ENR4901 - Introduction to Oli and Hula Olapa

Course Description

Students should come ready to Oli (Chant) and Hula (Dance) both individually and as a group. You’ll memorize chants and dances and practice the voice techniques and exercises. You’ll learn and have fun!

Here’s what you can learn:

• Students will learn basic hula steps and history as well as perform hula as a group
• The history and traditional styles of oli
• Traditional voice techniques attributed to different oli style
• And MORE!

Instructor: Devin Kamealoha Forrest was raised in Ha`ena by his maternal grandparents Elizabeth Mahuiki Chandler and Francis Elias Chandler Sr., it is from them that he acquired his love for Hawaiian culture. His great grandmother Rachel Nahale`elua Mahuiki was one of the last native speakers in Ha`ena and helped with Hawaiians revitalization. He learned hula from his uncles and aunties in an `ohana setting, along with many cousins, and eventually went into formal hula training later in life with Kumu Hula Lehua Matsumoto. All these influences are what fuels his love for Hawaiian poetry. He eventually went on to the University of Hawai`i at Hilo where he enrolled in Ka Haka `Ula `o Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language and received a B.A. in Hawaiian Language and a Masters for Hawaiian Language and Literature. He is still an avid composer of both modern and older styles of Hawaiian composition focusing mainly on his kulaiwi of Ha`ena.