For more than 60 years, Moana's Hula Halau on Molokaʻi has raised hundreds of dancers in hula traditions and traveled the world to perform.
The hālau, or group, has not been doing performances since the pandemic — but now that has changed.
Moana's Hula Halau is back on stage. Their first performance on Molokaʻi since the pandemic was sold out with standing room only at the outdoor show. Nearly 40 Molokaʻi dancers ranging from keiki to kūpuna amazed an enthusiastic crowd. They were also joined on stage by a kāne group from Maui.
Hālau founder Moana Dudoit died in 2013. Her legacy is carried on by her sister, Kumu Hula Raquel Dudoit.
Along with the hālau, Raquel Dudoit and her family run Moana's Florist shop, Dudoit's Bus Service for school transportation, a contract to pick up the island's U.S. Postal Service mail from the airport and several other small businesses.
“You always need hula somewhere, because that's our life, that's how we learn our history, that’s history talking to us, right?" said Raquel Dudoit as she arranged flowers for a funeral. "It’s teaching us about the olden days, it’s teaching us about the new days, it teaches us about how to love…”
The hālau has made appearances at more than a dozen Merrie Monarch festivals, won many awards and performed around Europe, Tahiti and Japan.
But Dudoit said it’s not about the recognition. Funds from their annual show support the hālau, and she teaches free of charge.
“For us it’s like, we have nobody to compete with — if you want to come, come learn. You want to dance, you come dance, you know? I just do it because I think we need hula in our life, I think hula is built in us already.”
