U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
July 6, 2015
Celebrating 40 years of teaching hula
By Melissa Tanji
The Maui News
AILUKU, Hawai’i (AP) — In a
single-car garage on Vineyard
Street in Wailuku, a young Iola
Caldito learned the hula. Taught by the
late Elizabeth Lum Ho, the six-year-old
found a passion and never let go.
“I loved hula from the very start,” said
Iola Caldito Balubar, now 68, a kumu hula
and professional Polynesian dancer. It
became her life and her career, reported
the Maui News.
This
year
marks
the
40-year
anniversary of Balubar’s halau, which got
its start in May 1975. Initially called Iola
Balubar Polynesian Dance Studio, the
group was renamed Halau Hula O Keola
Ali’i O Ke Kai, which means “the lively
king of the sea,” in 1982. The name was
inspired by her sons’ names, Keolaokekai
and Kealii, and by the family of her
husband, Richard Balubar, divers and
fishermen who love the ocean.
From that Vineyard Street garage,
Balubar followed her passion and learned
more hula and Polynesian dance,
including Tahitian, Maori, and Samoan
styles. She performed professionally at
Maui venues familiar to old-timers, such
as the Intercontinental Hotel in Wailea
(now the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort &
Spa) and the old Maui Lu Resort in Kihei
(which currently is being turned into a
388-unit timeshare project).
Balubar has taken hula and Polynesian
dance to the mainland, Japan, the Philip-
pines, and Canada. She even performed at
Disneyland’s Tahitian Terrace Restau-
rant, with five half-hour shows daily.
“I would look forward for Tinker Bell
flying on an overhead wire across Disney’s
park,” she recalled.
In addition to performing, teaching
became a calling. Balubar has taught
hundreds of adults and children over four
decades. Her career is so long that she
currently is teaching grandchildren of
some of her early students.
“I feel very successful. I feel very happy
to have reached out to so many people that
have trusted me and who came to me as a
student to learn how to portray the hula,
W
DECADES OF DANCE. Iola Caldito Balubar (left photo) established her halau four decades ago and is currently teaching grandchildren of some of her early students
in Wailuku, Hawai’i (right photo). Balubar is kumu hula of Halau Hula O Keola Ali’i O Ke Kai, which means “the lively king of the sea.” This year marks the 40th anniversary
of her halau, which got its start in May 1975. Initially called Iola Balubar Polynesian Dance Studio, the group was renamed in 1982. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via
AP)
Hawaiian culture ... as well as Polynesian song.
Luau and the Royal Lahaina and Westin
dance that I have taught all these years,”
luaus,
along
with
Tihati
“We all love to dance and perform,” she Maui
Balubar said.
Productions, which produces large,
said.
Among her many students is 24-year-old
Wendy Perry of Kahului, who has been professional shows for conventions,
tours,
television
Cheyenne Jarnesky of Waiehu, who has dancing with Balubar for 31 years, calls international
appearances, and international bookings.
been dancing with Balubar for 20 years.
Balubar a “kumu, friend, and aunty.”
Balubar continues to teach hula to
“Hula and Tahitian (dance) stuck out for
“We have learned life disciplines from
me. It always did,” said Jarnesky, who her loving and caring ways — how well she people of all ages and still holds afternoon
dances professionally at the Westin Maui treats people, how she gives unselfishly to practice in Waiehu for keiki and the
luau in Kaanapali. “She kind of molded me others, how it’s never a problem to do “gracious ladies” of the mature set.
Balubar is the daughter of Richard
into becoming the professional hula something for you,” said Perry. “Her
“Pablo”
and Dorothy Lovell Caldito. Her
dancer that I am today.”
infectious laughter, twinkling eyes, and
father
was
a member of the former Maui
Jarnesky, who is an alakai or leader in big heart enrich our lives. What would we
County
Board
of Supervisors and later the
the halau, said she has continued to dance have done without our beloved Aunty
Maui
County
Council. As a youngster,
for Balubar all these years because of her Iola?”
Balubar said she was known as “the
approach to performance and practice.
Over the years, Balubar’s halau has
Caldito daughter, the hula dancer.”
“She will always help you along. She will performed at nonprofit events, healthcare
At one point in her youth, she had to stop
never put you down,” Jarnesky said.
facilities, and Maui shopping centers. The
taking hula lessons because the family
“(Balubar) is always happy. She is halau has taken part in competitions,
could not afford them. “I didn’t know how
always sharing aloha with everyone. New including the Merrie Monarch Festival on
much it was, (but) we had to stop,” she
people coming into the halau, she will take the Big Island and the Queen Lili’uokalani
said.
them on. She will never tell anybody no,” Keiki Hula Competition on Oahu. The
Later, in the sixth or seventh grade, she
Jarnesky said.
halau also has participated in competi- was able to resume her lessons. The late
Val Fernandez, who has been dancing tions in San Francisco and in Las Vegas.
Becky Kaopuiki gave Balubar an oppor-
with Balubar for more than 20 years, calls
Her dancers also have entered Tahitian tunity to choreograph hula.
her teacher “a loving, caring person.”
dance competitions, such as the Heiva I
“It was then, I gained the confidence to
Back in the day, Fernandez said she Maui Tahiti Fete. Balubar gave a shoutout choreograph hula. (I) also created our own
performed Tahitian and Maori dances, but to her lead Tahitian drummer and singer, outfits,” she said.
hula currently is her favorite. Some of the Guiller Evangelista, who has been with
From that point on, she never looked
best times with Balubar and her hula her for 25 years.
back and was dancing at luau and
sisters are at family gatherings or parties,
Some of Balubar’s dancers have gone on entertaining at parties “at a young age.”
“I have danced forever,” she said.
where they all get up to dance a familiar to professional careers at the Old Lahaina
Team U.S.A. beats Japan to win 2015 Women’s World Cup
By Jody Lim
The Asian Reporter
ANCOUVER,
British
Columbia — The United
States defeated Japan in
the final of the 2015 Women’s
World Cup (WWC), the once-
every-four-years world cham-
pionship of soccer. The U.S. got
off to a fast start, scoring four
goals in the first 16 minutes of the
match. Defending champion
Japan finally got on the board in
the 27th minute.
The Nadeshiko of Japan
earned a spot in the final match
by defeating all their opponents
in Group C: Switzerland 1-0,
Cameroon 2-1, and Ecuador 1-0.
After the group stage, they
defeated their Round of 16
opponent, The Netherlands, 2-1,
to start off the knockout stage.
The next squad to fall to Japan
was Australia, 1-0, in the
quarterfinal, then England in the
semifinal, 2-1.
The U.S. booked their ticket to
the final match with two wins
and a tie in Group D: a 3-1 win
over Australia, a scoreless draw
against Sweden, and a 1-0 defeat
of Nigeria. In the Round of 16,
Team USA beat Colombia 2-0 to
V
WORLD CHAMPIONS. Team Japan’s Rumi Utsugi (left photo, left) slides as Carli Lloyd (#10) of the United States dribbles the ball during the second half of the Women’s
World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on July 5, 2015. The United States beat Japan to win the title. In the right photo, Japan’s goalkeeper, Ayumi
Kaihori, gets a hand on but can’t save a goal scored by USA midfielder Carli Lloyd during the first half of the game. (AP Photos/Elaine Thompson)
earn the right to play China PR in
the quarterfinal, who they beat
1-0. In the semifinal, the U.S.
knocked off number-one-ranked
Germany with a 2-0 score.
USA’s Carli Lloyd started the
scoring in the third minute of
the championship game on a
corner kick taken by Megan
Rapinoe. The goal was the fastest
goal in Fédération Internationale
de Football Association (FIFA)
WWC Final history.
Within two minutes, the U.S.
had tallied another goal. On a
free kick, Lauren Holiday sent a
ball in that was flicked by Julie
Johnston and finished by Lloyd.
Just nine minutes later, in the
14th minute, the United States
was on the board again. After a
series of passes by the U.S., Team
Japan defender Azusa Iwashi-
mizu attempted to head the ball
away, but instead sent it up into
the air and to the feet of Lauren
Holiday, who volleyed it into the
back of the net.
After two more minutes, the
score was 4-0, when Lloyd took a
shot from near half field. Japan
goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori got a
hand on the ball, but it bounced
off the post and into the goal.
Japan’s Yuki Ogimi hit a
curling shot on a pass by Nahomi
Kawasumi in the 27th minute to
finally put Japan on the
scoresheet. Shortly after the goal,
in the 33rd minute, Japan head
coach Norio Sasaki subbed in a
player with experience to spark
his team: 36-year-old Homare
Sawa, who has scored 83 inter-
national goals for her country.
Japan’s play improved, but the
team only managed to score one
more goal, by causing a USA own
goal in the 52nd minute. The U.S.
scored once more, a nice finish by
Tobin Heath in the 54th minute,
for a final score of 5-2.
The next FIFA Women’s World
Cup will be held in France. To
learn more, visit <www.fifa.com/
womensworldcup>.