Artist Spotlight - Ezra Ekelakealani Gonzales
This month, we are excited to be featuring a dancer, Ezra Ekelakealani Gonzales, who specializes in hula dancing, as our August Artist Spotlight. Ezra is the owner and hula instructor at The Vine Hula School Na Kalāʻauhihilani in Watertown, NY.
Hula holds a special place in Ezra’s life as she grew up in California and frequented Hawaii on many family vacations where she became interested in the local dance and culture. Ezra began hula dancing 10 years ago while she was living in Florida, as an activity that she could enjoy with her daughter. Growing up, she had been involved in dance and martial arts, but after an injury, she was looking for something that was less strenuous on her body and something that she could share with her family. After two years of classes, her Kuma, or hula teacher, asked Ezra to instruct some of the keiki classes, or children’s classes, and so Mrs. Gonzales began to teach the art of hula dancing.
Since moving to Watertown in 2014, Ezra has been teaching and sharing hula to the local community. In her classes, Mrs. Gonzales strives to teach the culture and rituals associated with hula dancing as hula was and continues to be a way to tell stories through movement. To the Pacific Islanders, hula serves as a way of communicating and documenting history, lifestyle, particular events and paying respect to gods, goddesses, and nature. Hula is highly based in tradition and Ezra has found it helpful to continue to take classes herself to better teach the cultural aspects of the dance, which she does over Zoom with a Kuma in Hawaii. Classes are Monday nights at 11:00 Eastern Standard Time and Ezra joked that sometimes it is hard for her to be motivated at such a late hour. She shared, however, that “it’s been good for me just to be able to keep learning.”
Mrs. Gonzales is excited that this year she has been able to meet regularly with her students in person as COVID-19 hindered this for the past two years. She currently has 6 students taking classes and Ezra shared that this number fluctuates regularly based on the number of military families in the area, specifically those with a connection to Hawaii. Unfortunately, due to the frequent turnover of students, she is unable to enter competitions, but her studio does host a yearly ho’ike, or recital. Ezra also partners with Fort Drum for their Pacific Heritage Month Celebration and will teach hula dances to those who are interested.
If you are interested in joining a class or learning more about Ezra and hula dancing, visit her website and Facebook page linked below.
