Intro to Hula in the park with Kumu Malia

Kumu Mālia Ko’i’ulaokawaolehua Helelā strives to live a life of grace. Her halau (hula school), which meets at Still & Moving Center, is Na Hula Ola Aloha. Completing her uniki (graduation) under Kumu Hula Puluelo Park in 2002, she now teaches hula and oli (traditional Hawaiian chant) to a wide range of students, from infants and toddlers to kupuna. Mālia studied oli under Kumu Hula Keola Lake. She began her formal training in lomilomi massage 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. Mālia has become a respected and beloved cultural practitioner in Hawaii.