Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 8, 1 August 1997 — Aunty Mae remembered Hula master inspired others with strength, discipline [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aunty Mae remembered Hula master inspired others with strength, discipline

Ui'° Folu For many, the name Mae Ulalia Loebenstein stirs up images of a generation of hula masters. For others, she was the fashionably dressed "Aunty Mae"

who loved to spend hours at Kahala Mall or who read the scriptures as a lector at church every Sunday. She was a classic example of the endearing term "aunty" because almost everyone who knew her considered her to be like family. On June 30, Aunty Mae bid farewell to friends, students and family. She died of an aortal aneurysm at the age of 86. Many were caught by surprise because Axmty Mae, according to hānai granddaughter Maeha Loebenstein, refused to show any signs of suff ering in public. "She was very strong and yet stubborn at times," Maelia said. Aunty Mae started her professional career as a musidan. She taught herself to play the 'ukulele, guitar and bass and often per-

formed with Lena Guerrero and Daddy and Mama Bray at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. "That was an era of elegance and gentility," Loebenstein explained in a narrative in Nānā I Nā Loea Hula (Look to the Hula Sources) in 1984. "It was like Cinderella going to the grand ball every night of the week. Ever)'thing was the finest . . . It was all like a wonderful dream . . . We will never see anything hke the days of the old Royal Hawaiian Hotel again." Over the years she performed with many great loeal entertainers such as Bill Lineoln, Alfred Apaka, Sally Wood and Lei Cohins. In the early seventies, Aunty Mae began her hula instruction as alaka'i (assistant) of Hālau o Nā Maolipua, led by Alida Smith. Almost two decades later, she formed her own hālau, Ka Pā Hula o Kauanoe o Wa'ahila. In April, in its fifth year in existence, Loebenstein's hālau won top honors at the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo. Her teachings emphasized discipline and dedieahon. She placed great importance on the "basics," specificahy footwork, technique and spirituahty. "Aunty Mae had definite ideas about how things were supposed to be," said Loebenstein's nieee Hōkūlani Holt-Padiha, cultural coordinator at the Kaho'olawe Commission. "Discipline was very

important in learning. She believed that you aspired to have perfection in your dandng. There was no room for cannot; you always ean." She taught her haumāna (students) that the "dance was the showcase of your soul." She beheved that if your spirit wasn't dancing, then you weren't truly dancing, Maelia said.

With the help of her cousin Ulaha Woodside, Maeha will perpetuate Aunty Mae's teachings by taking over the hālau. Growing up in Kahului, Maui, hula was an integral 5 part of Aunty Mae's hfe. Her I first kumu hula, her mother, i Ida Pakulani Ka'aihue j Kai'anui Long, studied under I the great hula master, ! Kamāwae, of Maui. "Mama | taught us hula as a way to I learn our culture and heritage j rather than for entertaining," j Aunty Mae said. "We would dance in the ' afternoon after ah our chores were done. It was our recreation time." There were 15 children in

the family; 13 lived to adulthood. Of the seven girls, three of them, including Aunty Mae, became kumu hula. "For me, Aunty Mae has maintained and continued the teachings of my grandmother," said HoltPadilla. "She would have been proud of what Aunty Mae has produced." Aunty Mae held a number of honors. In 1989,

she was honored as a living treasure by Brigham Young University-Hawai'i. In 1990, she was awarded the distinguished title of Lei Day Queen by the Honolulu City and County Department of Parks and Recreation. The Kaimukī community has also honored her as a treasure. "Some of the little-known facts about Aunty Mae was that she was a fantastic painter and a fabulous seamstress who had

an eye for fashion," Maelia said. "She made most of her clothes and even designed most of the costumes the hālau danced in." Many of Hawai'i's kumu hula and musicians including Frank Hewett, Kealoha Kalama, Ho'okena

i and Nā Leo Pilimehana paid tribute to Aunty Mae at her funeral services, July 7, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Kaimukī. "It was niee to see all her old friends," Maelia said. She added that it was especially pleasing to see those who didn't personally know Aunty Mae pay their respects. : "Aunty Mae knew the gifts she had and she shared them. And that's why the celebration [at her servicej was so beautiful," said

Father John Kuhn, pastor at St. Patrick Church and close friend of the family. "There was music and dancing, and everything was very positive. Mae would've been happy." Me he makani hali 'ala o ka 'awapuhi o 'īao i pā aku ai ka hanu ola hope loa o kahi kupuna hiwahiwa i aloha nui 'ia e ka lāhui, 'o ia 'o Mae Ulalia Loebenstein, he kumu hula, a he makamaka no ka lehulehu. Hanini

ihola ka waimaka me ka Uakea noenoe o Hāna amekaua noe o Wa'ahila no ia "Maui Beauty" i hele aku i ke ala o ka ho'i 'ole mai, a kau i ka moe loa o Niolopua. E ola ana 'o ia i kona mau pulapula. Ke Akua pū, aloha nō.

One of Aunty Mae's many paintings — a view from the mountains near Kahalu'u.

ln one of her eariier pieces, Aunty Mae painted her birthplace in Waiehu, Maui.

Aunty Mae shares her gift of hula with friends and I fnmil« I