Today we’d like to introduce you to Kēhau Gabriel.
Hi Kēhau, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am very lucky to have been raised in a family where hula was important. I started with Auntie Linda of Hula Hālau O Pi’ilani when I was five years old along with my cousins and have danced ever since. I’ve learned from a couple of hālau on my journey, learning a lot, and eventually was guided towards Kumu Hula Keoni Martin and Kumu Hula Keoki Choy Foo of Hālau Hula O Nā Lei Mokihana in Honolulu, HI where I continue to study today…
In 2019, I started teaching basic classes and with Kumu Keoni, began the steps to earn my ‘ūniki (graduation) to Kumu Hula. In August of 2022, I earned my title and was gifted the official name of my hālau (school) from my Kumu, Hālau Hula Ke ‘Alohi O ‘Ilikai. By October 2022 my hālau had its first hõ’ike (recital) and is growing by the day!
I am honored to continue my teacher’s knowledge and share as much as I can about the culture that I love and has given me and my family so much.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey to anything worthwhile is never smooth. When I say I have been lucky, I mean it. I have been lucky enough to find people who were willing to nurture me, guide me. And, when I wasn’t lucky, it was hard. It’s hard to keep up a cultural practice away from that culture.
Living in Los Angeles, hearing Hawaiian language spoken, seeing Hawaiian plants and flowers, and seeing hula being performed is few and far between even when you are a part of our very wonderful Southern California Polynesian community. When working on my ‘ūniki, there were certain practices that could only take place on Hawaiian soil, so I had to travel back and forth during the pandemic to work on it which was very challenging. And, as always, when you commit to something so significant, it can limit your time for other things and people, which is always bittersweet. Yet, it’s the challenges that make it all so rewarding. It’s the mountain you climb to enjoy the view.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Kumu Hula of Hālau Hula Ke ‘Alohi O ‘Ilikai – Academy of Polynesian Arts. We are a cultural school in Pasadena, CA that specializes in Hawaiian Hula dance, language, and culture along with studies in Tahitian and Māori culture. What I am most proud of with this hālau is that we are a group of learners. Our school is not an entertainment company or competition hālau, we are solely focused on learning so that the joy we experience can be shared and help lift these cultures.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that our city has room in its heart for all cultures and my dislike is that there is not enough time or opportunities to see it all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.academyofpolynesianarts.com
- Instagram: academyofpolynesianarts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/academyofpolyarts
Image Credits
My headshot – John Keoni Bryant
