Hula Kahiko Series Continues in Volcano on Nov. 18

Students of Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniopuu Public Charter School. Courtesy photo.

The 2017 Hula Kahiko series presented by Volcano Art Center will continue on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 10:30 a.m. with a performance by students of Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniʻopuʻu Public Charter School under the direction of Kumu Haʻamauliola Aiona.

The performance will be held outdoors, rain or shine on the kahua hula platform inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Guests are encouraged to bring sun/rain gear and sitting mats.

Seventh and tenth grade students will share well-known stories of Hawaiian ancestral gods, famous chiefs, and significant role models such at Iosepa Nāwahī and his wife Emma Aʻima Aʻi Nāwahī.

Aiona has established a Holistic Hawaiian Language Fine & Performing Arts Program called Māhuʻilani. The program aims to share the traditional Hawaiian arts of hula instrument creation, ʻohe kāpala, hula, oli and hana keaka or theatre performance. Māhuʻilani shares participating students’ artistic work in Hawaiian language through community classes, demonstrations, exhibits and hula performances.

The Hula Kahiko performance is part of a year-round series sponsored by the Volcano Art Center featuring performers from across Hawai‘i each month.

In conjunction with the Hula Kahiko performances, the public is also invited to join cultural practitioner Kamaolipua Grace and members of Halauolaokalani on the lanai of the Volcano Art Gallery from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a demonstration of hula and hula implements in a hands-on, family style setting.

Both events are free through a grant from the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Research and Development and the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, as well as individual funding from members of the Volcano Art Center. National Park entrance fees may apply.

For more information, visit www.volcanoartcenter.org or call (808) 967-8222.