Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 12, 1 December 2010 — A LIFETIME OF LIVING HULA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A LIFETIME OF LIVING

HULA

Queenie Dowsett honored for perpetuating hula

I By Melissa Moniz

II I I ula is my * * I I life. It's my ola," says I I Queenie I I Ventura Dowsett, a former student of 'Iolani Luahine, who recently received the 2010 I Ola Mau Ka Hula Award from Hula Grill WaikM.

At 80 years old, Dowsett has spent her lifetime living hula. "My background started L with my mother who ^ eame from a line of

dancers and because I am the eldest daughter

my mama, my tūtū man and my granduncles pretty mueh told me when I was a little girl that I need to do hula," says Dowsett. "It was hard for me because when I was growing up times were changing and there were drive-in theaters and I didn't want the discipline, so the traditional 'ōlapa didn't seem for me. Well, kind and gentle they

were. tney never saia t naa to do it, but asked me if I would consider just going to some of the masters and maybe just watch and learn a little bit. And so I did." At the age of 8, she went to hula masters such as Tom Hiona and Mary Ho. "It didn't take me long to realize how wonderful it was to hula," adds Dowsett. "For us who were given this opportunity, we were able to understand who we were and what and why we were

here in Hawai'i. For me, it was that I had an obligation and responsibility to Hawai'i." Through hula, Dowsett began to understand what she observed as a child watching her mother. It solidified the eonneehon to her past and cleared a path to her future. "My mom would hula and oli every ehanee she had," says Dowsett. "Watching her and the kinds of things that she would do was magical. It was something she did every day. It was a thank you to the kai (sea) or a mahalo to the ua (rain). I heeame like that person and suddenly realized that everything around me was who I am." Her love and dedication for hula was tested at the age of 14, when she auditioned with hula master Aunty 'Iolani Luahine. "I did have questions whether I really wanted to do the 'ōlapa because dancing for my family was wonderful, but to get out and now perhaps knowing where that would take me was a little conflicting," says Dowsett. "When mama dropped me off, she told me that she and my dad were going to drop me off down at Kaka'ako and for me to go and hopefully Aunty 'Io will talk with you and maybe ask you to do the basics and see if you ean fit into her group. Well I did, and I heeame one of that very wonderful, incredible group. It's like getting on a magic carpet and being taken throughout Hawai'i and finding out what is there." Dowsett immersed herself in hula,

what she describes as a seminary and nothing like how hula is taught now. "Aunty 'Io taught us that dancing was understanding the basics, but the most important thing was discipline," she adds. "Discipline in a way where it's not just to be quiet, but to ho'olohe, to listen carefully and to watch and to absorb. What was important

to ner īn our oiapa was the language, the story, the emotion - you need to have that because without that you cannot be what that oli is telling you. You heeame the wind, the rain and the fire. That's Aunty 'Iolani. She is the dancer. She is hula." Hula opened up a world of opportunities for Dowsett. For years she danced as a soloist for music greats such as Alfred Apaka and Ed Kenney.

She was the loeal lead actress in the 1951 feature film Bird ofParadise. "I love the 'ōlapa, but my love is the hapa haole," adds Dowsett. "And that's really what made me that soloist to travel." At 21, Dowsett met Jamie, the man she would spend the rest of her life with. They had five children. "We moved to Waimea in 1952 and we raised our children here on Hawaiian homestead land until 1968," says Dowsett. "Then because we wanted them to get a better education and I couldn't get them into Kamehameha, we took all five children back to O'ahu and my children attended Punahou. Then, when they were all pau, my husband and I eame back. Now, I look right at Mauna Kea and it's absolutely beautiful." The longtime sweethearts have since added to their 'ohana, 16 grandchildren, 12 greatgrandchildren and two more on the way. "I'm 80 years old," says Dowsett. "What is so wonderful is because of my hula I think I have been able to stay in good health. I hula every day. People yoga and do other exercises, and I hula. Just hula, hula, hula." ■ Melissa Moniz is a Contributing Writerfor Ka Wai Ola Afonner Associ.ate Editor at MidWeek she has chosen a new careerpath as afiill-time mom to spend more quali.ty ti.me with her husband and two young daughters.

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Above: ūueenie Dowseft and George Nō'ope present a tribute in 2007 to hula great 'lolani Luahine, who years before had accepted a teenaged Dowseft into her hula group. - Courtesy photos: Hula Preservation Society lnset: Dowsett's mother ki

and Kumu, Sophie Kalili Ventura. - Courtesy photo: Oueenie Dowseft

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