hula), halau members will share a variety of instruments, implements and lei styles that play an integral role in the life of the hula practitioner.
These free events are supported in part by a grant from the Hawaii County Department of Research and Development and the Hawaii Tourism Authority and individual funding from members of the Volcano Art Center’s ʻohana. National park entrance fees may apply.
For more information, visit www.volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-8222.