The Weekly Calistogan .::. CommunityFeatures

While watching her mom and sister dancing hula at Pioneer Park on Saturday, something unexpected happened to Mona White, of St. Helena; she felt connected with her family's heritage.

"I'm so proud of them," she said. "This is the first time I've seen them dance, and now I wish I could get up there and join them -- and I'm sure my mom would love having both of her daughters up there with her."

Her mom, Yvonne Gorham, a native of Hawaii, had her own thoughts about dancing hula in Pioneer Park.

"It's a little weird," she said during a break in the dancing. "I mean, it's a little strange dancing hula here, so far away from Hawaii."

Yvonne, who's retired and living in St. Helena, said she used to dance the hula "a very long time ago," when she was still a girl. She started dancing again about four months ago after meeting some friends who urged her to join a series of schools that have sprung up here on the mainland.

Hula instructor, or Kumu, Paul Neves started the school, "Halau Ha'a Kea O Kinohi," or "School of a New Beginning," in Middletown about two years ago, and most recently started classes in Calistoga, where classes are held each Sunday afternoon at the Community Center on Washington Street.

Each month Neves flies to the mainland from his Hilo, Hawaii home to instruct students in the traditional dance moves and offer them spiritual advice, as well. He has schools here, as well as in Vallejo and Washington, D.C.

"He flies first to the schools here in Napa County before flying all the way to Washington, D.C. to see us students there," said Dana Pua 'ena Dias, a mother of four who flew to Napa Valley from Fairfax, Va., to join her hula school brothers and sisters. "This is so much more spiritual than other forms of dance. I love it because I get to dance with my children."

Neves started the schools at the urging of his nieces, whom he sees at a family reunion held each year in the Middletown, Hidden Valley area -- where he once lived with his late parents.

Gorham, who danced with her daughter Lindsey Bracco, also from St. Helena, was moved to tears while dancing a song, "My Grandmother," or, "E Kuu, TuTu," in Hawaiian -- a tribute performed, like most hula, using body language, meant to honor grandmothers. "It's so moving, and something I've wanted to do with my daughters for many years, but have only had the chance to do since I retired."

Far from retiring, Calistoga resident Rachel Ruperto, a Middletown-based Realtor who joined the school, or Halau, nearly two years ago, was also attracted by the spiritual rewards of hula.

"There is a tremendous spirit of giving among the people of Hawaii," said Ruperto, when she heard about opening of the dance school over the coconut wireless -- the telephone. "I grew up in Hawaii, and I've really missed the attitude of peace that is everywhere there."

Attending the halau twice or three times each week gets her reconnected to the spirit of the islands.

"Coming here each week makes me feel like I'm back in Hawaii," Ruperto said. "It's especially nice when Kumu (the teacher, Paul), is here, because he not only teaches us the dance, but also the tradition and the culture."

Being connected is part of what the hula was all about in Hawaiian tradition.

"The hula was the media for the Hawaiian people. It was the television, the newspaper, and the dancers and singers were the reporters," Neves explained. "Traditionally, the singers told the stories and the dancers reenacted the stories, but as times changed and the language was nearly lost, we forgot the words and the dancers became the focus.

"Today, because of the Hawaiian schools, the language is being reborn, we are finding that which was lost," he said.

To further connect his students with their Hawaiian ancestry, or for non-Hawaiians, to more deeply connect his students to the traditional Hawaiian teachings, Kumu Paul gives his students Hawaiian names.

Instead of just "Yvonne," Gorham is known as "Kaho 'oipomaliania 'i," and instead of just Rachel, Ruperto is known as "Kekaimalu 'oku'u aloha," which means "Sea of my love."

"It's really important that we can use the dance here to reconnect with who we are," said Gorham. "People are always rushing around, watching TV and doing other things, that we forget who we are. As we meet people from all over and as we move to different parts of the world, we lose ourselves. Hula, and the school here, helps us remember ourselves."

But you don't have to be Hawaiian to get the message.

"I missed dancing hula for 16 years after I moved to Washington," said Dias, who said she's not Hawaiian, but "everything else," including Filipino, Chinese, Irish, Scottish and English. "You don't have to be Hawaiian to enjoy the classes -- Hawaiian is really a frame of mind."

Hawaiian hula classes are held weekly in Calistoga at the Calistoga Community Center, next to the Sharpsteen Museum. For more information, call Rachel Ruperto at 942-8088.