Intern Discovers Dance at ‘Ulu‘ulu

As was shared in an earlier post, Keahiahi Long, a Dance Heritage Coalition fellow and student in the Master of Library & Information Science at the University of Hawai‘i, interned here at the archive over the summer.  As part of her work with us, Keahiahi was tasked with finding dance-related items in ‘Ulu‘ulu’s collections. Writing about her experience on her blog, she shares:

“One interesting group of items that I found in the collection was a set of tapes called “King Kalākaua Jubilee Centennial Celebration”, an event which occurred in November 1986. These tapes had “Hula 1886” written on the case spine. Hula from 1886?! Cool!”

“The collection also has footage of several kumu hula [hula teachers, instructors, masters] who have passed away, such as Nona Beamer, O’Brian Eselu, and Elaine Kaopuiki. That the teachings of these kumu can continue to inform current and future generations of Hawaiians and hula practitioners because of moving images is … amazing.”

To read more about Keahiahi’s practicum work at ‘Ulu‘ulu and about her other interesting finds, read her latest blog post.