Merrie Monarch: Meet Kumu Hula Glenn Kelena Vasconcellos

Kumu Hula Glenn Kelena Vasconcellos' of Halau O Ke Anuenue
Originally Published in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald
By Karen Welsh
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Something tells me there wouldn't be anything left if the heart was taken out of kumu hula Glenn Kelena Vasconcellos.

The leader of Hilo's own Halau O Ke Anuenue is truly all heart and it's beating as warmly as an ipo during kahiko.

Glenn's going to blush. He wouldn't want me gushing on and on. But it's true. This 58-year-old Hilo native is a giver.

Not only is his halau the only one from the Big Island competing in the Merrie Monarch Festival this week, but he's busy fixing the dancers' hair and makeup, the royal court's hair, sewing last-minute alterations and making lei for his dancers.

He does everything.

"I don't know how to say 'no' to a lot of things," Glenn admitted. "This is what I do."

Not to brag, but the public sees only what Glenn wants them to see -- the end product -- which is always beauty, softness, gentleness and grace exemplified.

They don't see the hard work poured into every fine detail. The hours and hours of endless toil it takes to make it onto the Merrie Monarch stage.

This may be an overlooked fact, but couple it with the reality that Glenn has a day job, too. He's a hairdresser at Shearz in Hilo.

Glenn is really good at his job, and that means he has a strong clientele, making him a busy man.

But, he loves it all and wouldn't change a thing in his life.

"For me, I consider it a break from each other," Glenn said. "I have a genuine love for both. I get up in the morning and I come to the salon because I like to come here. Then, I go to the halau because I like going there. They are an escape from each other."

And, from each he draws an unique energy and strength -- hair styling, because Glenn likes to make people beautiful, and hula because it's been with him since he was a little child, watching his Auntie Katherine Kimi Bator teach in Hilo.

"I absorbed it from her," Glenn said. "I watched her and then I would get up and dance. I was also secretly doing the hula at home when no one was watching, although I was never a stage performer."

Not one who needed the spotlight, Glenn has given of himself freely and has helped to shape members of halau since 1973, when he started a hula group at his grandpa's home, dancing on the patio or in the garage.

The halau competes faithfully each year in the Merrie Monarch Festival, sometimes the only one representing the Big Island, but Glenn said they do it because they glean a lot from the process.

"We learn more every year and we enjoy it," he said. "We've carved our own bamboo stamps and the girls have stamped their own skirts. They've made their own feather lei. All these things we've learned we can pass on to others."

There's only one week out of the year when Glenn can't be found on his beloved Big Island. That's when he heads to Las Vegas for some much deserved rest and relaxation.

"I love it," he said. "It's the one place I can go to get away from everything. I have so much fun. I go with friends and we have routines and schedules to follow. They can shop and so can I."

But then he returns to his extended ohana, halau and work, all of which he enjoys, enriching the lives of all those he comes in contact.

To a man who's given so much to East Hawaii, it is a pleasure to say a huge mahalo for all he does in our community, especially this week. Me ke aloha pumehana, Glenn!

Karen Welsh's column, about the interesting people she meets all around the Big Island, appears Wednesdays. She can be reached via e-mail at karenwelsh@hawaiistock-photosandmore.com.