[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” custom_margin=”-30px||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”-6px||||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”0vw||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”10px||||false|false” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/stillandmovingcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/malia-kumu-hula-outdoors.jpg” title_text=”malia kumu hula outdoors” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#f9f6f5″ background_image=”https:\/\/stillandmovingcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trans-shiva.png” background_size=”contain” background_position=”top_right” custom_margin=”-43px||||false|false” custom_padding=”100px||0px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”60px||||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ width=”100%” max_width=”1706px” custom_margin=”-80px||||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|60px|30px|60px|true|true” custom_padding_tablet=”30px|20px|30px|20px|true|true” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.19.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_line_height=”2.4em” header_3_font=”santana||||||||” header_3_font_size=”32px” width=”95.5%” custom_margin=”-25px|-685px|1px||false|false” custom_padding=”1px|0px||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
By Sarah Hodges<\/span><\/i><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cBless this door that only love may enter here.\u201d These were the words M\u0101lia\u2019s <\/span>kumu<\/span><\/i> (hula teacher) spoke at the blessing ceremony for M\u0101lia\u2019s new halau. Today, M\u0101lia Helel\u0101, Still & Moving Center\u2019s beloved hula teacher, celebrates the 20th birthday of her own <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i> M\u0101lia shares with us the story of her <\/span>h\u0101lau\u2019s<\/span> inception and its journey of growth and connection. She named her <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i>: Na Hula Ola Aloha, after a line in a chant written by her kumu, meaning hula dances that thrive with love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n M\u0101lia\u2019s <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span> began with just a handful of people in a rented dance studio, and has evolved over the years to become the thriving, global community of hula dancers that it is today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you leave your slippers at the door you leave your troubles also, and step into the <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i> clean,\u201d says M\u0101lia, explaining this as one of the foundational pillars from which she built her <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i> The other pillar is inclusiveness, so greatly needed in our world today.<\/span><\/p>\n Though she was just a young 24 years old, M\u0101lia\u2019s kumu had prepared M\u0101lia well. \u201cI felt both humbled and excited by the prospect of teaching!\u201d exudes M\u0101lia. \u201cIt seemed like a natural progression to teach after studying for so many years.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For years M\u0101lia had been her <\/span>kumu\u2019s<\/span><\/i> main dancer, doing the solos, accustomed to frequent costume changes. \u201cWhen I became a<\/span> kumu<\/span><\/i> I felt a big role reversal. I was not the dancer anymore. It was time for my dancers to dance on my behalf,\u201d M\u0101lia shares.<\/span><\/p>\n M\u0101lia opened her first class, on the day of Chinese new year in 2003, at a little dance studio in M\u0101noa Valley od O\u2019ahu. A handful of students came, all hearing about it from word of mouth. Casting back over the past 2 decades, Mali\u0101 reflects on how she has grown up with her <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i>, and how her 24-year-old self could have never imagined how her school would flourish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAlong with the foundation of love from my kumu, my mom has been a very consistent and loving presence. She\u2019s everybody’s mom,\u201d says M\u0101lia. Her mother, Mary Bird, has sewn most of the hundreds of <\/span>p\u0101\u2019\u016b<\/span><\/i> skirts worn by the<\/span> h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i> dancers, investing each stitch with a prayer. These skirts sway across the globe, locally and on the many dancers who have traveled from afar to attend hula with M\u0101lia in person or online. Since 2020, Mary has shared this tradition with her grandson Waia, who now also sews <\/span>p\u0101\u2019\u016b<\/span><\/i> for the <\/span>h\u0101lau.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Another part of M\u0101lia\u2019s recipe for success has been her adaptability. Before even becoming a kumu, M\u0101lia learned to teach hula to students from Japan with whom she had no shared language. She also adapted to both she and many of her <\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i> memers having their children. She took a short pause to care for her twin boys when they arrived. A couple years later when her daughter was born, M\u0101lia began teaching baby hula classes, which she continues even today!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One day after a baby hula class, a woman walked up to M\u0101lia who would later become a lifelong friend. It was Ren\u00e9e Tillotson. She proposed the idea of M\u0101lia teaching hula at her new movement studio in Kaka\u2019ako called Still & Moving Center. After a visit to the space and some warm conversations, M\u0101lia transitioned from her tiny M\u0101noa class space to the diverse movement studio of Still & Moving Center.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Initially, Still & Moving\u2019s rooms felt too large. \u201cI learned to fill the space with sound,\u201d laughs M\u0101lia. She first taught class in the Sun & Moon room. When classes outgrew that studio, she went to the Dance Dojo. By the time the pandemic hit, M\u0101lia\u2019s hula classes often filled the large upstairs space of the Barefoot Ballroom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n M\u0101lia\u2019s teaching gained inspiration from the other movement modalities she was exposed to at Still & Moving, such as Tai Chi, Nia, Feldenkrais and yoga. \u201cI started gaining the awareness and language of mindfulness while moving.\u201d When M\u0101lia began teaching Hawaiian\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n lomilomi massage, her perspective continued to evolve, and she began to see not only lomilomi, but also hula, as healing modalities.<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike the all-too-common forceful approach to dance training, M\u0101lia asks dancers NOT to push their bodies past their natural limits. She welcomes them to dance towards healing, whether that be on the physical or psychological level. \u201cEspecially in pandemic times, I realized how important it was for people to come together in a safe space and feel a sense of community,\u201d says M\u0101lia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n M\u0101lia naturally creates a sacred context for her dancers. At the start of every hula class M\u0101lia and each of her students share in a \u2018gratitude circle\u2019. Most recently, M\u0101lia\u2019s Thursday evening <\/span>halau<\/span><\/i> classes now enjoy an extra-special ending to class: M\u0101lia\u2019s mom Mary gives a \u2018pep-talk\u2019 to new and old dancers, who seem to leave class feeling a little lighter, both on their feet and in their spirits.<\/span><\/p>\n Inclusiveness continues to serve as a guiding principle in Malia\u2019s teaching. With so many students coming through Still & Moving Center, she has opened up her <\/span>Auana<\/span><\/i> (modern hula) classes to non-<\/span>h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i> members. She still maintaining the structure of a traditional <\/span>h\u0101lau <\/span><\/i>with <\/span>Kahiko<\/span><\/i> (traditional) hula dance classes for dedicated<\/span> h\u0101lau<\/span><\/i> students. \u201cWhen I began dancing hula I felt as if I did not belong. I felt as if I was on the outside,\u201d says M\u0101lia. \u201cCurating a space where everyone is on the inside is very important to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n M\u0101lia welcomes EVERYONE to come and dance from wherever they are. Now with the technology of zoom, folks can join from whatever state or country they may live in.<\/span><\/p>\n H\u0101lau<\/span><\/i>, the Hawaiian word for a school, translates to \u201cmany branches of leaves moving together.\u201d M\u0101lia personally relates the word to also signify many dancers breathing together, and a place of shared hearts, thoughts, and motion. Her inclusive \u201cmay only love enter here\u201d <\/span>h\u0101lau – <\/span><\/i>Na Hula Ola Aloha – welcomes and blesses each dancer. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_line_height=”2.4em” header_3_font_size=”32px” custom_margin=”-71px||1px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”] [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/still-moving-center\/id1424600988″ url_new_window=”on” button_text=”APPLE APP STORE” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#fe9440″ button_border_color=”#fe9440″ button_border_radius=”24px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_duration=”1550ms” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fitnessmobileapps.stillandmovingcenter” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”GOOGLE PLAY STORE” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#fe9440″ button_border_color=”#fe9440″ button_border_radius=”24px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_duration=”1550ms” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 20th Birthday of M\u0101lia\u2019s h\u0101lau: Na Hula Ola Aloha By Sarah Hodges \u201cBless this door that only love may enter here.\u201d These were the words M\u0101lia\u2019s kumu (hula teacher) spoke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[125,143,180,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letter-from-the-director","category-magnificence-in-our-ohana","category-related-meditation-culture-articles","category-related-yoga-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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