Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu is a
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
an dance company or ''
hālau hula A hālau hula () is a school or hall in which the Hawaiian dance form called hula is taught. The term comes from ''hālau,'' literally, "long house, as for canoes or hula instruction"; "meeting house"', and ''hula,'' a Polynesian dance form of the H ...
'' led by ''kumu hula'' (hula master) Patrick Makuakāne.
Makuakāne founded Nā Lei Hulu in San Francisco in 1985. As a young dancer in Hawai'i, he trained under kumu hula Robert Cazimero, a member of the musical duo
The Brothers Cazimero
The Brothers Cazimero was a Hawaiian musical duo made up of Robert Cazimero on bass and Roland Cazimero on twelve string guitar. Robert also played piano as a solo musician. The Cazimeros got their start during the Hawaiian Renaissance with uk ...
. In 2003, Makuakāne completed intensive traditional hula training under Mae Kamāmalu Klein and earned the title of kumu hula.
The dance company of about 25 women and 15 men has performed in many locations around the United States, including
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
,
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and
Napa. The hālau also offers hula classes to beginning and intermediate level dancers.
What makes Nā Lei Hulu different from other hula hālau is Makuakāne's trademark style, called ''hula mua,'' or "hula that evolves." Hula mua consists of classic or hula-inspired movements set to non-Hawaiian music such as
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
,
pop,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
,
hip-hop, and
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
. The group's shows typically feature a combination of both hula mua and traditional hula.
According to arts critic George Heymont of
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
, Makuakāne has "strength as a showman and choreographer with a keen artistic vision" and the group's performances are "wondrously rich in costume, song, and Hawaiian history."
Makuakāne and his hālau were profiled in the PBS documentary film ''American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai'i,'' originally broadcast in 2003.
References
External links
Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu
{{authority control
Dance companies in the United States
Dance in Hawaii
Performing groups established in 1985