May 1, 2021
Hawaiian Dance and Culture
with Kumu Hula Kawika Alfiche
2–4pm EDT
online via Zoom
Buy Kumu Hula Kawika's CDs in our shop.
→Download a handout from this workshop.
About the Workshop
May is Pacific Islanders Month and we celebrate Hawai`i which is the furthest north of all the Polynesian Islands in the Pacific. Come share in this class of both traditional and modern Hula-Hawaiian Dance for both men & women. Hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people. These are the words of our last King, Kawika Kalākaua, who returned hula into the public eye after being banished by missionaries for some 50+ years (1820-1870).This fun gathering will include basics of hula, language, history, geography, chanting, singing and more! This class will be taught by Kumu Kawika Keikiali`i Alfiche (Hula Master) of Hālau o Keikiali`i.
About Kawika
Kumu Hula Kawika Keikiali'ihiwahiwa Alfiche has been teaching hula and Hawaiian cultural arts for almost 30 years. Kawika is the Hula Master (Kumu Hula) for Hālau o Keikiali'i, and is the Director for the Kaululehua Hawaiian Cultural Center in South San Francisco. With a mission to preserve and perpetuate all things Hawaiian, Kawika spends his life learning, teaching and sharing his culture through the hula and cultural arts and continues to teach throughout the globe.
Kawika has had impeccable training from his Kumu. His first Kumu Hula was Tiare Maka-Olanolan Clifford of Hanalei, Kaua`i. After her passing in 1992, Kumu Kawika became a student (haumana) of Kumu Hula Harriet Kahalepoli Keahilihau-Spalding of Keaukaha, Hawai`i. It was Aunty Harriet who had Kawika open Hālau in 1994, and in 1996, she had him study with Kumu Hula Rae Kahikilaulani Fonseca of Hilo, Hawai`i who is an `uniki (formal graduate) of Uncle George Lanakilakekiahiali`i Na`ope, hula master and treasure of Hawai’i.