In 2018, the last time Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka of Maui entered the Merrie Monarch Festival’s hula competition, kumu hula Napua Greig hoisted the Lokalia Montgomery Perpetual Trophy, the ultimate hula mantelpiece.
Greig’s halau captured the overall title after finishing first in the wahine ‘auana (modern hula) and wahine overall categories and placing second in the wahine kahiko (ancient hula) division. In addition, one of her students, Shalia Kapuau‘ionalani Kikuyo Kamakaokalani, won Miss Aloha Hula, the most coveted title for a solo hula dancer.
The kumu and recording artist — who received her ‘uniki from kumu hula Hokulani Holt and was a Miss Aloha Hula competitor for Hilo kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho — returns this week for the 60th Annual Merrie Monarch with her wahine and another Miss Aloha Hula hopeful.
A major theme this year is honoring Lum Ho, who died April 3, 2022. Greig said her theme this year is “legacy.”
Her group hula kahiko mele is a chant for Queen Emma.
“The inspiration I received this year was just ma‘ema‘e — clean, pure, beautiful,” Greig said. “The imagery in the Emma chant compares her beauty to the beauty of the lei momi, the pearl necklace, which is unusual. Because most mele compare our ali‘i to lehua or mamane or maile, or the ferns, the native plants we love so much.
“But this chant was different. It also doesn’t mention any specific place, which was unusual. And it really just lifts her up as this precious pearl necklace of the people. She is the treasure of her lahui, her people.”
Her group hula ‘auana mele will honor Lum Ho, a continuation of a theme from Wednesday night’s Merrie Monarch Ho‘ike when Greig and others from Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua performed in the revered kumu’s honor.
“If you had to name one song that was Johnny Lum Ho, for me, ‘Mohala Ka Hinano’ is that song and that hula,” Greig said. “We’re trying to keep the choreography and the styling as close to Ka Ua Kani Lehua as I can to properly honor him and his creation, and to be able to share that with my own dancers. They’re like the grandchildren, if you will, the granddancers of Uncle Johnny.”
For the first time in her Merrie Monarch career as a kumu, Greig will not sing her halau’s ‘auana mele. Instead, members and alumni of Lum Ho’s halau band — Mark Yamanaka, Kuana Torres Kahele, Bert Naihe and Greig’s mother, Hulu Lindsey — are the musicians. The only nonhalau musician will be Sean Naleimaile on bass.
“My mother was the original singer for Uncle Johnny at Merrie Monarch, actually. That’s how I came to dance for him. Because my mom sang for him at Merrie Monarch in 1990, ’91 and ’92,” said Greig, who danced for Lum Ho while a student at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
Greig also is bringing a Miss Aloha Hula competitor, 24-year-old Pohaikealoha Olikolani Artates, who’ll dance “Aia I Maui Ku‘ulei Loke” as her mele kahiko.
“The chant takes you around the island from the viewpoint of a ship called the Lehua,” Greig said. “And as Maui people, you know, we’ve always considered it part of our kuleana, because a plethora of halau come from Oahu. And for many, many years, there were hardly any halau from Maui. So, we’ve always considered it our kuleana to dance about Maui, to chant about Maui, to talk about Maui. You know, the Merrie Monarch has a huge audience on the TV and on the internet. So, this is the best opportunity we have all year to showcase our island through our hula.”
Artates’ mele ‘auana will be “Pua O Kamakahala,” a song that conveys a definite legacy.
“That was written by my great-great-great-great-grandaunt, Katie Stevens I‘i,” Greig said. “And her great-great granddaughter is Nina Keali‘iwahamana, so Aunty Nina will be singing for us on Thursday night.
“Merrie Monarch is not the place where you normally see her; I think she sang at Merrie Monarch once. And we’re very grateful that she’s agreed to return to the stage with us this year, to sing this song that’s really is our family’s legacy.”
The venerable Keali‘iwahamana is a 2006 inductee to the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. From 1958 to 1974, she was the featured soprano soloist on the “Hawaii Calls” weekly worldwide radio broadcast.
In addition, she’s held musical court at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Hilton Hawaiian Village and Kahala Hilton and was honored with a Na Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992. She’s also the daughter of another Hawaiian music and cultural icon, Vickie I‘i Rodrigues.
“Just listening to the musician’s rehearsals, I was in tears,” Greig said. “Pohai has been one of our dancers for years. The dancer you put on stage on Thursday night, you do it not just because she’s a beautiful dancer. She’s that. But she also represents a legacy, a tradition and the values of the halau.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
