Te Hau Nui School of Hula & Tahitian Dance
Behind the Inspiration
Kumu Lorraine Kinnamon
BY KEALA RAATIOR
My journey into the world of hula started at age 4 when I took my first hula lessons from Kumu Lorraine Kaleiokalaua’e at the Capitola Recreation Center before my family moved to Hilo, Hawaii. I reunited with Kumu Lorraine when I returned from Hawaii, and she had opened her own hālau, Te Hau Nui School of Hula & Tahitian Dance in Santa Cruz, CA. I can’t even remember when I first fell in love with hula; I seemingly always have. My Kumu Lorraine definitely played a huge role in that. I was privileged to have her as such a strong, bright, and humble role model for the years that I did.
I feel very honored to be invited to join the Uniki Program under the esteemed lineage of Lehua Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and Kūhai Hālau Schools. This is the same lineage that my Kumu Lorraine was under, and she completed the exact training I am undergoing. I feel very connected to her on this journey on the Big Island.
I want to express my gratitude to my hālau for the unconditional love, support, and guidance…not only on this journey but since the very start. We really are a family, built on the foundation of the love and strength our Kumu enveloped us in. Thank you to all my family and friends, near and far, for your constant love and support. If you’re reading this, thank you, and thank you for your interest in my journey!
Me ke aloha pumehana
-Keala Naihangiluk Staley Raatior
Dedication
My Uniki Program journey is dedicated to my hula sisters in Te Hau Nui School of Hula and Tahitian Dance and our collective desire to continue the legacy of our beloved Kumu Lorraine Kalei Kinnamon.
DEDICATION FROM A SISTER
Kumu Lorraine Kalei Kinnamon 1957-2024
BY CHARMAINE MONIZ
Lorraine Kinnamon, founder of Te Hau Nui School of Hula and Tahitian Dance and a master hula teacher whose career in Santa Cruz County began in 1997, left this earth on March 3. She was 66.
For years, she lived in Capitola, but most recently in Aptos.
She was born on Nov. 14, 1957, in Toronto, Canada, where she began her love of dance with ballet classes at the age of 6. It was fortuitous that our German-born parents, Sonja Aiwohi and Hans Krause, moved our family to Kailua, Hawaii in 1968 when Lorraine was 10. Ballet classes were unavailable in Kailua, so my mother signed us all up for hula and Tahitian classes in Kaneohe, Hawaii, with hula teacher Bobbie Butterworth.
This began Lorraine’s love of hula and Tahitian dance, her love of performing, and a deep feeling reverence for Hawaiian culture. Every Sunday, we would perform on the large stage at Ala Moana Shopping Center, draped in fresh plumeria lei picked from our backyard and made with our own hands.
While performing in Germany, her German grandparents proudly sat in the audience to watch their granddaughter entertain them Hawaiian style, something they had never seen!
Back home, Lorraine performed with The Sounds of Young Hawaii at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki where they shared the stage with celebrities such as Hilo Hattie, Sol Bright and with Jack Lord in attendance.
Lorraine was confident, coordinated, and comfortable in her body, which resulted in a lifetime of joyful dancing shared with audiences all over the world.
In high school she joined the Kailua High School Madrigals, a select group of singers and dancers who entertained audiences all over Honolulu with “The Sounds of Young Hawaii,” led by the talented choir director Shigeru Hotoke. Lorraine had the privilege of being chosen to travel around the world two summers to perform in California, Montreal, Canada, Munich, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bali.
While performing in Germany, her German grandparents proudly sat in the audience to watch their granddaughter entertain them Hawaiian style, something they had never seen!
Be Part of our Movement
Perpetuate hula in Santa Cruz
Join Te Hau Nui’s efforts to raise funds for our hula sister, Keala Raatior, to become a certified hula teacher through the Uniki Program under the lineage of world renowned Lehua Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett.
“Keala is part of the next generation of TeHauNui leaders, carrying on our hula lineage through Kumu Lorraine’s Kuhai Halau O Kaleiokalaua’e.” – Kay Uyeda, Uniki Sister
