Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa, opened in 2011. It was the third stand-alone hotel created by the company and its first in Hawaii.
In a 2019 review, Forbes’s Laura Manske wrote, “There is both a dramatic and sublime sense of place here, as everything—from architecture to art, activities to aliments—at Aulani connects to a deeper meaning and embraces the people, places, past and present, art, music, dance and foods of Hawaii … Aulani is not a theme park; it is a … hideaway with just enough Disney-orchestrated animation and activity to add rhythm and variety to your vacation days.”
To help create this vibrant and vital atmosphere for the resort, Disney worked with a council of Hawaiian Elders to ensure that the resort and experience would be authentic to Hawaiian culture. This not only applied to things like the names of restaurants and stores but to the very design of the building itself.
As Imagineer Joe Rohde explained, “…it represents this idea that Hawaiian culture is alive. It is not something from the past. It’s not a once-upon-a-time thing. Hawaiians are alive. They’re all around you. They’re working in this hotel. They have a culture and that culture is alive today. So, when you come to Hawaii, the opportunity you have is a very real opportunity to be engaged with Hawaiian culture.”
One of the ways that Disney chose to highlight the vibrancy of the Hawaiian people was through music. The year that Aulani opened, Disney released an album titled Aulani: Music of the Maka’ala by Keali’i Reichel.
The company could not have picked a better artist to create the music. As the biography on Reichel’s webpage declares, “Keali‘i Reichel has been at the forefront of the revival and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. He is a world-class performer, best-selling recording artist, multiple award-winning kumu hula, prolific composer, renowned chanter, choreographer, dancer, crafter, scholar, and teacher.”
However, before diving into his story, it’s helpful to pause and look closely at two distinct Hawaiian traditions that inform Reichel’s work: mele (traditional Hawaiian chant) and hula.
Mele
As noted on Ulukai.org, “Early Hawaiians recorded their literature in memory, not writing. They composed and maintained an extensive oral tradition, a body of literature covering every facet of Hawaiian life. Chants, called mele, recorded thousands of years of ancient Polynesian and Hawaiian history…Chants also recorded the daily life of the Hawaiian people, their love of the land, humor or tragedy, and the heroic character of their leaders.”
There are two distinct forms of mele:
- Mele oli – an unaccompanied solo chant performed during ritual occasions such as a birth of death.
- Mele hula – a chant that is accompanied by dance. It can also be accompanied by music.
Hula
When Hawaiian culture is popularly depicted in film, it almost always includes hula, a form of dance that (like mele) is a vital form of recording and transmitting history and story. As Māpuana de Silva, a kuma hula (or hula teacher) explains, “Hula is our highest expression of who we are. It’s our language put into motion. The stories encompass not just our way of living, but our existence, our world.”
Though the exact details of the story vary from place to place, the story of hula’s creation typically involves Pele, the creator Goddess. In one version, the first hula was performed for the Pele by her sister Hi’iaka. In another, Pele danced the first hula in celebration after escaping her sister Namakaokahaʻi.
For a time, after the arrival of Christian missionaries to the Hawaiian islands, the tradition of hula was suppressed and shunned, with public performances being outlawed for a time. In later years, the expansion of regular tourist travel to the islands led to stereotyped, popular depictions of hula, which bore only a nominal resemblance to the ancient tradition.
However, beginning in the 1960s and 70s, a cultural renaissance began taking place on the Hawaiian islands, as native Hawaiians sought to reclaim their heritage and make it a more prominent part of daily life.
It was during this revival that Keali’i Reichel was born.
The Kuma Hula
Born on the island of Maui, Reichel spent his formative years learning Hawaiian culture and values from his mother’s parents. His grandmother, Kamaile Puhi Kane, helped instill his love of traditional Hawaiian music, an education which he continued under the tutelage of Peter Day at Lahainaluna High School.
He continued learning from Pualani Kanaka’ole Kanahele, the daughter of the Hawaiian scholar and kumu hula “Aunty” Edith Kanaka’ole.
Speaking to World Sound, he stated, “It was at that point I started discovering my voice and little nuances; how to bring out emotion, how to put yourself in the composer’s shoes, in English or Hawaiian. When you get chant training you have to become aware of where all the tones are coming from and you have to be able to visualize what you’re saying. If a chant was written 300 years ago, you’re supposed to be able to put yourself into that spot and feel what the composer is trying to convey.”
Reichel would go on to found his own hula school, Halau Ke’alaokamaile, and became a founding member of Punana Leo O Maui, a Hawaiian language immersion school.
He recorded his first album in 1994, Kawaipunahele. Subsequent releases followed as Reichel rocketed to the top of the Hawaiian music scene. Over the years, he has won numerous Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiian equivalent of the Grammy Awards, and in 2011 he was elected into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.
Despite all of this success, Reichel prides himself on being a teacher first and foremost,
Music of the Maka’ala
Aulani: Music of the Maka’ala saw Reichel working with noted composer Mark Mancina (known best to Disney fans for his work on Tarzan, Brother Bear, Moana, and others).
Describing his goals for the project, Reichel stated, “My job first and foremost was to make sure that the poetic language was proper. I think the authenticity of the music comes from the language, making sure that whatever we created for Aulani spoke to a place, as well as the island, and the broader Hawaiian islands.”
At this, Reichel succeeds admirably, and the result is a five-track album that spans 42 minutes, including the gorgeous and epic “The Journey (Suite).” The piece closes out the album and stretches to almost 30 minutes. Its lush orchestration, alongside the stunning vocals, combines to create a true piece of art and a beautiful celebration of Hawaiian culture.
The music can be heard in and around the grounds of the Aulani resort, but physical and streaming copies of the album are also available for folks who can’t make the trip.
For the last word on the album, it seems fitting to turn again to Reichel, who said, “What we hope for the Guests to take away from our music is that we, as Hawaiians, are creative. Yet, at the same time, we are grounded in our culture and grounded in our traditions.”
Make Mine Music 