Hula tells stories through dance, and the Merrie Monarch Festival’s hula competition has multiple plotlines every year. This year’s festival is no exception.
Hula tells stories through dance, and the Merrie Monarch Festival’s hula competition has multiple plotlines every year. This year’s festival is no exception.
The 52nd annual Merrie Monarch will be forever known as the first without legendary kumu hula Aloha Dalire, who died Aug. 6 at age 64 at her Kaneohe, Oahu, home.
“With Aloha gone, most of the kumu are now from a younger generation,” said Luana Kawelu, festivaln president. “There are a few of her generation left, like Robert (Cazimero) and Mapuana (de Silva).”
Dalire, the Merrie Monarch’s first Miss Hula in 1971, was a fixture on the Merrie Monarch stage, having appeared more than 40 times as either a dancer or kumu.
“My mother was a very outspoken and very passionate person,” said Keolalaulani Dalire, Dalire’s youngest daughter. “She was very protective of Merrie Monarch, especially of (Merrie Monarch matriarch) Aunty Dottie (Thompson), when Aunty Dottie was alive, and Aunty Luana.”
Keola Dalire is now the kumu hula of Keolalaulani Halau Olapa O Laka, and will bring the halau’s wahine, a prospect she described as “scary” and “a little overwhelming.”
“It’ll be interesting,” she said. “I’m up for the task and for the challenge.”
The elder Dalire was one of several prominent members of the Merrie Monarch extended ohana to die in 2014.
Leilani Alama, an early Merrie Monarch judge and longtime kumu hula, died April 4 at 88. Richard “Piggy” Kaleohano, an entertainer and audio engineer for the festival’s hula stage, died June 20 at 56. Kumu hula and Merrie Monarch judge Wayne Keahi Chang died Sept. 30 at 63. And Edith Kawelohea McKinzie, a genealogy, hula and chant expert and Merrie Monarch judge, died Oct. 21 at 88.
Twenty-four halau are competing this year, with 18 entered in the wahine group competition and 10 in the kane group competition. The men and women will dance in Friday night’s hula kahiko (ancient hula) and Saturday night’s hula auana (modern hula).
Twelve young women compete Thursday for the coveted title of Miss Aloha Hula. The wahine solo competition has kahiko and auana components.
Last year’s winning halau, Ka Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina O Ka La of Honolulu, returns under the direction of kumu hula Kaleo Trinidad, a member of the younger generation referred to by Kawelu. Trinidad’s men won the kane division in hula kahiko, placed second in hula auana, and took the kane division and the overall title with 1,194 points, 16 points more than the wahine division winner, Ka La Onohi Mai O Haehae of Kaneohe, Oahu, under the direction of kumu hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes.
Trinidad has entered the kane division and a Miss Aloha Hula candidate, while husband-and-wife kumu have entered wahine and a Miss Aloha Hula candidate.
Also present will be last year’s second- and third-place finishers in the kane and wahine division.
Kawailiula of Kailua, Oahu, the kane runners-up and the overall winners in 2013, return under the direction of kumu hula Chinky Mahoe. Halau Na Mamo O Puuanahulu, the Kapahulu, Oahu, halau that placed third in the kane division, is bringing men and women. In addition, kumu hula Sonny Ching and Lopaka Igarta-De Vera have a Miss Aloha Hula candidate.
Maui kumu hula Napua Greig and Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka, last year’s wahine division runners-up, are back, as is Hula Halau O Kamuela, the Kalihi and Waimanalo, Oahu, halau of kumu hula Kauionalani Kamanao and Kunewa Mook, which finished third. Both halau also have Miss Aloha Hula candidates.
Also of note is the return of Na Kamalei O Lililehua under the direction of kumu hula Robert Uluwehi Cazimero. Although the Honolulu halau hasn’t competed at Merrie Monarch in a decade, the last time they did, in 2005, they won the kane kahiko and auana titles, plus the overall.
Three Hawaii Island halau, all from Hilo, are entered this year. Both the kane and wahine of Halau Hula O Kahikilaulani will perform under the direction of kumu hula Nahokuokalani Gaspang. The halau, founded by the late kumu hula Rae Fonseca, took runner-up honors last year in the kane kahiko auana.
Another Fonseca student, kumu hula Emery Liiliiokalani Aceret, is bringing Na Kane O Waiolama, a men’s halau, for the first time. Aceret last brought his wahine, Halau Na Pua O Uluhailmalama, in 2011.
The wahine of kumu hula Glenn Kelena Vasconcellos’ Halau O Ke Anuenue also will perform.
There are two California halau entered this year. One is Halau Hula Lani Ola from Laguna Hills under the direction of kumu hula Puanani Jung, in the wahine division. Jung, who is the daughter of kumu hula Puanani Alama, the only remaining living judge from the first Merrie Monarch hula competition, made her Merrie Monarch debut last year. She’s also the niece of the late Leilani Alama.
The other California halau, Academy of Hawaiian Arts from Oakland, is bringing kane and wahine. Kumu hula Mark Kealii Hoomalu is a crowd favorite at Merrie Monarch, although his innovative takes on ancient chants have been the subject of controversy among some who favor what they view as a more traditional approach.
The judges this year are Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Vicky Holt Takamine, Nalani Kanakaole, Mae Kamamalu Klein, Joan S. Lindsey, Kealii Reichel and Alicia Keawekane Smith.
Kanakaole’s Halau O Kekuhi is, as it has been since 1997, the featured performer at the free Wednesday night Hoike, the popular exhibition program featuring dances from around the Pacific Basin. Making its Merrie Monarch debut is Kayamanan Ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts dance troupe from Los Angeles. Also performing are Tupulaga O Samoa Mo A Taeao, the University of Hawaii at Hilo Samoan Club and two Tahitian dance troupes, Te Mau Aito O Hiro and Tamariki Poerani Dance Academy.
Merrie Monarch week starts today with the free hoolaulea at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, an all-day affair of hula and Polynesian dance. Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua under the direction of kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho is back for the second consecutive year for the week’s kick-off event.
The week’s activities include free hula exhibitions and Hawaiian music in numerous Hilo venues, including Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Hilo Naniloa Hotel and Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. The civic auditorium is also the site of the invitational Merrie Monarch Hawaiian Arts and Crafts Fair, although unaffiliated craft fairs will be based around town, as well.
Merrie Monarch tickets have always been Hilo’s hottest item. The Edith Kanakaole Multipurpose Stadium seats about 4,200, with roughly half of the tickets going to participating halau. The remainder sell out quickly after becoming available to the public the day after Christmas.
Popularity aside, the most expensive admission for three nights of first-rate hula accompanied by Hawaii’s best and most popular music is $30.
Kawelu said ticket prices will be be hiked in the future, possibly next year. She added details haven’t yet been worked out.
“Everything costs more; it’s more expensive to put on the Merrie Monarch,” she said. “It has to happen at some point.”