Kamaile

Tuesday night's comments are usually these: "Bend your knees, keep your back straight, loosen your hips, don't look at the ground, arm straight up, don't be stiff, kiholo is to the back of you- not to the side, do it again, push those hips, don't move your upper body too much, lean into it, fluff that skirt, ladies, it's a Kalakaua, everybody should step over at the same time, don't turn your ankle in, sit in it, okay, you got that part right don't take a picnic,"--all with exclamation points! What we do for the love of hula, and because we don't like it "down the road". I don't know how Kumu is so generous with his time and his knowledge and still has the patience to endure us messing up royally not once or twice, but over and over and over again! Lots of times when he says, "You are lawa" he really means he's had enough too!

Monday night's, we hear: "Listen to each other, blend, don't breathe, mai-ee, mai-ee, mai-ee, wai-ee, wai-ee, wai-ee, kai-ee, kai-ee, kai-ee--go straight to that ee sound, get the right pitch, don't look down at your paper, let's go again, and again, and again" and you know what the biggest panic is?? Not if we know all of the words or have good sound, but, how to get back up from that side sitting position with our balance, ipu heke and pale (padding) in hand, and look graceful, don't fall over, don't fall back, don't stick your 'okole up especially in a direction where people can see (I heard this has happened before--down the road somplace). Lots of times you can see all he has to do is close his eyes and he'd be fast asleep. He has some kind of drive!