Daring to be different

Cheers greet the innovators at the Merrie Monarch Festival

If an audience award had been given at this year's Merrie Monarch Festival, it would've gone to kumu hula Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu's Academy of Hawaiian Arts from Oakland, Calif.

» Flash Slideshow See a slide show of Dennis Oda's Merrie Monarch Festival photographs. » Photo Gallery See our photo gallery for more of Dennis Oda's Merrie Monarch photographs.

While the regulars who attend the prestigious hula competition in Hilo year in and year out know the basics of Hawaii's indigenous dance instinctively, it was Ho'omalu's audacious choreography that grabbed attention and pushed the envelope of what constitutes hula like no other.

Making its second consecutive appearance at the festival, the academy became just the second halau from the mainland to place in this highly competitive event. (Assistant director Luana Kawelu remembers Sissy Kaio's halau from Carson, Calif., as being the first.)

Ironically, it was in the kane 'auana category that the academy was recognized, capturing fourth place with a hula that was probably the most conservative of the four that Ho'omalu's men and women presented at the festival. Garbed in simple white shirts, black pants and leis, the kane slapped, clapped and quick-stepped to "Kaloaloa" in tribute to the Damon Tract area once known for crown flowers that resembled cut diamonds -- now occupied by the airport.

Compare that with their kahiko performance of Ho'omalu's original mele, "He'e Holua 'O Pele," sustaining a furious, forward-thrusting force (sans malo cover) that came across as a fearsome hybrid of hula and modern dance. Their whole attitude of "we came, we danced, we left" gave the crowd a contact high.

The same could be said for the wahine's show-stopping kahiko, "Hanohano Ni'ihau i Ka Malie." Ho'omalu chose to interpret the mele's message of perpetuating the Hawaiian race through its children with a showy, brash and, yes, even downright Oakland-funky hula that had the women, with ipu in hand, spinning around like a perpetual procreation machine. The dance received the loudest ovation of the festival.

Ho'omalu also created a loving and playful childhood tribute to the joys of pole fishing in "E Ka Makoi." Here the women, wearing different aloha-print shirts and bedecked with straw hats and leis, whooped it up, brandishing their fishing poles with near abandon.

STILL, despite all the attention on Ho'omalu's renegade vision, the festival belonged to the wahine of Hula Halau 'O Kamuela and the kane of Halau I Ka Wekiu, who swept the kahiko, 'auana and overall winner categories.

Performing last both nights, the halau of kumu hula Kau'ionalani Kamana'o and Kunewa Mook prevailed over tough competition.

Kula, Maui's Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka -- performing a stately hula kahiko with 'ili 'ili (hand stones) to "He Mele Pai Ali'i No Ke'elikolani" -- fell five points short of Kamuela's celebratory "He Mele Hula No Kapi'olani i Waimanalo," done with uli uli (feather-top shakers). It took tiebreaker points to determine the winner.

It was a similar close call in the 'auana category. An achingly beautiful "Ola'a Beauty," featuring Miss Aloha Hula runner-up Aureana Kamali'io'iwalani Tseu at times as front dancer, gave Kamuela the victory over Mapuana de Silva's Halau Mohala 'Ilima, which performed Lena Machado's lovely "Pohai ke Aloha" (with an exquisite a cappella intro sung by the dancers themselves).

Whenever Halau I Ka Wekiu hit the stage, the ladies loved them something fierce -- and with good reason. The choreography of kumu hula Karl Veto Baker and Michael Casupang showed how their men can be gentle without sacrificing their appealing masculinity. Wearing their hair long, the halau was graceful in grass skirts in their kahiko performance of "Ku'u Hoa i Ka 'Ili Hau O Mana," then proud and assured in red and black in their 'auana tribute to King Kalakaua with "He'eia."

CORRECTION Tuesday, April 17, 2007 » The Academy of Hawaiian Arts from Oakland, Calif., is the third mainland halau to place at the Merrie Monarch Festival. An article on Page D4 yesterday said it was the second. Star-Bulletin writer Gary Chun adds the following clarification: In 1998, kumu hula Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu of Oakland Calif. led his then-halau, Na Mele Hula 'Ohana, to a fourth place finish in the kane kahiko category, making them the first mainland halau in Merrie Monarch history to place in competition. Six years later, in 2004, Halau Keali'i O Nalani from Los Angeles, under the direction of kumu hula Keali'i Ceballos, also took fourth in kane kahiko. This year's placing in fourth by Ho'omalu with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts marks the first time in the kane 'auana category by a mainland halau. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.