Every performance strengthens the West Oʻahu community by investing in the people, businesses, and cultural practitioners who make it possible.
Kaula supports a workforce of 166 local professionals across performance, production, hospitality, culinary arts, design, and technical operations.
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Every performance reflects thousands of hours of rehearsal, craftsmanship, planning, and collaboration by West Oʻahu’s creative community. By prioritizing local talent and locally owned businesses, Kaula keeps investment within the community while showcasing the depth of Hawaiʻi’s cultural and creative industries.
“When the story takes us through Mākaha and Waiʻanae, we’re not just honoring Mahina’s ‘ohana and kūpuna but mine too.”
— Oʻoe Carr, lead actress
Snorkel before the show!
The People Behind Kaula Lūʻau
While each member of the leadership team brings a distinct discipline, Kaula is the result of collective creation.
Producers, cultural advisors, writers, choreographers, educators, musicians, designers, technicians, and performers work side by side throughout the creative process. Ideas are developed collaboratively. Cultural guidance is woven into artistic decision-making. Every chapter is shaped through conversation, research, rehearsal, and mutual respect.
That collaborative spirit extends beyond the stage. It is reflected in the partnerships with local businesses, the opportunities created for Hawaiʻi’s creative community, and the commitment to presenting Pacific cultures with care and authenticity.
The result is a production shaped by many hands and one shared purpose: to create a gathering where stories, traditions, and people come together in meaningful ways.
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Executive Producer
Kūhiō Lewis serves as Executive Producer of Kaula and provides the strategic vision behind the production’s long-term impact. As Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, he has championed initiatives that strengthen Native Hawaiian communities through culture, education, entrepreneurship, housing, and economic opportunity.
His leadership reflects a belief that cultural experiences can create meaningful opportunities for local artists, businesses, and practitioners while deepening visitors’ understanding of Hawaiʻi. Under his guidance, Kaula was conceived as a production rooted in Native Hawaiian leadership, artistic excellence, and community investment.
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Producer & Creative Director
For more than four decades, Kīpe ʻEbana has helped shape the landscape of Hawaiian and Polynesian entertainment through choreography, production, and creative direction.
His work has contributed to some of Hawaiʻi’s most recognized productions, including the Old Lāhainā Lūʻau, ʻUlalena, Paradise Cove, and the Kilohana Hula Show. With Kaula, Kīpe brings together a lifetime of experience to create a production centered on storytelling, collaboration, and cultural care.
His creative philosophy is grounded in relationships—to ʻohana, kūpuna, ʻāina, and the communities that continue to carry Hawaiian traditions forward. Every artistic decision is guided by a commitment to honoring those relationships while presenting culture with integrity and respect.
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Writer
Acclaimed playwright, actor, and storyteller Moses Goods crafted the narrative that anchors Kaula.
Drawing from Hawaiian storytelling traditions and contemporary theatre, his work invites audiences into stories that are deeply rooted in place while speaking to universal themes of family, memory, identity, and belonging.
As founder and Artistic Director of ʻInamona Theatre Company, Moses has dedicated his career to sharing Hawaiʻi’s stories through Native Hawaiian perspectives. His writing for Kaula provides the emotional thread that connects each chapter of the evening, allowing music, movement, and performance to unfold within a single cohesive narrative.
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Cultural Advisor
Mehanaokalā Hind serves as Kaula’s Cultural Advisor, bringing decades of experience as a Native Hawaiian educator, kumu hula, cultural practitioner, and master chanter.
Her guidance informs the production’s cultural framework, helping shape language, protocol, ceremony, and the deeper meanings carried throughout the evening. With academic training in Hawaiian Studies and years of leadership across Native Hawaiian organizations and educational institutions, Mehana bridges scholarship with lived cultural practice.
Her work helps ensure that Kaula reflects Hawaiian values with care, thoughtfulness, and accountability while honoring the ʻike entrusted to each generation.
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Creative partners Tiana Liufau and Kayla Faʻamaligi bring an international perspective rooted in generations of Pacific cultural practice.
As Creative Director and Raʻatira of Nonosina Polynesia, Tiana carries forward the legacy established by her grandmother, Estella Nonosina Reid, while continuing to expand the organization’s influence across the Pacific and beyond. Her work as Cultural Consultant and Choreographer for Disney’s Moana, Moana 2, and the upcoming live-action adaptation has introduced Pacific storytelling to audiences around the world while maintaining a steadfast commitment to cultural accuracy and artistic excellence.
Working alongside Tiana, Kayla helps guide creative development, artistic partnerships, and organizational leadership. Together, they cultivate opportunities for Pacific artists while ensuring that choreography, movement, and visual storytelling remain grounded in cultural knowledge and lived experience.
Their collaboration reflects a shared belief that culture is strengthened through mentorship, innovation, and the continued practice of ancestral traditions.
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Andrea Torres brings the artistry of aerial dance to Kaula, creating moments that expand the storytelling beyond the stage and into the sky.
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Andrea is the founder and director of Samadhi Hawaiʻi, the first aerial dance company and school in Hawaiʻi. Over the past two decades, she has helped establish aerial dance as a respected performing art throughout the islands, mentoring generations of artists while developing a style that blends technical precision with expressive movement. (Samadhi Hawaii)
Her career began in classical ballet before leading her to Hawaiʻi, where she originated the role of Hina, the Hawaiian moon goddess, in the acclaimed production ʻUlalena. Since then, her choreography and performances have appeared in theatre productions, concerts, television, film, and cultural festivals throughout Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific. Her work has also been featured in productions including Disney-related performances, the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiʻi Theatre Centennial Celebration, and numerous collaborations with leading musicians, hula organizations, and dance companies.
At Kaula, Andrea shapes the production’s aerial language, using movement above the stage to extend the emotional arc of the story. Her choreography introduces another dimension to the performance, allowing the themes of connection, memory, and transformation to unfold through graceful movement suspended between earth and sky.