HILO >> In a harsher art or sport, having the top three finishers in the year’s ultimate competition each separated by a mere single point might be occasion for them to rage and plot revenge.

But the Merrie Monarch Festival is not that. This is hula, where aloha and dignity are not just ideals, but requirements.

So in the moments early Sunday after the hula halau Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e was named the overall winning halau at the 60th anniversary of the world’s most prestigious hula competition, with only one point separating each of the top three hula halau, there were no outward displays of disappointment or anger from dancers or teachers. Just humble reflections, praise for each other and gratitude for those who paved the way there.

Kumu hula Keawe Lopes stood quietly backstage at Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium, tears welling in his eyes, as he struggled to describe his emotions at the sweep this year by the halau he runs together with his wife, kumu hula Tracie Lopes. Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e this year took the overall trophy as well as Thursday’s Miss Aloha Hula title, won by dancer Agnes Renee Leihiwahiwaikapolionamakua Thronas Brown.

It was the second time the Kaneohe halau has captured both top awards; the last time was in 2014.

Keawe Lopes expressed overwhelming gratitude for “having the privilege, in this space and time, to actually be the keepers. … We’re so grateful for the generation prior to us before that pioneered the way and thought it worth their while to share and invest in our generation, so that we could invest in the next generation.”

Chances that the race for the overall winner trophy at the Merrie Monarch could come down to single points are small. This year the seven judges could each award up to 125 points per performance, then the highest and lowest scores were thrown out. That means a maximum of 625 points per performance was possible. So a group of dancers entered in both kahiko (traditional) and ‘auana (modern) group-hula competitions, for example, could earn a combined total of up to 1,250 points.

The top three overall scores after two nights of group-hula competition were 1,229, 1,230 and 1,231. All were wahine entries.

The leaders of Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu of Kapahulu, Oahu, emphasized to their dancers immediately after the awards ceremony that they felt no disappointment in coming in just one point behind the lead for second place. The kumu’s main message was that they “brought pride and dignity to the Hawaiian people, to hula, to our halau, because they did absolutely everything we could ask for,” said kumu hula Lopaka Igarta- De Vera.

The photo-finish closeness of the top three scores is evidence of the rising excellence in recent years of every single participating halau at Merrie Monarch, “from the first to the last,” added kumu hula William Kahakuleilehua Haunu‘u “Sonny” Ching.

On that point, kumu hula Leina‘ala Pavao Jardin said she agreed with Ching wholeheartedly. Her Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala of Kalaheo, Kauai, finished one point behind Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu for third place.

“Normally I don’t watch the (other halau’s) performances,” Jardin said in an interview Sunday afternoon. “But this year in the dressing room, I was able to watch some of the other halau, and I was just blown away. They are just doing an incredible job. So when they called us (for third place overall), I was thrilled because there was just so much amazing hula. … It is a great compliment.”

Jardin said that after the awards her dancers were jumping and cheering in their dressing room in happiness, and she led a prayer of thanksgiving. “It really was such a beautiful Merrie Monarch: to see a full stadium,” Jardin said. “And it was nice not see masks at all, to see everybody’s smiles. Because that’s what we do in hula. We share our aloha.”

2023 MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL

GROUP-HULA SCORES

Overall winner

These were also the wahine overall rankings and scores.

>> First place: Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e, kumu hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes — 1,231 points

>> Second place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu, kumu hula William Kahakuleilehua Haunu‘u “Sonny” Ching and Lopaka Igarta-De Vera — 1,230 points

>> Third place: Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala, kumu hula Leina‘ala Pavao Jardin — 1,229 points

Kane overall

>> First place: Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi, kumu hula Haunani and ‘Iliahi Paredes — 1,217 points

>> Second place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu — 1,215 points

>> Third place: Ka Leo o Laka i ka Hikina o ka La, kumu hula Kaleo Trinidad — 1,206 points

Wahine kahiko (traditional style)

>> First place: Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e — 617 points

>> Second place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu — 615 points

>> Third place: Halau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine, kumu hula Ka‘ilihiwa Vaughan-Darval — 614 points (winner of double tiebreaker)

>> Fourth place: Hula Halau ‘o Kamuela, kumu hula Kau‘ionalani Kamana‘o and Kunewa Mook — 614 points

>> Fifth place: Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala — 613 points

Wahine ‘auana (modern style)

>> First place: Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua, kumu hula Robert Ke‘ano Ka‘upu IV and Lono Padilla — 617 points

>> Second place: Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala — 616 points

>> Third place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu — 615 points

>> Fourth place: Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e — 614 points

>> Fifth place: Halau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine — 609 points

Kane kahiko

>> First place: Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi, kumu hula Haunani and ‘Iliahi Paredes — 609 points

>> Second place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu — 606 points

>> Third place: Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e — 598 points

>> Fourth place: Ka Leo o Laka i ka Hikina o ka La — 590 points

Kane ‘auana

>> First place: Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua — 619 points

>> Second place: Ka Leo o Laka i ka Hikina o ka La — 616 points

>> Third place: Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu — 609 points

>> Fourth place: Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi — 608 points

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Editor’s note: Esme M. Infante is a student of Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu, one of the halau that competed at the Merrie Monarch Festival.