Hālau Nā Mamo O Pu‘uanahulu

Erina Maruyama, from Tokyo Ohta-ku, studied architecture, but now works for her family’s pharmacy. Before dancing hula, Erina performed traditional Japanese dance with Hanayagi School of Japanese Dance. As a student, Erina travelled to Europe, Asia, and the United States. While attending college, Erina was introduced to hula, and fell in love with it—she began learning hula in Tokyo, Japan in 1996.

In 2000, Erina went to a concert to see Kumu Hula Sonny Ching. Her love of Hawai‘i, its music and the hula prompted her to attend Kumu Sonnyʻs hula workshops held in Japan. Erina’s first workshop was in 2003 and she joined HNMOP Iapana in 2007. Erina shared that she loves everything about hula: chanting, kahiko and auana. When asked what her favorite song to dance was, she replied, “There are too many beautiful songs for me to pick just one!

I love them all because they keep me connected to Hawai‘i." Furthermore, “Hula has enriched my life by giving me an additional family and a place of belonging. Hula also brings joy to my family as they delight in watching me dance the hula. Hula brings out the aloha in me and the aloha towards others.”