Maui hālau share ancient hula on kahiko night of 2024 Merrie Monarch, paying tribute to Lahaina, Wailuku, Waikapū and ʻĪao : Maui Now

Kahiko night at the Merrie Monarch Festival featured hula in the ancient style with 29 groups performing Friday night in the annual competition in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. The festival continues tonight with ʻauana or modern hula, followed by results from the 61st event.

The women of Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka O Uka under the direction of Kumu Hula Nāpua Silva of Waiohuli, Maui, performed “E Hoʻi Ka Nani I Paʻupaʻu,” referring to the hill with the “L” situated near Lahainaluna High School. The mele says “E hoʻi ka nani,” or “Return to splendor.” After the devastating August 2023 fire, the lyrics are a fitting tribute to the effort underway to restore the beauty to West Maui. During a recent site visit, the hālau posted a photo to Instagram in which the caption read: “Casting vision for the greater Lahaina in our future bringing the wondrous Lahaina from our past.”

The women were dressed in dark pink pāʻū hula (skirts), a light pink blouse, and adorned with a triple strand pink rose lei, and palapalai fern lei poʻo and kupeʻe. Their hula was in the noho (sitting) style and utilized ʻiliʻili (rock/pebble) implements. 

Hālau Hula Kauluokalā under the direction of Kumu Hula Uluwehi Guerrero of Kahului performed “E Hoʻi Ka Nani I Līhau,” a mele also seeking a return to glory for West Maui. “Līhauwaiʻekeikalani” which stands above the town of Lahaina,” is celebrated in the mele. The festival program explains: “Clouds clinging to the uplands, fields of pili grass, the shaded coconut grove of Māla, the calm and serene land and sea are warmly remembered.”

Guerrero said the inspiration behind the mele was sharing the history of the wahi pana (sacred places), especially the district of Lahaina—”to extoll the beauty and explain its many place names,” he said during the Friday broadcast.

The dancers of Hālau Hula Kauluokalā were adorned with maile lei, palapalai lei poʻo and kupeʻe, a gray top and printed pāʻū hula.

The men and women of Hālau o ka Hanu Lehua under the direction of Kumu Hula Carlson Kamaka Kukona III of Waikapū, Maui celebrated the resources and landscapes of Maui’s Wailuku and Waikapū.

The wahine danced to “I Waikapū Ke Aloha,” a hula celebrating the four great waters of Maui—Wailuku, Waiehu, Waihe’e and Waikapū. “Today, the rights to use these four water and the diverting of the water elsewhere has become the topic of heated controversy,” the festival program states. The women wore blue blouses with print mimicking the flow of water, and shredded pāʻū lāʻī (ti-leaf skirts).

The kāne performed “O Wailuku Kau I Ka Hano,” a mele written by fellow Maui Kumu Hula Hōkūlani Holt in 2002. The mele celebrates the sacred and revered places of Wailuku, Maui. The men were also clothed in pāʻū lāʻī with brown, red and yellow material accents.

The men and women of Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi under the direction of Nā Kumu Hula Haunani and ʻIliahi Paredes performed in the second half of the program. Both honored Princess Kaʻiulani through their performances.

The mele “Ka ‘Ohu I ʻĪao,” is set in the sacred valley of ʻĪao, which is known as the burial place of chiefs. The wahine performed the mele in noho (seated) style with ʻiliʻili stones and were dressed in lavender colored pāʻū and lei, with a white blouse and palapalai fern adornments.

The song compared the mist and could that adorn the cliffs of ʻĪao to Kaʻiulani, a “child held in the highest,” according to the program.

“When you hear the click of the ʻiliʻili, our prayer is that you hear the rains that come down at ʻĪao, that pierce the skin in its coldness. We hope that you feel the waters of the river of ʻĪao and that the river flows like the love that Kapiʻolani has for her niece [Princess Kaʻiulani],” said ʻIliahi Paredes during the broadcast.

The kāne of Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi performed “Pua Koʻolau,” a Kauaʻi chant honoring Princess Kaʻiulani Cleghorn and expressing love for the pua Koʻolau, a medicinal herb with small yellow flowers. The men wore yellow shirts and pāʻū over pāʻū lāʻī, and carried an ʻulī ʻulī (feather rattling gourd) implement.  

Maui lineup: 

Tonight’s ʻauana lineup is the same as last night’s kahiko program.

The men of Hālau o Ka Hanu Lehua, led by Kumu Carlson Kamaka Kukona III of Wailuku/Waikapū perform second in the lineup. The women of the same hālau will appear in the No. 7 slot during the competition. 

The women of Hālau Hula Kauluokalā, under the direction of Kumu Uluwehi Guerrero out of Kahului, Maui are fourth in the lineup, followed by the women of Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka O Uka, under the direction of Kumu Nāpua Silva of Kula, Maui who will appear as the 12th group of the night. 

Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi, under the direction of Nā Kumu Haunani and ʻIliahi Paredes of Wailuku have their women appear 16th in the lineup, and their men will perform as the last (29th) group. 

TV viewing and streaming available:

Video of each performance will be available here.

Watch the 61st Annual Merrie Monarch Hula Competition on https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/merriemonarch/ or by clicking the Merrie Monarch icon on the Hawaiʻi News Now app each night beginning at 6 p.m. HST on April 4-6, 2024

The Merrie Monarch Festival is carried on K5 (Channel 1006/06), Spectrum (Channel 6/Digital Channel 1006), and Hawaiian Telcom (Channel 1006/06). 

Miss Aloha Hula 2024 Results:

On Thursday night, Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes was named Miss Aloha Hula 2024 at the 61st Annual Merrie Monarch Festival on Thursday night at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaiʻi.

This is the fourth year in a row that Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe, the hālau from Pūʻahuʻula, Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, under the direction of Kumu Tracie and Keawe Lopes, took top honors in the soloist competition.

Awards were issued to five hula soloists including:

1. Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes – Nā Kumu Hula Tracie & Keawe Lopes (1164) Miss Aloha Hula 2024 1st place / ʻOlelo award
2. Amedée Kauakohemālamalama Conley-Kapoi – Nā Kumu Hula Haunani & ‘Iliahi Paredes – Maui (1122) 1st runner up
3. Nāhakuʻelua ʻĀpuakēhau Kekauoha – Nā Kumu Hula Kunewa Mook & Kau‘ionālani Kamana‘o (1120) 2nd runner up
4. Heleolanimaināmakaohāʻena Hailee Jo Yokotake  – Kumu Hula Leinā‘ala Pavao Jardin  (1119) 3rd runner up
5. Caly Ann Kamōʻīwahineokaimana Ragonton Domingo – Nā Kumu William Kahakuleilehua Haunu‘u “Sonny” Ching & Lōpaka Igarta-De Vera (1111) 4th runner up