Portraits in Paradise: A chat with Hawaii musician, kumu hula Kealii Reichel
by: John Heckathornposted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 09:55 AM
HAWAII: Did those setbacks make you work harder?
REICHEL: Yes, I’m not good with rejection. In both cases, I stopped doing it publically and obsessed on it in private. I think that was the path, and it just snowballed, slowly at times and quicker at other times. I think that certain things get reawakened in you as a person, as a human being, along your path. Sometimes you discover it and sometimes you don’t. I’m glad I did.
HAWAII: You didn’t do it all on your own, did you?
REICHEL: The people that you come into contact with can keep you on that same path and strengthen that foundation. Over the years I was lucky to have mentors who were extremely helpful in making sure that my cultural education continued. It continues to this day.
HAWAII: You’ve become a mentor, a teacher, as well.
REICHEL: I’ve taught at Maui Community College and various schools. You can approach Hawaiian culture on two fronts, from the academic front and from the culture front. You have to know when each is appropriate. For me, cultural learning is much more important than academic. But you have to have that academic learning and structure in order to make your mark.
HAWAII: I see a dilemma for Hawaiian artists. Every Hawaiian artist has to walk the path walked on by his ancestors, as King Liholiho said—and yet at the same time, express themselves as modern individuals.
REICHEL: It’s a fine line between taking a look at a tradition and building upon it and—I don’t want to say improve, because we can’t improve on the work of our ancestors—but we can enhance it and make it fit better for us today. Finding a good blend can be difficult for some people. Sometimes there is this constant clash between tradition and what it is right now. I’ve been lucky to have been able to blend the two for myself.
HAWAII: How?
REICHEL: There are certain things that I won’t do because it just doesn’t feel right. I can speak Hawaiian, I am a trained chanter, a trained kumu hula (hula teacher). There are certain parameters that we all have to follow. But you can still do lots of wonderful, creative things within the cultural parameters. If nothing else, I’ve learned from one of my mentors that a kumu hula takes all the dances they learned from their kumu, from all these generations. They pass that on, but they also have to create a layer of work on top of that, based on what they know, based on their training.
HAWAII: You’ve written that part of your responsibility is to dispel long-held stereotypes of Hawaii’s living culture and her indigenous people.
REICHEL: Fifteen years ago, our music had moved beyond these shores, and we came into contact with Mainland producers and record labels and publicists. Their idea of Hawaiian music was the stereotypical coconut bra, steel guitar, Don Ho—nothing against Don Ho, he did a great job during that particular era, but there’s more to it.
Hawaiians have been around for 2,000 years plus, we have a voice on the world stage now, but over many years the view of what Hawaiian music is to the world population is very myopic. We had to educate everybody we came into contact with.
One national television show asked us to come on. At the time, they were the top-rated daytime television talk show. We were going to sing, promote ourselves and be on national TV, but they wanted to dress up the audience in hula skirts and coconut bras. They wanted me to teach them a hula. I turned them down, because after all is said and done, I gotta come home and I no like get lickins.
It’s so culturally different outside of Hawaii. We tried our darnedest to dispel that kind of viewpoint. It’s tough. It’s one step forward, two steps back. I’ve realized the world out there is really not so important. What’s important is that we take care of our own first, make sure that we’re all educated. Maybe like ripples in a pond that will slowly, but surely, move outward.
REICHEL: Yes, I’m not good with rejection. In both cases, I stopped doing it publically and obsessed on it in private. I think that was the path, and it just snowballed, slowly at times and quicker at other times. I think that certain things get reawakened in you as a person, as a human being, along your path. Sometimes you discover it and sometimes you don’t. I’m glad I did.
HAWAII: You didn’t do it all on your own, did you?
REICHEL: The people that you come into contact with can keep you on that same path and strengthen that foundation. Over the years I was lucky to have mentors who were extremely helpful in making sure that my cultural education continued. It continues to this day.
HAWAII: You’ve become a mentor, a teacher, as well.
REICHEL: I’ve taught at Maui Community College and various schools. You can approach Hawaiian culture on two fronts, from the academic front and from the culture front. You have to know when each is appropriate. For me, cultural learning is much more important than academic. But you have to have that academic learning and structure in order to make your mark.
HAWAII: I see a dilemma for Hawaiian artists. Every Hawaiian artist has to walk the path walked on by his ancestors, as King Liholiho said—and yet at the same time, express themselves as modern individuals.REICHEL: It’s a fine line between taking a look at a tradition and building upon it and—I don’t want to say improve, because we can’t improve on the work of our ancestors—but we can enhance it and make it fit better for us today. Finding a good blend can be difficult for some people. Sometimes there is this constant clash between tradition and what it is right now. I’ve been lucky to have been able to blend the two for myself.
HAWAII: How?
REICHEL: There are certain things that I won’t do because it just doesn’t feel right. I can speak Hawaiian, I am a trained chanter, a trained kumu hula (hula teacher). There are certain parameters that we all have to follow. But you can still do lots of wonderful, creative things within the cultural parameters. If nothing else, I’ve learned from one of my mentors that a kumu hula takes all the dances they learned from their kumu, from all these generations. They pass that on, but they also have to create a layer of work on top of that, based on what they know, based on their training.
HAWAII: You’ve written that part of your responsibility is to dispel long-held stereotypes of Hawaii’s living culture and her indigenous people.
REICHEL: Fifteen years ago, our music had moved beyond these shores, and we came into contact with Mainland producers and record labels and publicists. Their idea of Hawaiian music was the stereotypical coconut bra, steel guitar, Don Ho—nothing against Don Ho, he did a great job during that particular era, but there’s more to it.
Hawaiians have been around for 2,000 years plus, we have a voice on the world stage now, but over many years the view of what Hawaiian music is to the world population is very myopic. We had to educate everybody we came into contact with.
One national television show asked us to come on. At the time, they were the top-rated daytime television talk show. We were going to sing, promote ourselves and be on national TV, but they wanted to dress up the audience in hula skirts and coconut bras. They wanted me to teach them a hula. I turned them down, because after all is said and done, I gotta come home and I no like get lickins.
It’s so culturally different outside of Hawaii. We tried our darnedest to dispel that kind of viewpoint. It’s tough. It’s one step forward, two steps back. I’ve realized the world out there is really not so important. What’s important is that we take care of our own first, make sure that we’re all educated. Maybe like ripples in a pond that will slowly, but surely, move outward.
Photos: Punahele Productions
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