Hula Kahiko & Oli Basics – Dancing & Chanting with Kumu Mālia Helelā

This hour-long class lays the foundation for hula kahiko (ancient hula style), with a focus on movement and voice, working with the beat of the ipu (gourd drum).

Join Kumu Mālia for voice warm-ups and an introduction to basic chanting techniques. The breath work in oli (traditional Hawaiian chanting) cultivates lung-capacity, vocal strength, clarity and confidence. 

Learn proper hula form as the foundation of every hula dance. While dancing, you systematically work the entire body from the feet up. Each class will include basic hula steps as well as choreography.

Class members are invited with their families to participate in quarterly hi’uwai (ocean cleansing ceremonies) on the solstices and equinoxes.

Malia Helela

Kumu Malia Ko’i’ulaokawaolehua Helela strives to live a life of grace. Her halau, which meets at Still & Moving Center, is Na Hula Ola Aloha. Completing her uniki under Kumu Hula Puluelo Park in 2002, she now teaches hula and oli to a wide range of students, from infants and toddlers to kupuna. Malia studied oli (traditional Hawaiian chant) under Kumu Hula Keola Lake. She began her formal training in lomilomi as a teenager. She was licensed by the State of Hawaii as a massage therapist in 1998 and as an esthetician in 2002. Her hula practice and lomilomi practice, she says, are the same. She continues to look to the beauty and grace of the Hawaiian environment for grounding and inspiration.