Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 7, 1 July 2011 — Keeper of tradition [ARTICLE]

Keeper of tradition

By Melissa Moniz After a 14-year hiatus, Kumu John Kahai Topolinski is regrouping to compete in next year's Merrie Monarch Festival. With him he brings tradition and what he learned as a student of hula legends such as Aunty Maiki Aiu, Aunty Pat Namaka Bacon, Unele Henry Pa, Sally Wood Naluai and Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole. "These teachers all gave me different aspects of the dance to make me complete," says the 71-year-old Topolinski. "Aunty Maiki gave me that kuleana to teach men's style and I looked upon my other teachers for guidanee. And so in 1973 we were the first hālau to teach men first and then women." Topolinski founded Ka Pa Hula Hawai'i in 1973, a year after graduating from Aunty Maiki's Hālau Hula O Maiki. "The basic premise of the hālau was to restore the men's style of dancing," says Topolinski who is also the hānai grandson of Pukui. "As young students we mimie our teachers and some of the women teachers didn't know how to teach men's style. So you had a whole huneh of others who created their own traditions in the men's style and then we're seeing less and less of traditional male hula." Topolinski's hālau promotes the highest standards of traditional dance and chants. It reflects his deeply held values of traditional hula. Disillusioned by the seeming modernization of hula, īopolinski last competed in the Merrie Monarch Festival in 1997, when a falling out with the judges led to his long hiatus from the festival. The passing of time has helped heal old wounds, and he will be returning to compete in 2012. Topolinski looks forward to

building up his hālau for the competition. And he makes no qualms that he's going there to win. "I'm a fierce competitor," says Topolinski. He adds, "It is subjective though, so if we don't win, as long as my dancers dance for me and the way that I taught them, then I am maika'i with that." Topolinski plans to enter both kāne and wahine, whieh he says is very Hawaiian. "The men fulfill their obligation in style" and the women fulfill their obligation through the Hawaiian concept of dualism, he adds. "For men to dance hula in a feminine style was not acceptable in ancient times." In May, Topolinski was honored by Hale o Na Ali'i for his contributions to hula, whieh spans almost 40 years. Earlier in the year, he was also recognized by the Hawai'i Senate, whieh honored outstanding Native Hawaiian leaders across the state during Hawaiian Caucus Day. For his part, Topolinski paid tribute to his last living teacher Pat Namaka Bacon at her birthday party held recently at her daughter's house. "I took my graduates and some members of my hālau to honor her," says Topolinski. "She's very fragile, but her mind is as strong as a whip. She remembers things that even I forgot. And when I see her, it reinforces my teaching." Topolinski is encouraged that students who are interested in learning his style will eome and begin the process of competition. "It's not how fast you learn, but how well you learn," he adds. "It's not overnight and you dedicate yourself to it. It's not easy being a dancer of ancient hula." ■ Meīissa Moniz is a former Associate Editor at MidWeek