Watch as Kumu Hula (hula teacher) Kapu Kinimaka-Alquiza talks about how the beauty and spirit of Kauai inspires her hula. Then watch her halau (hula school) perform on Kauai’s beautiful south shore.

Video Transcription

Kapu Kinimka - Alquiza: Kauai inspires my hula with its beauty, its mountain peaks, its spirit and the history of our ancestors. We feel that we are surrounded with this old spirit of Kauai, we idea of this island now in Hawaiian chain and the people tend to carry old values and traditions. Every bit of the island is very special to all of us from the North shore all the way to the West side. I believe Kauai is the birth place of hula. Hula is an important part of our Hawaiian culture; it leads us to who we are as people today. Kauai has many beautiful songs that were written for our island. Their motion symbolizes the wind, the sea, the spirit of the area. A halau is a school of hula, I started my halau with 10 children in my little garage and my daughter was one of them, she was 2 years old. Then they grew and then we had a 100 kids coming to my garage and that's when my neighbor said, this is it, get this girl out of here. My halau is definitely like an Ohana and family. I feel like I am a mother hand to all of these children that are now adults. Visitors should be respectful of Kauai because of the history we have here and our goal is to preserve our history and have it available for our future generations, as well as, our visitors that come to the island. We would like them to appreciate the true beauty of Kauai.