HONOLULU (HI Now) - Hālau Hula Kauluola returned to the SCP Hilo Hotel to prepare for Hilo’s largest hula festival, marking the halau’s continued participation in the annual competition. Pōlanimakamae and No’eau Kahakalau-Kalima, founders of Hālau Hula Kauluola, started the hālau on Maui four years ago after receiving blessings from their kumu. The hālau relocated to Hilo, where they teach students ranging from five years old and up. “We wanted our creativity to just go into the next generation. We wanted our legacy to just start into the next generation,” Pōlanimakamae said.
The hālau participated in the opening ceremony of the festival season, which took place at Easter weekend. Hālau Hula Kauluola members will volunteer at the concession stand at the Hilo Civic Auditorium during the festival, with family members cooking the food while hālau members maintain operations. “We always find a way to give back to this community, especially to the Merrie Monarch Festival. We just mahalo Aunty Luana and all of them for doing what they do, not only for our community but the communities at large,” Pōlanimakamae said. The hālau will perform Thursday at the festival.
Hālau Hula Kauluola will open enrollment this Sunday. Interested students can register through the hālau’s website at www.kauluola.com. Throughout festival week, the halau is making leis and teaching students how to conduct themselves in the community when visitors arrive for the festival.
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