Fairfax Area Agency on Aging leads online intergenerational hula workshop

The Fairfax Area Agency on Aging hosted an online intergenerational hula workshop led by Jonah Veil Ikona Stewart, who taught participants a sequence of steps and hand motions tied to a Hawaiian song the instructor introduced as "Lehi Haina Luna." The hourlong Zoom session included closed captioning and a recording that organizers said would be shared the following week.

Stewart, who identified himself as an "EHCC leader," opened by describing hula as more than dance. "Hula is dancing. But, as I was growing up, I learned that hula is more, than just dancing. For the abstract, it's more showing the Hawaiian experience through storytelling," he said, linking motions to imagery such as islands, valleys, mountains and the seaside.

Throughout the workshop, Stewart walked attendees through the song's basic three‑step counts, turns and hand shapes, repeatedly calling counts aloud and demonstrating moves at different speeds so participants could follow along. He paused at several points to repeat the sequence and offer alternatives for attendees who needed lighter movement. The session featured guided sections for the verse ('where the mountains are green'), a refrain Stewart identified as "Maui No Ka Oi," and motion sets representing waves, moonlight, starlight, sunrise and sunset.

Organizers addressed a brief technical issue when participants could not initially hear the music; Stewart then played the track and led multiple practice runs to help participants match timing to motion. Catherine Hall, social services specialist in the caregiver and support services unit at the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, opened and closed the session, thanked Stewart and asked attendees to complete an exit survey to inform future programming. Hall also announced a follow‑up intergenerational online cooking workshop scheduled for July 31 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and confirmed that the recording and slides would be sent to participants.

The workshop emphasized cultural context as well as physical movement. Stewart described several culturally meaningful gestures (for example, covering the eye like a salute when indicating location in a lyric) and encouraged participants to approach hula "tastefully" and with "aloha." He also referenced the island of Lahaina and noted, during explanation of imagery, that parts of Maui had been affected by a wildfire in recent years and are in recovery.

The session concluded with a full run‑through and a demonstration of the song's three‑part ending (hands flat over the chest switching sides, step back and hands to the shoulders). Hall and Stewart thanked attendees and invited questions submitted through Zoom's Q&A feature; the organizers will share the session recording and materials with registrants.

What happens next: Organizers will send the recording and slides, and they encouraged participants to complete the post‑session survey to help plan future caregiver programming, including the July 31 cooking workshop.