[1][2] Iolani was raised by her great aunt Julia Keahi Luahine (1877–1937), who began educating her in the ancient Kauai school of hula when she was four years old.

[1][3][4][5] Her aunt Keahi was "the foremost hula instructor of her day and one of the last royal dancers from King Kalākaua's and Queen Lili’uokalani's court.

[3] Iolani attended the Kamehameha Schools, but her aunt removed her after learning that dancing hula was forbidden by the "missionary" institution.

[1] Iolani later attended the University of Hawaiʻi where she began hula classes with Mary Kawena Pukui.

[1] Her well-known students included George Naʻope, Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and her niece, Hoakalei Kamau'u.

"[6] She continued to perform and collaborate with other renowned hula artists, including her former teacher, Mary Kawena Pukui, and Lokalia Montgomery.

'"[9] In 1970, Luahine and Lokalia Montgomery became the first recipients of Hawaii's State Order of Distinction for Cultural Leadership.

[1] Luahine gained worldwide recognition and was invited to perform at the National Folk Festival in Wolf Trap, Virginia three times.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin columnist Ben Wood recalled playing recordings for her featuring Gabby Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth, Atta Isaacs and Eddie Kamae.

When she died in 1978, The New York Times wrote that she was "regarded as Hawaii's last great exponent of the sacred hula ceremony.

... As a kumu in her own right, Luahine, a longtime curator of the Hulihe'e Palace in Kailua, Kona, and an adviser to the Merrie Monarch Festival, would become one of the most ardent and beloved practitioners of ancient Hawaiian hula and chant.

"[4]In 1980, Iolani Luahine received an academic and lifetime achievement award called Na Makua Mahalo Ia presented by the Institute for Polynesian Studies under Brigham Young University Hawaii.

[14] In 2005, the documentary film, Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women profiled Luahine, her teacher Mary Kawena Pukui and Edith Kanakaole.