Kumu Robert

Last Saturday (8/22) I was given a gift. I liked the gift but I didn't quite grasp how valuable this gift was until a day or so later. I attended a workshop at my halau (hula school). Teaching this workshop was my Kumu's Kumu Robert Cazimero.
First and probably the most important part of this gift, to be taught by one's Kumu's Kumu is special. Great leaders beget great leaders. My Kumu trusted me (well, all of us, not specifically me) to show his Kumu that I/we had learned well, and not just learned well, but that Kumu had taught well. Just as I go to class every week to show Kumu that I'm taking to heart everything he's taught, he's showing his Kumu that he's done the same. Everything I did that day in the workshop was a reflection of what I'd been taught. Had I done poorly, or had I been disrespectful, it would have shown negatively on Kumu.
The second part of this gift was Robert Cazimero. Not only is he my Kumu's Kumu, he's also a multi-Na Hoku Hanohano-award winner. He has a beautiful voice. The type of voice where you can put your earbuds in, turn up the volume and no matter what's happening, his singing will lull you into a trance, thinking all is right with the world for the next 3 minutes.
In addition to being a popular, award winning and influential recording artist, he's also a Kumu Hula with a hula lineage reaching back through Maiki Aiu Lake to Lokalia Montgomery. Since he is my Kumu's Kumu, my hula lineage, if I may be so bold, stretches back to Ms. Montgomery as well.
I am very thankful and honored I got to have this experience.