As I write this, at 2 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, Merrie Monarch 2008 is being celebrated in the halls of the Hilo Hawaiian hotel with chants and impromptu dances.
I’m fried and as close as I ever get to hula’d out (I never get totally hula’d out).
Here are the things I’ve extracted from my notes… and with these go my fond aloha for all who love the hula and Merrie Monarch.
Colors of the year: The full range of red hues from fuschia to scarlet. (No accident, probably; red was the official Merrie Monarch theme color this year.)
Flower of the year: Hala; so many halau were wearing some form of hala that I lost track.
Comebacks: pikake and ginger (the scent was heavenly at times in the stadium), cummerbunds for men (there were some pretty fancy ones).
Hadn’t seen this before: Greg Lontayao’s Halau Kawaihoa wearing lavender lei that looked like agapanthus but that actually were, according to my seat neighbor (who had binoculars), dyed tuberose. Whatever, to me they looked fabulous against the dancers’ light green gowns.
Heart-tugger of the night on Saturday: Karla Akiona’s Na Mea Hula O Kahikinaokalalani dancing to “Holei,” a song about Kalapana (which, of course, is no longer there, really, having been taken over by the volcano). There was so much love and emotion in their rendition of this song about her family home, her ancestors and their values. The costuming was exceptional, too: Pele-red with a sort of surplice top gathered at one shoulder and made of some fabric that flowed like lava. There was a thing they did toward the end of the song, crossing their hands over their chests, with bowed heads, that just tore the heart out of you.
Heart tugger of the night No. 2: When Mapuana de Silva brought back dancers from throughout her career and had them perform, along with her younger dancers, songs that are special to the lineage of the beloved hula teacher Auntie Maiki Aiu Lake. Again, what love and beauty. Women in their 40s and 50s returning to the MM stage and loving it and dancing from the na’au. As my first hula teacher used to say, “Ho! Ka beauty!”
Noticed: How beautiful are the delicate but strong feet of dancers. Their toes embrace the firmament; their arches rise sensually. It’s not something you can see very well on television but sometime when you can, at a live hula performance, try just watching the feet.
Overheard, and so right: “I just can’t watch hula in shoes. Shoes are wrong.”
Surprise of the night: My favorite bad boy, Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu, not being bad. Well, he was a little naughty: There was this prancing, hopping step (which I’m sure is not traditional and drove the judges crazy) late in his women’s ‘auana song that delighted the audiences, but he dressed his girls in period costumes and did a song about Queen Kapi’olani. Who would have expected that from Mr. I-wear-my-sunglasses-all-the-time-and-get-over-it?
Noted while watching the performance of Halau Hula Olana, kumu hula Howard and Olana Ai: You know when the hula is being well done when all the skirts are swishing in unison; at the same time and in the same direction.
Note to self, if ever become kumu hula: Satin sailah moku pants. Don’t do them. Ever. They don’t flatter anyone’s fanny.
Most amazing choreography: When Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka broke into a sort of cartwheel formation, with lines dancing in circle converging on the center.
Ruffle revival: Anyone else notice how many halau had either a short ruffle at the bottom of their holoku or a loose ruffled neckline?
Not unexpected but kind of crazy-making moments: When the halau that are perfect, technically, get the big prizes, and the ones that really communicated their stories and their emotions don’t get recognized. I know that any single one of the judges knows more about hula than I have in my little finger. I also know that, when we watched that performance about Kalapana, and when Mapuana’s older “girls” danced, it was intensely moving.
We have a saying in journalism: “What readers love, editors hate.” So often, what MM audiences love, judges don’t give the points to.
But still, we all get to watch. And enjoy. And appreciate.
Me ke aloha pumehana…

Wanda A.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 2:22 am and is filed under Hula, Merrie Monarch, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.