Nā Kumu Hula Leilani & Puanani Alama share an inimitable legacy, having taught generations of students through their respective studios for over 70 years each. Their training, talents, dedication, consistency, and musicianship have brought polished performances to audiences across the islands and nurtured in students a deep love of hula and Hawaiʻi. To honor the Aunties and celebrate their remarkable legacies, HPS, in partnership with Auntie Pua’s daughter and the Aunties’ niece, offer this rare opportunity to learn two lively implement routines! Read more about Leilani Alama and Puanani Alama.
Uihā Hula! Workshop
Lā: Sunday, October 11th, 2026
Wā papa hana: 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM (with lunch break). Check-in begins at 8:30 AM.
Wahi: Hālau o Haumea, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies
Nā Kumu – ʻOhana Alama: Kumu Puanani Jung & Auntie TeMoana Makolo
Registration fee: $50 per person
This workshop will include learning two (2) classic implement routines, one from each Auntie:
• ʻĀ ʻOia with ʻiliʻili
• Kupa Landing with niu half-shells
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
• Participants must be at an intermediate to advanced level of hula. It is highly recommended that participants have experience in some form of implement hula.
• There will be a lunch break in between routines. Participants must bring lunch (no time to go get during break). Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
• Participants must bring their own set of ʻiliʻili
• Participants will be provided with a pair of niu (coconut half shells are included in your registration fee)
• Registration fees are non-refundable for no-shows. Registration can be transferred with at least 48 hrs notice.
Registration Information
Complete and submit the registration form below and make payment. If registering multiple people, please submit a form for each person.
Payment can be made online using the Pay Registration button below, or let us know on the registration form that you will use a different method. If you are using the online payment method, please specify in the Note section if you are making a combined payment and list all names of individuals.
You will receive an email confirmation when: (1) a registration form is submitted and (2) payment has been received.
Space in this workshop is very limited! Come have some fun with us and ʻOhana Alama!
Registration closes WED, SEP 30th, 2026. No payments will be accepted after this date.
Leilani Alama
Kumu Hula Leilani Alama (1925-2014) was a beloved figure in the hula community. Auntie Lani’s career as a dancer, teacher, and cultural ambassador spanned over eighty years. She was drawn to hula as a young girl and began teaching while with “Mama Bishop” in Honolulu, who was also known as Kahelelani Bishop or Emma Moniz. She established the Leilani Alama Hula Studio in Kaimukī in 1942 and trained thousands of dancers and generations of families in the cozy but mana-filled space they called their hula home. Her dancers were admired for their precision and showmanship and were once compared to the Radio City Rockettes! Their fearless leader was feisty, fun, strict, and loving all at the same time.
A cornerstone of Hawaiʻi’s cultural community, Kumu Alama was instrumental in shaping the Aloha Week festivities for nearly 30 years, directing pageants at ʻIolani Palace and the Waikīkī Shell. She served as Aloha Week Queen in 1957. Her solo performances and productions graced iconic venues—from the Halekūlani and Washington Place to international stages in New York, Chicago, and Mexico City—often sharing the spotlight with Hawaiian music legends like Genoa Keawe and Alfred Apaka.
Her enduring contributions earned her a lifetime of honors, including the name song “Kuu Lei Lani” written for her by John Kameaaloha Almeida, numerous proclamations from various Governors and Mayors, induction into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame (alongside sister Puanani), receipt of the “I Ola Mau Ka Hula” award from the Hula Grill Restaurant, and recognition as a long-time judge for the King Kamehameha Hula Competition. Through her repertoire and teachings, her dedication to perpetuating the art of hula continues to be an example for us all to follow.
*compiled from family notes in the HPS Alama Collection
Puanani Alama
Kumu Hula Puanani Alama (1930- ) —affectionately known as the “Lovely Hula Hands Girl”—is a treasure of Hawaiian entertainment and hula. She is celebrated as the “Dorothy Lamour of Hawaiʻi” and was an iconic poster girl of the 1940s and 50s. Puanani began her hula studies at an early age, and her talents and potential were readily recognized. So much so that she began teaching at just 12 years old under Hawaiian music icon Bill Aliʻiloa Lincoln. From there, she went on to found her own school, the Puanani Alama Hula Studio, in 1954. “Ms. Alama” has instructed thousands of students and generations of families through her more than seven decades-long teaching career.
As a featured soloist during the golden era of Waikīkī, she captivated audiences at historic venues including The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, The Halekulani, the Niumalu (alongside legendary George Naope), and Don the Beachcomber’s. A pillar of the community, she holds the distinction of participating in the City & County of Honolulu’s Nā Hula O Hawaiʻi Festival for 85 consecutive years, since it first began in 1940. Sister Leilani was with her in that endeavor and made 73 years of participation, until her passing in 2014. Kumu Alama is the last surviving judge from the inaugural Merrie Monarch Hula Festival Competition in 1971 in Hilo, Hawaiʻi.
Kumu Alama’s long-lasting impact on hula and her community has been celebrated with numerous accolades, including countless State and County proclamations, serving as Grand Marshall for the Aloha Week Parade with her big sister Leilani, and her own namesake mele inoa (“Puanani”), written and recorded by musical treasure Genoa Keawe.
*compiled from family notes in the HPS Alama Collection