la_belle_laide | Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole and Te Vaka

A few days ago I got a message from a west-end Hula sister named Makanani about a Hula/Tahitian workshop in Stonybrook. WHAT? I am so out of the loop on this stuff. And it was with a NZ/Tokelau-based band called Te Vaka, and Hawaiian singer/dancer Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole.

I had a seminar with the Kanaka'ole family years ago, and it was the most intense seminar ever. In fact, I'm pretty sure I went home injured after that one, because I just didn't warm up enough. He is the son of one of my favorites, Kekuhi Kanahele, and he's an awesome singer in his own right. (But, dude, I just really love Kekuhi. I remember when I went to that seminar years ago and I saw her in the elevator. I couldn't even talk to her. That's how ridiculous I am.)

If you've heard of the epic Holo Mai Pele then you know of the Kanaka'ole family.

So! How could I miss it! I had gathered that since the workshop was free to students of Stonybrook, it wasn't going to be an actual Hula workshop, but just a basics introduction. I could have skipped it and just gone to the concert later that night, but I figured, what the hell, ten bucks for watching this epic Hula dancer show the basics to some locals. Maybe I would get some pointers on how to teach total newbies, right?

And I actually did. He had the entire class dancing within two hours, which is something that I didn't manage to do in two weeks with my class over the summer. He was very kind, but didn't waste any time, only teaching four basic steps, what they meant, and then going right into a Hula that he had written. There's just something about him that conveys it so that people understand immediately. I need to find that.

After, there was another workshop by Te Vaka. I figured, "Oh cool, Tahitian!" But then they went on to teach Tokelau, Tuwalu, and a Samoan slap dance! I've never done any of those before. Well, i've learned a slap dance or two, but this one was new to me. And I've never done a Tokelau dance before. There was one that was really cute, a child's nursery rhyme, and it was basically just, "Oh my gosh, you're gonna fall! You're gonna break your leg/arm/neck... Oh my gosh, you're gonna fall!" It was really cute. I think I liked the slap dance best though.

After that, Te Vaka set up and played, and told us all do just dance however we wanted. I was there with the west-end group Dance Aloha, and out of the 40 or so group of people, we were the only ones with any exposure to Polynesian dance. So we got out there and did our stuff. It was so much fun.

After the workshops, I had two hours to kill on the campus, and I desperately wished for internet access. Time was, I could amuse myself for hours by writing in my notebook. I did that for about an hour, then that wasn't enough and I ended up wandering around, looking at things and taking photographs. I walked until I got blisters. Then I went to dinner at the school restaurant "Jasmine" which was really nice. Sat outside in the little Chinese-themed garden and ate some veggies and rice.

Then I met back up with Dance Aloha and we had tea together, catching up on old times. I got to meet some new dancers, too.

I went to my car and mastered the art of changing into a mu'umu'u in the front seat. We lined up at the VIP entrance (the perks of being a dancer!) and took seats in the second row. While waiting, we chatted some more, catching up on different shows, halau gossip, the times we performed together, etc.

Makanani started talking about her toere drum and I was like, "OMFG, where did you learn to play Toere?" And she said, "The Orlando seminars. They started doing that, but you haven't been there in years." Well, yeah, pretty much. I haven't been to Florida in three years, and since Dad died, it has been like this barely conceivable thought. I explained that to her and she said, "But it's been two years since your Dad passed. Get yourself ready and come back to Orlando." She was kind of right, too. I mean, I deal with memories of Dad every day, here in his home town. I can't go to Home Depot or Best Buy without thinking about when I was there with Dad, and obviously I'll go back to Orlando some time. I don't think I could really stay away forever. Makanani said, "You don't have to actually go to Disneyworld. But I can get you in for free if you wanted to." She also said she has a house there, and all I would have to pay for is a plane ticket and the seminar, which is like $40.

I warned her that if I did this, I would probably need some time to go busting out into tears randomly. But, I'm considering it, depending on the price of a plane ticket. We'll have to see about that. I miss my Orlando friends.

Kaumaka came on first. He not only sounds like his Mom, he looks so much like her it's eerie. And aside from having such a gorgeous voice, he was hilarious and sweet. I honestly remember him a little differently from 8 years ago. In the seminar he was totally hardcore and took no crap – but I guess, you know, different venue, different circumstances, different expectations. Here he was just a laugh-riot between songs. He did a rendition of Hi'ilawe that I've never heard before, and he told a different story about it, too. See, I had been told that Hi'ilawe was just about growing up by this waterfall, and being the favorite of your parents and grandparents. But apparently the kauna is about having a visit from a lover, and the rumors that follow it. O_O Hmm, something to remember!

Te Vaka came on and did a high-energy, amazing show. Their music is traditional, but with modern elements. And the dancing by the two girls, OMG, incredible skill. I will never look like that, god. They were so fantastic.

After the show, there was a meet and greet, and I got to talk to Kaumakaiwa. We talked for a bit about Long Island and I told him that if he was ever out here again, I would be glad to show him around the real Long Island, with the cliffs and oceans and spooky places. I said that Long Island was Ka Mokupuni Lo'ihi and he was delighted. We posed for some hilarious pictures, too.

Right before I left, one girl (the girl with dreads, in the pics below,) said she figured I was a dancer, and she was really interested to follow up on this. She's local, and she wondered if I gave classes anywhere or would teach her. I gave her my card, and the card of my massage therapy job where I teach in the studio upstairs when enough people sign up. She was really interested and I hope she'll sign up.

Then, another woman came up to me and said, "I was there the night you performed that solo." I was kind of speechless. She said it like it was some kind of known thing. I asked her when it was, and she said a few years ago in Huntington. "Oh! 'O Pana 'Ewa,' I think! With the pu'ili stick?" She was like, "That's the one, that's the one! Everyone video taped that, it was amazing, we still talk about it!"

O_O

I knew a few people recorded it, because I actually got the video from someone I didn't know, a few months after the show. But I didn't know it was a thing that went around the local Hula community. Like, "Oh, the girl who did O Pana 'Ewa, yeah I recognize her."

I felt both flattered and old. ^_^;; (Oh, the video above that is of me dancing with Makanani.)

Before I left, Kaumakaiwa told me that the green dress really worked, and I should always wear green because it was a good color for me. Which is funny, because I had been thinking about maybe switching to red and going with a different style for once. But hmm, maybe it's a sign.

Then I drove home in the rain (and I'm not sure if I got a ticket or not, because something flew off my windshield wipers when I started them – but I can't imagine what I would have gotten one for because I was parked in "VISITOR'S PARKING" with no time limit, WTF,) and by the time I got home I had a huge headache from being thirsty.

And of course, here are some pics from all of yesterday!

"Anybody could be that guy..."

All in all, what an epic night of dance. It made me really long to get back into the workshop/conference/seminar scene. I've got to give that some thought.