When I was a little girl, I would watch the Hula Kahiko dancers from the Annual Merrie Monarch on Television and then go in the back yard and mimic the moves that I saw, specifically Noho Hula, in an attempt to bring winds and rain to dry and hot Ka’imuki where I grew up. Something about watching ‘Iolani Luahine dance brings me back to this specific childhood memory. Perhaps it is the resonance of undeniable belief in our connection to the elements that make up the powers of nature, and the feeling that somehow the wind is the voice of my Ancient father and his body, the clouds that travel far and long working hard to bring nourishment to mother soil.
Aunty’Io, as many folks lovingly regard her as, was incomparable as a Hula Dancer and as a true believer, practitioner, keeper and timeless symbol of the many facets that make up authentic Hula Kahiko. From her impeccable rhythm and timing to her forward perpetuation of the simplicity and form which she was originally taught - she blessed the many of us, even amidst ancient religious oppression by the influx of missionaries from the U.S. (a country that ironically claimed to be seeking their own religious freedom when they colonized and settled what is now thought to be ‘U.S. Soil”).
The life of Aunty ‘Io straddled a time that required her to be the strong echo she is for us Hawaiians today. The pounding of a Pahu, the slapping of an ipu, the rattle of ‘uli’uli celebrated many Mele and the Mo’olelo of Pele through the body of ‘Iolani - prodigy of her grandmother, Keahi.
This is a simple thank you to perpetuate what it is that ‘Iolani Luahine had encased in her mind, body and spirit - the retention of pure forms and stories gifted us from times of Hawaiian Antiquity.
Valuable Resources List:
IOLANI LUAHINE , by Francis Haar
2. Aia lā 'o Pele (Mele Honoring Pele) - ‘Iolani Luahine
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