‘Hula Voices’ Kicks Off at Volcano Art Center

The Volcano Art Center’s 2019 Hula Voices series kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, with a program featuring Kumu Hula Leilehua Yuen and moderator Desiree Moana Cruz. Hula Voices is an oral history project, presenting an engaging, intimate “talk story” session with Hawai‘i Island’s hula practitioners, as they share their hula genealogy, traditions, protocols and experiences.

These free, educational offerings will occur regularly on the first Wednesday of each month, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Park entrance fees may apply.

Kumu Hula Leilehua Yuen. PC: Kenji Kuroshima

Kumu Hula Yuen’s hula lineage is rooted in her grandmother’s teachings, and her studies with legendary expert on all things Hawaiiana, Auntie Nona Beamer. The powerful natural forces of the island are where Leilehua draws much of her artistic inspiration.

Kumu Yuen, along with her partner Manu Josiah, are known for their informances, in which they blend storytelling, science, chant, and hula to create a journey through Hawaiian history and culture. They live in her family home in Hilo, restoring the medicinal garden that her grandfather tended.

Join VAC in celebrating the Hula Arts at Kīlauea. These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Research and Development and individual funding from members of the Volcano Art Center’s ʻohana.

Volcano Art Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization created in 1974 whose mission is to promote, develop and perpetuate the artistic, cultural and environmental heritage of Hawai‘i’s people through the arts and education.