Hālau Mele
Marques Hanalei Marzan has a passion for both the visual and performing arts, having collaborated in a number of Hawai'i based productions in both a performative and costuming/stage design capacity. Marzan has a Bachelors of Fine Arts with a concentration in the Fiber Arts from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Marzan also studied traditional Hawaiian dance and chant under the direction of acclaimed Kumu Hula, John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake since 2002. In July of 2011, Marzan under went the ritual rite of passage (ʻūniki huʻelpo), becoming a Kahuna Kākalaleo, one skilled in the practice of Hawaiian protocols and chant. This training has enabled Marzan to be a Hawaiian protocol coordinator at the Bishop Museum, where he is employed as a curatorial specialist in the Hawaiian Collections. Marzan has performed at a number of venues locally, nationally and internationally, including places like Anchorage, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., American Sāmoa, and the Solomon Islands.
Dr. Samuel M. ʻOhukaniʻōhiʻa Gon III was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, and trained in Hawaiian dance and chant by a number of traditional teachers: Kumu Hula (Dance Master) Hoʻoulu Cambra, Kumu Hula Edward Kalāhiki, and Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake. Under Kumu Lake's training, he underwent the traditional rite of passage (ʻūniki huʻelepo) to emerge as a practitioner of chant and protocol (Kahuna Kākalaleo). Also western trained as a conservation biologist, Dr. Gon received his Master's Degree in Zoology and Ph.D. in Ethology (Animal Behavior) from the University of California at Davis. His current role as Senior Scientist and Cultural Adviser for The Nature Conservancy of Hawaiʻi is a biocultural approach that won him in 2014 the title of Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi, conferred by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission in Hawaiʻi. Gon has lent his cultural expertise and practice in a number of venues locally, nationally, and internationally, including such places as the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.); the Musee DʻHistoire Naturelle Nationale, Paris, France; Ethnologisches Museum Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in Dahlem, Berlin, Germany; and Rapanui (Easter Island). He is currently Kumu Oli (Master of Chant) of the hālau (traditional school) Nā Waʻa Lālani Kahuna o Puʻu Koholā, which serves as hālau-in-residence at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
Braven Kalama Cabigon was born and raised in Kapāhulu, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and is a storyteller, chanter, musician, and slam poet. He has spent a good portion of his life immersed in things Hawaiian. As a student of Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake, Kalama has refined his skills in chanting and tradition Hawaiian storytelling, over a diverse set of presentations throughout the islands. As a member of the musical group Kupaʻāina, he is taken his love for Hawaiian music into a contemporary set of genres including rock, hiphop and reggae, though remaining firmly rooted in the Hawaiian experience. As an actor, Cabigon is one of a handful of performers who has toured with Ka Hālau Hanakeaka, a unique performing group specializing in plays entirely in the Hawaiian Language. Cabigon has also presented stories in Hawaiian and English at the Mary Kawena Pukui Storytelling Festival at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Kathryn Mahealani Wong was born and raised in Honolulu, and is a Kumu Hula (Hawaiian Dance Master) and Kahuna Kākalaleo (Hawaiian Chant and Protocol Master), both traditional designations conferred via Hawaiian rites of passage and after years of arduous training. This training occurred under the direction of Kumu Hula Hoakalei Kamauʻu, Kumu Hula Pōmaikaʻi Gaui, and Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake, all recognized masters of the art. She has exercise this traditional training in both hula and chant/protocol in national and international venues including: Rome, Italy and Tremelo, Belgium (both in support of the Canonization of Saint Damien of Hawaiʻi); as Kumu Hula for Mana Maoli, a group of Hawaiian performers representing Hawaiʻi at an international festival called Pasifika in 2010; and at the Intertribal Powwow in North Dakota, USA, representing Hawaiʻi among the indigenous tribes. She currently is Kumu Hula of the hālau (traditional school) Nā Hanona o ka Hālau Hula Pā Ola Kapu, and teaches Hula and Hawaiian Studies the Honolulu Waldorf School (grades 1-12).
Dr. Samuel M. ʻOhukaniʻōhiʻa Gon III was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, and trained in Hawaiian dance and chant by a number of traditional teachers: Kumu Hula (Dance Master) Hoʻoulu Cambra, Kumu Hula Edward Kalāhiki, and Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake. Under Kumu Lake's training, he underwent the traditional rite of passage (ʻūniki huʻelepo) to emerge as a practitioner of chant and protocol (Kahuna Kākalaleo). Also western trained as a conservation biologist, Dr. Gon received his Master's Degree in Zoology and Ph.D. in Ethology (Animal Behavior) from the University of California at Davis. His current role as Senior Scientist and Cultural Adviser for The Nature Conservancy of Hawaiʻi is a biocultural approach that won him in 2014 the title of Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi, conferred by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission in Hawaiʻi. Gon has lent his cultural expertise and practice in a number of venues locally, nationally, and internationally, including such places as the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.); the Musee DʻHistoire Naturelle Nationale, Paris, France; Ethnologisches Museum Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in Dahlem, Berlin, Germany; and Rapanui (Easter Island). He is currently Kumu Oli (Master of Chant) of the hālau (traditional school) Nā Waʻa Lālani Kahuna o Puʻu Koholā, which serves as hālau-in-residence at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
Braven Kalama Cabigon was born and raised in Kapāhulu, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and is a storyteller, chanter, musician, and slam poet. He has spent a good portion of his life immersed in things Hawaiian. As a student of Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake, Kalama has refined his skills in chanting and tradition Hawaiian storytelling, over a diverse set of presentations throughout the islands. As a member of the musical group Kupaʻāina, he is taken his love for Hawaiian music into a contemporary set of genres including rock, hiphop and reggae, though remaining firmly rooted in the Hawaiian experience. As an actor, Cabigon is one of a handful of performers who has toured with Ka Hālau Hanakeaka, a unique performing group specializing in plays entirely in the Hawaiian Language. Cabigon has also presented stories in Hawaiian and English at the Mary Kawena Pukui Storytelling Festival at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Kathryn Mahealani Wong was born and raised in Honolulu, and is a Kumu Hula (Hawaiian Dance Master) and Kahuna Kākalaleo (Hawaiian Chant and Protocol Master), both traditional designations conferred via Hawaiian rites of passage and after years of arduous training. This training occurred under the direction of Kumu Hula Hoakalei Kamauʻu, Kumu Hula Pōmaikaʻi Gaui, and Kumu Hula John Keolamakaʻāinana Lake, all recognized masters of the art. She has exercise this traditional training in both hula and chant/protocol in national and international venues including: Rome, Italy and Tremelo, Belgium (both in support of the Canonization of Saint Damien of Hawaiʻi); as Kumu Hula for Mana Maoli, a group of Hawaiian performers representing Hawaiʻi at an international festival called Pasifika in 2010; and at the Intertribal Powwow in North Dakota, USA, representing Hawaiʻi among the indigenous tribes. She currently is Kumu Hula of the hālau (traditional school) Nā Hanona o ka Hālau Hula Pā Ola Kapu, and teaches Hula and Hawaiian Studies the Honolulu Waldorf School (grades 1-12).