Halau O Kekuhi
Interdependent Productions and Catchlight Films
(7 min 30 sec)

Halau O Kekuhi is one segment in a documentary about the 1999 World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles. This segment focuses on Kumu Hula Nalani Kanaka’ole and her Halau, visiting from Hawaii, as they teach workshops, rehearse with local Hawaiian dancers from the Los Angeles area, and prepare to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. The Halau is celebrated for its mastery of the Aiha’a, translated “very low to the earth.” It is a low postured, vigorous, bombastic style of hula springing from the eruptive volcanic persona of Pele and Hi’iaka. It has been passed down through the maternal side of the family to Nalani and Pualani Kanaka’ole Kanahele.

Television Broadcast on PBS affiliate KCET

Directors: Mark Eby and Evann Siebens
Executive Producer: Judy Mitoma
Funding: Cultural Affairs Department/ City of Los Angeles, Earthways Foundation, The Foundation for Universal Responsibility, The Foundation for World Arts, The James Irvine Foundation, The Philanthropic Collaborative, The Rockefeller Foundation