Kumu Hula Lōpaka Igarta-De Vera
Born in Honolulu and raised in Manānā Uka, Kumu Hula Joseph Lōpaka Igarta-De Vera is the youngest of five children.
He was first introduced to hula at the young age of five by his mother, Rachel Pua‘āhihi Igarta who was also raised in a hula family. Thus, Kumu Lōpaka was surrounded by singing and dancing growing up. As a family, he, his mother, his sisters—Kulamanu, Lāhela, Kauʻi, and Puaahihileiokamaile—and his aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather every weekend at their family home or at his aunt Leinaala Simerson’s home to kanikapila.
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