Learn With Aloha LLC

Q&A With Janelle Gomez

What is the name of your organization?

Learn With Aloha LLC

What made you start "Learn with Aloha LLC"?

We moved from Hau'ula Hawaii about 2 years ago. My husband and I are both Hawaiian and danced hula together and were both certified teachers in Hawaii. I taught Hawaiian Studies at Laie Elementary and after moving to Maricopa, we felt a need to teach our culture as a way to give back to our new community, bring cultural awareness, and keep our Hawaiian culture alive in our family. So, we started teaching hula and it has brought us joy since our move from Hawaii was an adjustment for our family.

Can anyone be a part of your program?

Anyone can join our classes. In fact, hula originally started with only boys dancing, but now many think only girls dance the hula because that is why we see a lot of dancing it. Everyone is welcome to join our classes and we tried to separate different age groups to meet their different learning styles.

Our classes right now are seasonal, and most are beginner classes, but we hope as more people dance, we can teach more advanced dances with hula implements and other styles of hula.

We taught a preschool class that incorporated hula, Hawaiian legends, arts and crafts of Hawaiian culture, and all other preschool-age academic and social topics. We also taught a women's beginner hula class and performed at the Aloha Festival and Copa Cultural Night Market this past spring.

We have beginner Tahitian classes starting in May for women and in June for kids. We also plan to teach a keiki hula (kids class) in the Fall so we are already starting to plan for that.

We have a Google form on our Facebook page so that people can sign up for what dances or workshops they are interested in learning. From that intake, we create our classes for that season. However, I would love to create a consistent class every week in the future.