Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 5, 1 May 2012 — Kumu hula a gentle soul [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kumu hula a gentle soul

0'Brian Eselu, a gentle kumu, a teacher of hula who lived the philosophy of his kūpuna, passed away in his sleep and was found in his bed on the morning of April 3. He was 56.

A Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning musician, Eselu was a gifted teacher. Under the guidance of his tūtū Keoho Oda and his kumu, Muriel Lupenui, Eselu taught with Thaddeus Wilson and later

founded his own hālau, Ke Kai O Kahiki. As he continued to direct the entertainment at Paradise Cove, his hālau won honor after honor at the Merrie Monarch Festival, earning first-place honors in 2000, 2004, 2009, 2010 and2011. He andhis dancers were also featured on PBS. The memories of friends and students touched by the gentle kumu tell the story beyond accolades. Luana Maitland, eultural adviser for the Outrigger Reef Hotel, remembers being in line with Eselu at the Hilo airport as he stood next to his giant pahu drum - the overall award he was bringing home from the Merrie Monarch. When she mentioned that she was creating a cultural flyer he said, "Take it to photograph so you have something real." Renowned designer Sig Zane says over the years of working together the greatest gift he received from Eselu was humility. On the hnal night of the 2012 Merrie Monarch Festival, after all the hula was presented, before the awards were announced, lines of dancers took the stage. They were Eselu's men and one woman, Tracie Ka'onohilani Farias, honored as Eselu's Miss Aloha Hula 1994. There was no sadness, only a celebration of the Eselu style of hula. Now a kumu with her own winning hālau, Farias said: "This sudden loss made it very hard for us to eonhnue our preparations for Merrie Monarch. I was sad until our ladies stepped on the stage to dance kahiko. At that moment I knew 0'Brian was there with us and I was happy again. Dancing in his honor at the close of the festival was a joy." — Lynn Cook ■

Eselu