26 Sunday, April 1, 2018 Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Heart From page 25
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Jennifer &
Stefan Tanouye
have given it and the
two young kumu an
even higher profile.
“I’m still in shock, honestly,
from the first one, from
2016. When I get to watch
Ka‘iulani from 2016, I can’t
believe that’s my student. And
I can’t believe that she was
Miss Aloha Hula. And again,
with Kelina, same thing,”
Ka‘upu said. “Everybody
is so good. It could’ve been
another time and it could’ve
been another day and it
could’ve been a different
outcome, because everybody
is so good. That’s the humbling
part, that it could’ve
been anybody. Our girl won
by 0.2 points last year. What
does that mean? Nobody
knows. It’s that close.”
That’s 0.2 points on a
second tie-breaker, for those
keeping score, over first
runner-up Julyen Machiko
Kaloke Kaluna of Hula
Halau ‘O Kamuela, home
of Miss Aloha Hula 2015,
Jasmine Kaleihiwa Dunlap.
Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua
will bring wahine and kane
for the first time, as well as a
Miss Aloha Hula candidate,
Nicole Mailenani “Nani” Yuen
“Nani, a 25-year-old from
Papakolea, Oahu, who’s an
accountant at Waialae Country
Club, a bodybuilder and
previously danced for Halau
Na Mamo O Pu‘uanahulu
under the direction of co-kumu
hula Sonny Ching and
Lopaka Igarta-De Vera.
“Out of all the five girls
we have run, we can really
take all the credit for teaching
hula to only one. The
other four have had previous
kumu hula,” Ka‘upu said.
Ka‘upu, who left Hilo to
dance in Oahu’s Polynesian
revues, received his halau
training in Hilo — first with
the late Rae Fonseca at Halau
Hula ‘O Kahikilaulani, later
with Johnny Lum Ho at
Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua.
“My hula started at
Keaukaha School and then at
Malia Puka O Kalani Church.
And I started with Kumu Rae
because of my cousin and
my neighbor, who recruited
me to dance for Kumu
Rae. My hula is because
of Keaukaha,” he said.
“With Kumu Rae, I
learned traditionalism and
basic fundamentals. And
with Uncle Johnny, I learned
and was allowed to let my
spirit just soar, to allow my
emotions to have an outlet
to be expressed. Everybody
thinks that he’s an out-of-the
box kumu hula. I don’t think
so. Hula is about becoming
nature, becoming the mele.
Uncle Johnny’s style of dancing
is just that. You know
what we were talking about
when we’re dancing because
Uncle Johnny would try to get
you to emulate every movement
of a pig or a dog or a
turtle or the wind. It got me
so excited and I felt free and
I could let my emotions out.
And I was being praised for
it. I never had that before.
“Kumu Rae was hard on
me. And I appreciate that
now. The foundation of my
hula came from Kumu Rae.
With Uncle Johnny, what
I appreciate is that he saw
something — and he does
this with musicians, too —
and he starts to mold you.”
Ka‘upu, 42, and Padilla,
39, who’s from Maui,
received their ‘uniki, hula’s
formal graduation ceremony,
from Padilla’s mother, kumu
hula Hokulani Holt-Padilla.
“Mom Hoku always
said she was the puka filler,”
Ka‘upu said. “She
filled all the pukas that my
kumu, both kumu Rae and
Uncle Johnny didn’t have
the chance to fill yet.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@
hawaiitribune-herald.com.
“Mom Hoku always said
she was the puka filler.
She filled all the pukas
that my kumu, both
kumu Rae and Uncle
Johnny didn’t have the
chance to fill yet.”
Robert Ke’ano Ka’upu IV
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