About Us
Hālau Hula O Noelani, under the direction of Kumu Hula Samantha Noelani Weaver-Aguon, is located in Los Alamitos, California. As a school of hula, Hālau Hula O Noelani’s intent is to perpetuate the multitudinous aspects of Hawaiian culture from dance to crafts to mythos and more. The hālau is open to all who wish to learn and share the splendor of this foundation. As Kumu Noelani says – “You don’t have to be born Hawaiian, or have lived in Hawai’i, to be able to dance hula. Being Hawaiian is a way of life, the way we live in accordance with nature around us. Come with open minds and hearts, and we will do our best to share what being Hawaiian is.”
Kumu Noelani underwent ʻūniki, or graduation, under Kumu Hula Sissy Lilinoe Kaio of Hālau O Lilinoe/Nā Pua Me Kealoha. As a hula practitioner of some forty-one years, Kumu Noelani continues to share her wealth of knowledge obtained under the direction of Hālau O Lilinoe. In addition to her foundation, Kumu Noelani shares the knowledge gained from workshops and seminars with renowned Kumu Hula. Kumu Noelani and her family are known in the Hawaiian Community of Southern California through their longtime participation and partnership in community events and programs.
Meet our instructors
Sharna Eve Māhealani Weaver is the youngest daughter of John “Jack” Weaver (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Nannette “Bunny” Loo (Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu) and youngest sister of Kumu Hula Samantha Noelani Weaver-Aguon (Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu) and Sabrina Maile Weaver (Honolulu, Oʻahu). Her ʻohana began dancing hula with Nā Pua Me Kealoha under direction of Kumu Hula Auntie Sissy Kaio in early 1983 when Sharna was almost two years old. Over the course of twenty-eight years, she grew in hālau from a kaikamahine dancer to wahine dancer, to eventually being uniki-ed as hoʻopaʻa for Hula Hālau O Lilinoe alongside her hiapo Samantha on Winter Solstice of 2009. In 2011, Sharna continued her hula journey as haumana, hoʻopaʻa and musician of Hālau Hula O Noelani upon the ʻūniki to kumu hula of her sister Samantha Noelani Aguon.
Kayla Eve Keliʻipaʻahana Aguon is the daughter of Kumu Hula Samantha Noelani Weaver-Aguon and Allen Aguon. Both of her parents danced for Nā Pua Me Kealoha under the direction of her great aunt, Kumu Hula Sissy Lilinoe Kaio. Having grown up within the community, her familial connection to the ʻāina is what has fed her in her hula journey for the past twenty-five years. It is of the upmost importance for her to maintain the legacy of her ʻohana while pushing their foundation forward to the present for the next generation of practitioners. In 2022, Kayla had the honor of representing her hālau at the Kumukahi Hula and Ukulele Festival in the wāhine solo division and won. Currently, she maintains the responsibility as the alakaʻi (and graphic designer) for the hālau and instructs all of the kaikamāhine classes.