{"id":220781,"date":"2025-08-25T15:04:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T01:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=220781"},"modified":"2025-08-26T15:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T01:14:59","slug":"mary-jo-freshleys-lifelong-journey-with-korean-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/25\/mary-jo-freshleys-lifelong-journey-with-korean-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing through the decades: Mary Jo Freshley\u2019s lifelong journey with Korean dance"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Mary
Photo credit: Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Mary Jo Freshley arrived in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> in the early 1960s, she intended to build her career in physical education. Instead, she found herself drawn into the world of Korean dance where she would spend the rest of her life preserving, teaching and sharing. <\/p>\n

Freshley, who was born and raised in Ohio and turns 91 in September, moved to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to teach at Kamehameha Schools Kap\u0101lama, where she worked for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

Her first steps with dance began in 1962, at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa, when she enrolled in a summer class, taught by pioneering Korean dancer Halla Pai Huhm.<\/p>\n

“Learning from Halla Huhm was sometimes stressful, sometimes not,” Freshley said. “But overall, the one thing I admired the most about her was that she always wanted to learn more.”<\/p>\n

Learn more and purchase tickets to the 75th anniversary recital on September 6, 2025.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

After joining the studio and years of extensive training, Freshley was formally recognized as an instructor in 1975, and given the Korean name Pai Myung-sa.<\/p>\n

When Halla Huhm passed away in 1994, Freshley became the director of the studio, guiding her students through new eras of ever-modernizing and changing dance styles.<\/p>\n

She and her students will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the studio with a concert in September.<\/p>\n

Bringing Korean dance to the \u2018Bows<\/h2>\n
\"Mary
Photo credit: Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1998, Freshley took her talents and passion for teaching outside of the dance studio and into the classroom.<\/p>\n

She started off as an instructor with the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Department of Music<\/a> and then to the Department of Theatre and Dance<\/a>, where she continues to teach introductory and upper-level Korean dance classes.<\/p>\n

Freshley said while teaching at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa is much different than teaching at her studio, it\u2019s just as fulfilling.<\/p>\n

“Some students just take my class because they need the one credit,” Freshley said. “But, then they suddenly discover there’s more than one way to move your body and learn so much, and that\u2019s the part I enjoy.”<\/p>\n

A lifetime of teaching<\/h2>\n

Teaching wasn\u2019t always her calling—she just wanted to be able to move around and stay active, so when she discovered the career of a P.E.<\/abbr> teacher, she knew it was the job for her.<\/p>\n

“In college, I realized I could major in physical education and still run around and have fun and do all those activities, and even get paid to do it. So I decided then and there that would be it,” Freshley said.<\/p>\n

Regardless of her motivations to pursue teaching, her passion and wealth of knowledge resonated and continues to resonate with all her students.<\/p>\n

“I always feel safe with Mary Jo and I know her studio will always be a safe place where I can be comfortable while I\u2019m learning from the best of the best,” said Cynthia Lee, a student of Freshley for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

Leaving her mark<\/h2>\n
\"Mary
Photo credit: Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Freshley now looks to the future as she and her students soon celebrate the 75th anniversary of the studio she\u2019s been with for over 60 years.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not the most logical person to be teaching Korean dance—I\u2019m from Ohio,” Freshley said. “But I want my students and everyone to know that I love what I do and I\u2019m passionate about it, so that\u2019s the legacy I hope to leave.”<\/p>\n

The Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio\u2019s 75th anniversary concert is on September 6, 2025 at 4 p.m. at the Kaimuki High School Performing Arts Center. Learn more and purchase tickets at the website: Halla Huhm Korean Dance Studio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—By Grant Nakasone<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Freshley is spearheading the Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio\u2019s 75th anniversary concert in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":220830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1471,78,133,76,9],"class_list":["post-220781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","tag-dance","tag-music","tag-theatre-and-dance","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/manoa-mary-jo-freshley2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220781"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220867,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220781\/revisions\/220867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}