The Merrie Monarch Festival Ho‘ike, a celebration of hula and folk dance from the Pacific Basin, electrified a crowd of 2,000 Wednesday night at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo.
The evening started with the entrance of the Merrie Monarch Royal Court, the National Anthem and “Hawai‘i Pono‘i” by Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i High School Concert Glee and a pule by Kahu Kaunaloa Boshard.
The dancing began, as it has since 1997, with Halau O Kekuhi, the halau founded by the late Edith Kanaka‘ole. The halau is under the direction of na kumu hula Nalani Kanaka‘ole and Huihui Kanahele Mossman, the daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of Kanaka‘ole.
Halau O Kekuhi specializes in ‘aiha‘a hula, a bent-kneed, vigorous, bombastic style of hula emblematic of the eruptive volcano personas of Pele and Hi‘iaka.
Next up were the Lexington Ladies, a group of seven dancers and a singer who performed in the 1950s and 1960s in the legendary Hawaiian Room of the Hotel Lexington in New York City.
The dancers are: Leialoha Kaleikini, Leonani Hagen, I‘oana Cabanos, Wailani Bell, Angie Costa, TeMoana Makolo and Nona Wilson. The singer is Mona Joy. They were accompanied by the Six-String Hui, led by Joe Camacho, Kaleikini’s nephew.
And rounding out the evening was Heiva Nui, a Tahitian dance troupe from Oahu led by the husband-and-wife team of Kevin and ‘Auli‘i Kama. Kevin Kama, who is originally from Hilo, learned Tahitian drumming in Johnny Lum Ho’s Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua.
Wednesday night’s performances marked the first Merrie Monarch Ho‘ike since 2019. The 2020 festival was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 2021 festival only featured the hula competition on television with no in-stadium audience.
The hula competition portion of the Merrie Monarch begins tonight with Miss Aloha Hula.
Ten wahine dancers between the ages of 18 and 25 will vie for the most prestigious title a solo hula dancer can attain. All will dance a hula kahiko (ancient hula) and a hula ‘auana, a modern hula, with Miss Aloha Hula to be crowned at evening’s end.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. with the entrance of the Royal Court. The dancing will start at 6:30 p.m. The performances will be televised live statewide on K5 and live-streamed worldwide.