Kauahea Inc.

A Hawaiian cultural education organization

Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hālauaola

World Conference on Hula

In 2005, the designated site of Ka `Aha Hula `O Hālauaola activities was Maui Island from July 21-30. The principal organizing entity is Maui’s Kauahea Inc., a federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non profit organization headed by Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, kumu hula of Pā‘ū O Hi‘iaka.

The goals of Ka `Aha Hula `O Hālauaola are to provide an opportunity for kumu hula and practitioners to share knowledge and insight about Hawaiian culture through hula; provide a learning and enrichment platform for hula practitioners and cultural learners from Hawai‘i and around the world; encourage the preservation of the ancient art forms of Hawai‘i; educate practitioners about the need to protect and nurture our fragile environment in order to ensure continual access to the plants and resources that are necessary to maintain the culture; and to demonstrate oral traditions, teachings and ways of transmitting knowledge through the generations.

 

Hula provides an opportunity to explore the comprehensive insights held by the kupuna and bring them into a daily practice today.  It is through hula that we come to understand, in a cultural sense, plants, animals, geology, history, and genealogies.  Hula celebrates every human emotion, every godly attribute, and everything held beautiful by the people of these islands.  It is the collective memory and experience of generations of Hawaiians.

 

Ka ‘Aha Hula ‘O Hlauaola 2005 will be shared with many others.  We are confident that all that was freely shared by the presenters at the Conference and at the pre-conference workshops will be disseminated to many more people for many more years to come.