On a Tuesday afternoon in Lihue, the sound of a pahu drum and the shuffle of bare feet on a wooden floor carry out of Hale Lihue at 4286 Rice Street. It is a scene that has repeated itself week after week: keiki barely tall enough to reach a grown-up's waist standing beside kupuna who have been dancing for decades, all learning the same basic steps from the same teacher. The lessons are free, and they are open to anyone who shows up.
The class is taught by Kumu Hula Kamalani and presented by Ho'omana I Ka Lāhui, a program of the YWCA Kaua'i. The lessons run every Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Sign-ups are handled by email through Kawena Bagano, the program director, at [email protected]. Attendees are asked to bring bottled water and a pareo, the wrap cloth worn over a dancer's clothing.
What makes the class unusual is not just that it is free, but who it is for. The listing puts it plainly: "From Keiki to kupuna, all are welcomed." In practice that means a room where a child and a grandparent can learn side by side, which is closer to how hula was traditionally passed down than the recital-stage model most visitors encounter. There is no audition, no fee, and no requirement that anyone have danced before.
The story behind the lessons is more layered than a simple community class. Ho'omana I Ka Lāhui is the YWCA Kaua'i's culturally specific domestic violence program, built to serve survivors of dating violence, domestic violence, family violence and sexual assault from keiki to kupuna with a trauma-informed approach. Its stated purpose is to support the revitalization of Native Hawaiian culture as the foundation for preventing violence, weaving cultural traditions and healing practices into crisis response.
That mission shaped everything the program did. It ran workshops that honored Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Filipino heritage, treating traditional practices as a foundation for healing, harmony and the prevention of violence. It provided prevention education in Hawaiian language and culture immersion schools, aiming to give keiki life skills rooted in Hawaiian values. It offered direct crisis intervention, counseling, mobile advocacy and case management, and it produced multilingual materials so that services reached residents who are often overlooked by mainstream programs.
The need was real. About 37 percent of the people using the YWCA Kaua'i's crisis services identify as Native Hawaiian, according to Kawena Bagano, the program director. The program also deliberately reached toward Pacific Islander and Filipino residents, groups that experience higher rates of domestic violence in Hawai'i and are frequently underserved. The YWCA received its federal funding for Ho'omana I Ka Lāhui in September 2023 and launched the program in October 2024, opening offices in Anahola and Waimea so it could keep a presence in or near Kaua'i's Hawaiian Home Lands communities.
One of its signature efforts was a monthly 'ukulele workshop in Anahola led by the lifelong musician Ipo Kahaunaele-Ferreira. Every first Tuesday for six months, neighbors gathered to learn songs like Dennis Kamakahi's "Kōke'e," Henry Waiau's "Maika'i Kaua'i" and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Henehene Kou 'Aka." Kahaunaele-Ferreira told the Hawai'i Community Journal that the organization understood 'ukulele was already prevalent in the community, and that was how it could bring generations together. The workshops gave attendees a safe space to do something for themselves and enjoy one another's company, with the longer-term hope that learning music would build a foundation for healthy relationships. Valarie Cabreira, a Ho'omana services advocate, said the workshops offered a haven and a place of connection for people going through difficult times at home.
The hula lessons at Hale Lihue belong to the same family of programming, using a living cultural practice as both instruction and connection. But the program's run was cut short. Ho'omana I Ka Lāhui was coming up on its first year when it learned its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was being terminated under federal policy changes that eliminated support for culturally specific programs. The YWCA had been slated to receive about $214,000 a year for three years through the grant, according to Cheryl Lum, the YWCA's executive director. The program's last day of operations arrived in late 2025, even as the YWCA sought other funding to keep it alive.
That context is what gives the Tuesday hula class its weight. Hale Lihue itself is a familiar community anchor on Rice Street, a building that hosts everything from congregate meals and kupuna 'ukulele sessions through the County of Kaua'i Agency on Elderly Affairs to book clubs. The Rice Street Business Association, the nonprofit behind the Lihue Town Core's revival, is listed as the presenter of the free hula lessons on Eventbrite. Formed as a committee in 2000 within the Lihue Business Association and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2018, the association organizes the Rice Street Block Party, the Kauai Brewers Festival and the Battle of the Food Trucks, drawing more than 20,000 people into the town core each year. Its stated mission is to foster a vibrant community in Downtown Lihue, and a free weekly hula class fits that aim squarely.
For anyone who has wanted to learn hula but assumed it required a halau, a fee or years of commitment, the class removes every barrier but one: showing up. The details are simple. It is free. It is at Hale Lihue, 4286 Rice Street in Lihue. It runs Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Bring water and a pareo, and email [email protected] to sign up. Keiki and kupuna are equally welcome, and so is everyone in between.