Kaila Chung’s love for hula started with the desire to learn one dance for an event.
“I was trying to find anyone who could teach me,” she remembers.
Chung is one of more than 360,000 Native Hawaiians living on the continent, a population that is greater than the Hawaiian population in Hawaiʻi, according to 2020 census data.
Living in the diaspora didn’t keep Chung from learning the dance. She found a small hula school near her home in Louisville, Kentucky, and went on to take online classes from a kumu hula in San Francisco, California, during the pandemic.
After nearly 11 years dancing hula, Chung is now the director of her own hui in Louisville.
Hui Kaululehua opened in 2022 and offers dance and music classes. Many of Chung’s students are also Hawaiian or come from other parts of Polynesia. She says hula helps them feel more connected to their roots.
“I think there’s a lot of, you know, feelings of maybe I’m not Hawaiian enough, or I have to learn more before I can, you know, say 'Oh, I’ve reached this point where I feel Hawaiian enough,’” Chung said. “Hula helps me and folks in our hui to create that connection to sort of transport to places that we want to be and want to connect to.”
Chung hopes to bring more people from the diaspora together as her hui hosts their first Polynesian festival, Aloha Lou, at the end of this month.
“Our goal is just to bring folks together,” Chung said. “We’re going to have a really great lineup of Polynesian dancers and musicians to present different types of Polynesian dance. We’ve got hula, siva, and ‘ori Tahiti.”
Chung says her kumu, Kumu Hula Kawika Alfiche, will come from San Francisco for the event. She’s also expecting performers from Chicago, Fort Knox, and other areas.
The event will be held May 31 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Louisville's Central Park on 4th Street. You can learn more about the event and Hui Kaululehua on their website.
