Kūhai Hālau O ʻIlima Pā ʻŌlapa Kahiko

Kūhai Hālau O ʻIlima Pā ʻŌlapa Kahiko offers hula classes and hula lessons that include hula, Ori Tahiti, and other Polynesian dance. Students take part in the study of mele, moʻolelo, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and traditional arts as part of the program’s focus on hula and related cultural practices. The program also accepts performance requests for upcoming community performances through a Performance Request Form.

Kūhai Hālau O ʻIlima Pā ʻŌlapa Kahiko is a traditional hālau hula rooted in the community of Oceanside, California and was established in 2019 by Ka Hula O ʻIlima. The hālau honors hula as a living cultural practice that carries the history, language, and ancestral wisdom of Hawaiʻi. Its mission states that through the study of mele, moʻolelo, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and traditional arts, haumāna cultivate cultural literacy, humility, and a deep sense of kuleana to represent Hawaiʻi’s traditions with integrity in all spaces they enter, and that it aspires to nurture generations of dancers from diverse backgrounds who approach hula with humility and commitment as a lifelong responsibility. The hālau was gifted the inoa (name) Kūhai Hālau O ʻIlima Pā ʻŌlapa Kahiko upon the ʻūniki of Aunty Ilima to kumu hula in 2022. Guidance and mentorship for the program come from loea hula (hula expert) Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and kumu hula Oheloulaokalani “Ula” Hewett, and leadership also includes kumu hula Aunty Ilima Kam Martinez, who is the founder and board president of ʻUmeke, a nonprofit that cultivates connection to Hawaiʻi through its various programs. Guided by her passion for indigenous cultural revitalization, Aunty Ilima earned her degree in Indigenous Anthropology from California State University San Marcos in 2019.

Last updated June 23, 2026.