2024 KA PAPA 'UNIKI KUKUI
Row 1, L to R: Sarah Evans, Betsy Puig, Lorel Madden, Lori Murphy
Row 2: Ellen Keikilani Sarvida, Junko Chow, Kumi Rannin, Ruben Aloano Hanohano
September 14, 2024, Oak Park, IL
“O ke ‘ehu kakahiaka no ka wa loa’a.
The time to catch anything is in the early morning.
When you want to do something, don’t wait. Get at it as early as possible.”
It has been 20 years since we set down roots in Oak Park, Illinois in a wonderful century old Victorian house. A good job brought my husband and I to Chicago. I had a dream that I also wanted to teach hula. He had a dream that he wanted to start a Zen Center.
We loved up the house, painted it, and then started dancing and meditating. My husband was creative with the backyard and built a raised Hula mound and a Japanese sand garden. (Delacy Sarantos was my first student in May 2004. She celebrates her 90th birthday this year, and she’s still dancing!) Five years later in 2009, I was teaching in NYC and Chicago and thought, “It’s time to start a halau.” Students filled the house and we celebrated with a memorable hula performance in the backyard.
Fifteen years have flown by. Each day passes more quickly than the previous one. We have a strong core of regular students that range in age from 7 to 90! And we’re busy preparing for our 15th Anniversary Concert this Saturday!
In mid-September, eight students completed an ‘uniki. An ‘uniki is a graduation and attainment of the first level of Hula called an ‘olapa’ or dancer. While most of these students have been dancing with me for at least ten years, they danced very intensely for five months before the graduation.
I actually love this kind of intensive practice. It’s a very disciplined way of living your life with intention. With discipline comes freedom. There is no freedom when one is constantly distracted.
Hula and La’au Lapa’au are beautiful indigenous Hawaiian cultural practices that are like jewels in my life along with Zen. These jewels teach us to pause and listen to Nature, to what’s going on within us, to what’s going on around us. Listening deeply is healing and revealing.
Life can change on a dime! An old friend was a victim of a terrible accident recently. And life has changed completely for her and her family. Hopefully she will recover. Is it possible to sacrifice some of the distractions in our American culture so we can do what we really want to do with our brief precious lives?
Finally, practice ho’omanawanui which is patience with all that arises. And remember that without the situations that arise that we find challenging, we could not practice patience which is the path to peace.
Malama pono (take good care of body, mind, heart),
Kumu/Roshi June Kaililani Tanoue
P.S. Wonderful September Talks:
Karleen Manchanda's "The Whole World in Our Hands: Self Care as Compassion for All" https://youtu.be/sxK2xYiSSd0
Kumu Hula Alva Kamalani and Haunani Kalama "Zen of Hula & La'au Lapa'au" - https://youtu.be/wJ3eGnxVwiY
Kumu/Roshi June: "Three Pure Precepts" https://youtu.be/690Nl7GJGwY
Kumu/Roshi June: "Opening to Oneness" https://youtu.be/_FDmrJDv6NQ