Kumu hula Olana Ai said she chose this year's representative of Halau Hula Olana not for outward beauty or hula experience, but because Kami Kamakahukilani Goeas has been a loyal, helpful friend to past contestants.
"We know that a person who can be compassionate to another person who is under that stress would be the perfect person to have to go through that stress," Ai laughed.
Next week's Miss Aloha Hula competition -- with a 26-year tradition and statewide live television audience -- bestows the most prestigious solo title in the hula world. For one night in a hula dancer's life, all the universe is a stage. And for many, participating is as fulfilling as winning.
"For me it's a dream come true as a hula dancer," said 18-year-old Sarah May Ku'uipo Ochmann. She represents Halau Hula Na Pua U'i O Hawai'i of Kailua-Kona in the 34th annual Merrie Monarch Festival's hula contest opener. Her sentiment was echoed by the dozen young women from Oahu, Maui, the Big Island and Los Angeles who seek the crown.
Ways of choosing and training contestants appear to vary with each halau, with each year and with each kumu hula. Aloha Wong Dalire said she looks for that certain spark that sets a solo dancer apart from line dancers.
"For me it's watching her and sometimes you can see that they have that special something," said Dalire, kumu hula of Keola-laulani Halau 'Olapa O Laka. Dalire was the very first Miss Aloha Hula in 1971. Her Keolalaulani halau has accounted for four Miss Aloha Hulas, including her daughters Kapualokeokalaniakea Dalire-Lai in 1991, and Kau'imaiokalaniakea Dalire in 1992.
Both Kapua and Kau'i play major roles in the training of their candidate, Dalire said. But "a lot of it depends on my mood, my motivation," she admitted about the timing of the candidate's selection and the pace of the training process.
But there are some constants. The road to the Hilo pageant is paved with rigorous training, which includes independent research and study, practice of hula and chants, grooming and spiritual centering.
Goeas, a 12-year student of hula, said she took this semester off from Leeward Community College to prepare full-time, spending some 25 hours researching at Bishop Museum's archives and 130 hours practicing her dances and chant.
Ai said, "We don't think of the final outcome; we think of the preparation time. We're not running someone like a horse. Even the word grooming -- she has not been pampered or groomed.
"Most of her growth doesn't come from in the halau. It comes from when she's not there. So, that's her responsibility, that's what we expect," Ai said.
Hilo kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho, an inventive sort of renegade, said he either chooses a contestant first, then composes a chant to suit her; or he writes an original chant and then picks a young woman to fit the chant.
"I know she can handle the situation," he said of his pick. "I know which girl can. Whatever happens in that, I know she goin' do the performance just the way I like 'em. I make the song for match the person -- yeah, smart you know me."
Lum Ho trained a record five Miss Aloha Hulas, in the heyday of 1980 through 1983, plus 1987. His first winner, Ka'ula Kamahele, was the unforgettable 1980 winner -- costumed and strutting like a peacock. (His Hula Halau Ka Ua Kani Lehua is taking a break from Merrie Monarch competition this year.)
In Atlantic City, the Miss America pageant awards cars, scholarships, clothing, jewelry and modeling contracts. In Hilo, Miss Aloha Hula appears to be about process -- about learning, feeling and expressing messages of the songs.
The goal, said kumu hula Manu Boyd -- cultural specialist for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and lead singer of Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning group Ho'okena -- is to convey one's tale memorably.
"When they perform, ultimately both the ho'opa'a (chanter) and the dancers are telling a story so that the audience and the judges can be interested, entertained and feel good about it."
"There is something that makes you say, 'I can't take my eyes off of her,' and it stays with you for years," he said.
What about men competing for a Mr. Aloha Hula crown? Dalire said it's not an uncommon query.
"That's a question that even comes up at our (kumu hula) meetings. I don't know," she said, adding that at least two hula competitions -- Kealohi Hula O Waimea at Waimea Falls Park and her halau's midsummer Kau I Ka Hano in Las Vegas -- host men's solo contests.
Meanwhile, only a dozen female hula dancers will mount the stage next Thursday to express their culture and represent their halau on that night of nights.
Ai's daughter, Natalie Noelani Ai Kamau'u, had competed in 1988 and had been named first runner-up. Then, she read a book about humility that influenced her 1990 run for the title, which she won.
So, ha'aha'a was the difference. Striving is the goal, she concluded, and being kind to one another.
"It's just the chocolate sprinkles on the sundae," Natalie Ai Kamau'u said of winning.
Profiles of the young women vying for the prestigous Merrie Monarch title:
Shawn Kaleionalani Chu
Halau O Ke Anuenue, Hilo
(Kumu hula Glenn Vasconcellos)
Age 17
Born in Hilo
St. Joseph High School senior
Dancing hula 10 years
Participating in the Miss Aloha Hula competition "is the accomplishment of many years of hard work. I am now able to have the privilege and honor to represent my halau and to share my dances with not only the people of Hawaii, but also with those who take pride in the Hawaiian culture."
Puka'ikapuaokalani Hula Halau, Kailua, Oahu
(Kumu hula Ellen Castillo)
Age 21
Born in Honolulu, raised in Waimanalo
Kapiolani Community College student
Dancing hula 13 years
"Preparing for Miss Aloha Hula takes a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of practice. I'm kinda excited, kinda nervous. I just want to do my best for my halau and my kumu."
Halau Hula Olana, Honolulu
(Na kumu hula Olana and Howard Ai)
Age 19
Born in Honolulu
Leeward Community College student (on leave)
Dancing hula 12 years
"You don't just have anybody judging you; you know that they (the judges) know what they're looking for. If you can get them to look at you and watch your whole dance and especially if they judge you good -- even if our style isn't like theirs -- if they look at you and can see you as a good hula dancer, that's a prize. ... I just love the fact that they're going to be watching me, it's quite an honor."
Keolalaulani Halau 'Olapa O Laka, Kaneohe
(Kumu hula Aloha Dalire)
Age 22
Born in Honolulu
University of Hawaii at Manoa student
Dancing hula 17 years
"My kahiko chant was written by Manu Boyd and the name is 'Lei Hi'iaka.' I think a lot of people already know about the story of Pele and Hi'iaka; it's a pretty popular tale, so the chant just goes over the whole epic again. It's a really beautiful chant and I think it's important for composers -- they call them haku mele -- to create mele in the kahiko segment that have to do with our history as Hawaiians."
Pukalani Hula Hale; Pukalani, Maui
(Kumu hula Nina Maxwell)
Age 19
Born in Kahului, Maui
Maui Community College student; Hanzawa store clerk; White Orchid Weddings dancer
Dancing hula 11 years
"The opportunity to participate in the Merrie Monarch Festival is, in itself, a rare gift, let alone representing my halau and hula sisters in the Miss Aloha Hula competition. It is the culmination of my long years of dedication to the art of hula."
Keali'i O Na Lani, Los Angeles
(Kumu hula Keali'i Ceballos)
Age 24
Born in Hilo
Works at Chapman University
Dancing hula 16 years
"I've grown to appreciate the culture more now that I'm away from it. Dancing hula is the only way I can keep close to it -- and learning the language. Participating in the Miss Aloha Hula event is the greatest opportunity any girl can have -- or guy for that matter, if given that opportunity."
Halau Ka Ua Kilihune, Kaneohe
(Kumu hula Al Barcarse)
Age 20
UH-Manoa student
Dancing hula 15 years
"The Miss Aloha Hula competition exemplifies, through hula, how a woman feels about her culture. Most of the girls have danced for a long time and it's like a peak of the hula career."
Halau Hula Na Pua U'i O Hawai'i, Kailua-Kona
(Kumu hula Etua Lopez)
Age 19
Hilo Community College student (on leave), receptionist/secretary for Krochina Engineering
Dancing hula 17 years
"The biggest revelation for me was being able to research my kahiko, to go to the place I'm dancing about -- Kukaniloko in Wahiawa. It gives me a better understanding of my chant, 'He Mele No Kukaniloko,' written in the 1920s by well-known composer John Holani Ha'o. Everything that was written in the chant was just how I felt when I went there."
Ka Pa Hula O Kauanoe O Wa'ahila, Honolulu
(Kumu hula Mae Loebenstein)
Age 19
Chaminade University student
Dancing hula 18 years
"Working hard means to go and find out what you're dancing about and to understand it, to go to the different places to get a sense of what has happened here that you're going to be dancing about, as well as being able to dance and perform, to please your kumu, to make them proud and make them proud of saying, 'Yeah, that is my student and it was an honor to work with them.' That's the gratifying part about it; that's what I'm trying to accomplish."
Halau Hula O Kahikilaulani, Hilo
(Kumu hula Ray Fonseca)
Age 25
Born in Hilo
Keaukaha Elementary School part-time teacher
Dancing hula five years
"The last few months have been unforgettable. With the help and support of both my halau brothers and sisters and especially the patience and the encouraging words of my kumu, I am looking forward to this year's Miss Aloha Hula competition."
Halau Mohala 'Ilima; Ka'oha'o/
Kailua, Oahu
Kumu hula Mapuana de Silva
Hula Halau O Kamuela, Kalihi/
Waimanalo
(Kumu hula Paleka Mattos)
Age 20
Born in Honolulu
Heald Business College-Honolulu student
Dancing hula 16 years