Five of Hawaii’s kumu hula and their halau will appear Sunday in Japan’s annual Hula Ho‘olauna Aloha Festival.
The Waikiki Beachwalk event emphasizes harmony and friendliness among competitors under the united cause of perpetuating the art of hula.
The event will be a rare opportunity for visitors and locals to experience the traditional spirit behind the art form, said Blaine Kia, cultural entertainment director for Waikiki Beachwalk.
“Competitions in general can be very political,” Kia said. “It does pit one against the other. So Hula Ho‘olauna helps to change that mentality.”
Kia also has been a kumu hula for more than 30 years in Honolulu and on the mainland.
“Hula Ho‘olauna helps us to really focus on the true essence of what hula is,” he said, “so that they’re not just learning in the physical aspect, but they’re learning in the emotional aspect and the mental aspect.”
The annual hula festival and competition first started in 2002, and it usually spans three days. However, COVID-19 will require it to take place virtually for a third consecutive year. Sunday’s performance will be filmed to be included in the upcoming virtual festival, which is scheduled for Oct. 8 and 9 in Japan.
Prior to COVID-19, halau would travel from throughout Japan to Honolulu to compete, while workshops and seminars allowed Japanese and Hawaii participants to interact, Kia said.
Although Sunday’s performers will not compete in the virtual festival, including their performance gives viewers in Japan an opportunity to witness the art in its most traditional form, he said.
“They get to see all those blends of what Hawaii really looks like — what our faces truly look like,” Kia said. “There’s no glitz and glamour. It’s just raw, organic, traditional hula, the way it needs to be.”
The Sunday performance will feature both the traditional kahiko- and modern auana-style dances. It will run from 4:30 to 6:20 p.m. as a part of Waikiki Beachwalk’s monthly Mele Hali‘a.
Sunday’s participating kumu hula are influential veterans of the art form, who will also be featured as judges in the upcoming competition, Kia said.
Featured kumu hula and their halau are Leialoha Amina, Ed Collier with Halau Hula o na Pua Kukui, Sonny Ching and Lopaka Igarta with Halau Hula Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu, Maelia Carter with Halau Hula ka Ua Noe o Wa‘ahila, and Lehua Kawaikapuokalani Hewett.
“The display and the works of these kumu hula on Sunday is exciting because this is the true essence of our hula,” Kia said. “These are the people that perpetuate it in its simplest, most spiritual form.”
Kia also hopes that the Hula Ho‘olauna Aloha and the Waikiki performance will help to restore enjoyment of hula in a noncompetitive environment.
Many who dance hula often do so because of its healing nature, Kia said.
“You allow your family and friends in the audience to take witness and to take testimony of the good work that you’ve done,” Kia said. “Hula Ho‘olauna really provides a nurturing environment, even if it’s a competition. It helps to nurture us to understand that we are all doing it for the same reasons.”
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
