Andrea Luchese (Ashland) is the Kumu Hula [master teacher] for Hālau Hula Ka Pi’o O Ke Ānuenue ("the arch of the rainbow"), a Hawaiian cultural dance school she formed in 2007. She has taught hula in her community since 2003, and in 2014 became an ‘uniki ("graduated") kumu hula, under Kumu Hula Raylene Haʻaleleʻa Kawaiaeʻa and Kumu Hula Keala Ching, both native Hawaiians, and the hula traditions of Halau ʻO Haʻaleleʻa and Na Wai ʻIwi Ola, respectively. This formal and rigorous training in the protocols and practices of hula granted her the kuleana ("responsibility") to steward and perpetuate these lineally-connected traditions. As a kumu hula, Andrea shares the spirit and tradition of hula through classes, workshops, retreats, and other educational programs for all ages and levels, as well as through performance events, both regionally and in Hawai’i. Her intention is to inspire, empower, and elevate through perpetuating the sacredness of Hawaiian hula and chant.
Bio
Andrea Luchese received much of her training from Kumu Raylene in Hawaiʻi, from 2003 until she passed in 2012. Kumu Raylene imbibed in Andrea the technical skills of hula, as well as the spiritual aptitude to share her cultural traditions through the vehicle of hula. Kumu Raylene's support gave Andrea the necessary foundation and validation she needed to establish her own hālau hula ("school of hula"), Ka Piʻo O Ke Ānuenue (“the arch of the rainbow”), which Andrea formed in 2007 in Ashland, Oregon. Andrea continued her in-depth training and cultivation as a kumu through kumu hula Keala Ching. This two-year process in Papa Kumu ("kumu training") took place in both Hawaiʻi, and through activities carried out while teaching and directing her hālau in Oregon. Andrea participated in traditional ceremonies officiated by Kumu Keala during that two-year training period, which served to demonstrate her proficiency as an ʻolapa ("dancer") and hoʻopaʻa chanter first, leading to a final ʻuniki ceremony, in which Andrea was witnessed by other kumu hula and cultural practitioners and conferred the title and recognition as being a lineally connected kumu hula, under Kumu Keala and Kumu Raylene. This process is considered the equivalent of a Masters or PhD education in its rigor and specialization. Kumu Andrea also has a Masters of Arts degree in Dance and Spirituality, and is the founder and president of Kapiʻoānuenue, a non-profit cultural arts organization whose mission is to actively participate in the promotion, perpetuation, and preservation of the wisdom and knowledge of the Hawaiian culture and its traditional practices. The primary focus in Kumu Andrea’s hālau is hula kahiko (ancient style), hula ʻauana (modern style), oli (chant), and nā mea hula (arts, crafts, implements). As a kumu hula, Andrea shares the spirit and tradition of hula through classes, workshops, retreats, and other educational programs for all ages and levels, as well as through performance events, both regionally and in Hawai’i. Her intention is to inspire, empower, and elevate through perpetuating the sacredness of Hawaiian hula and chant.
