Kumu follows own kumu’s ‘path’

De Silva's veterans join Merrie Monarch alumni returning to the festival

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It will be a joining of the generations when Halau Mohala 'Ilima takes the stage this weekend at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.

Kumu hula Mapuana de Silva has called upon her "veteran dancers" from the 1970s through '90s to be part of her current ensemble performing at this year's festival. It's all part of the celebration of the halau's record-breaking 30th consecutive appearance at the vaunted hula competition.

De Silva's group should put in another strong showing this year. The group placed second overall in the wahine division in 2007, second in 'auana (contemporary) contest and third in kahiko (ancient). But also returning are last year's first-place finishers in all categories, Hula Halau O Kamuela, and kumu Kau'ionalani Kamana'o and Kunewa Mook.

"If you know what they have to go through -- the hours and hours of work and fundraising and research -- it's amazing," said festival assistant director Luana Kawelu. "We're so honored that they do stay in contact with us and have been so faithful to Merrie Monarch."

"The festival has definitely gone through a natural growing progress," said de Silva. "Aunty Dot (Thompson, executive director) and Luana have been diligent about being cautious in keeping the growth of Merrie Monarch at a slow pace. It's such a big deal worldwide that a lot of people and organizations want to see it change. But Aunty and Luana know the mission of the festival and are set in their ways to keep it true and not be swayed by certain things like publicity or money. It's all about keeping it on a manageable level."

A couple of other kumu and their halau are making highly anticipated returns to the competition. After a three-year absence, veteran Sonny Ching and the kane and wahine of Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu will return to the Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium stage. And with last year's overall kane winner, Halau I Ka Wekiu, opting not to attend this year in deference to its own 10th-anniversary plans, eyes will be looking toward Chinky Mahoe's Halau Hula O Kawailiula, which took '07 off, and the return of O'Brien Eselu's Ke Kai O Kahiki after being away for four years.

Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu of Oakland, Calif., will be bringing only his kane of the Academy of Hawaiian Arts in hopes of improving on their impressive overall fourth-place showing last year.

Kawelu said hula groups debuting at the festival this year will be Oahu's Puka'ikapuaoikalani Hula Halau (kumu hula Ellen Castillo), Na Mea Hula O Kahikinaokalalani (Karla Kahikinaokalalani Keli'ioho'omalu-Akiona) and Halau Kawaihoa (Greg Lantayao), as well as Iola Balubar and Halau Hula O Keola-Ali'iokekai from Maui.

And Kawelu hopes to finally get her mom, Aunty Dot, to make an appearance. She wasn't able to attend last year.

"Since she's retired, she likes to stay at home. I always talk story with her about the festival, but she's content with the way her life is now. But I'd like her to come for at least one evening, if just for a little while."

Merrie Monarch Festival » On stage: 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday » Place: Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium, Hilo » Tickets: $5 for Thursday's Miss Aloha Hula competition; $10 for Friday and Saturday competitions; $15 reserved seating Friday and Saturday; $20 and $25 reserved seating all three nights » Call: (808) 935-9168 or visit www.merriemonarchfestival.org » On TV: KITV will provide live coverage all three nights and a simulcast on kitv.com

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Mapuana de Silva helps keep the tradition of hula alive in her own inimitable way.

The kumu of Halau Mohala 'Ilima will pay tribute to her own teacher -- a woman who didn't believe in the competitive nature of the Merrie Monarch Festival -- this weekend in Hilo, at the very contest that Maiki Aiu Lake herself shunned.

De Silva's long journey in hula started in 1972, when she became Lake's student. Many of her fellow students would also become respected kumu -- Robert Cazimero, Vicky Holt Takamine, Manu Boyd and Maelia Lobenstein-Carter -- but none have come close to the number of appearances de Silva and her halau have made at Merrie Monarch.

This year's 45th annual event marks de Silva's 30th consecutive showing, and this time out, she has something special in mind.

"There's two main things," she said. "I have 14 students who were with me in the '70s, '80s and '90s coming back to dance with my halau, including two students from my very first Merrie Monarch class, Pili MacKenzie and Kahulu DeSantos. And we'll be dancing to songs that we've especially been waiting for the right year to do. Our kahiko will be 'Hui Holo Lio,' a chant for Kalanianaole that I got from Aunty Pat Bacon, and our auana will be to a song written for my kumu by Mary Kawena Pukui, 'Pua 'Ahihi.'"

De Silva said she's been planning for this occasion, and working with her former students, for three years.

"Even before we left for the festival last year, my regular dancers already knew we were going to do this this year," she said. "For us it's a year-round preparation. And it's not the only big thing we do. It's just one of many things that we weave into the year's time to prepare for the festival."

Those "many things" include fundraisers -- for other halau as well as themselves (the most recent was a concert two weeks ago at Hawaii Theatre) -- and other community events around town.

"We have a large capacity to keep other things in mind," de Silva said about the halau's repertoire. "It makes for a nice balance.

"Even though preparing for Merrie Monarch can be intense and focused, sometime during downtime, I'll teach my students another thing. I don't want to lose track of who we are."

De Silva said she started Halau Mohala 'Ilima simply to keep dancing. "I had no desire to study with anyone else after being with Aunty Maiki. ... I started with 25 students, mostly made up of family and calabash cousins."

What began as a joyful pastime became a full-time job as the halau grew. De Silva can count upward of 300 students, some of whom she has taught from as young as 4.

Her halau's first Merrie Monarch was in 1979 -- "I remember we danced on the floor of the stadium," she said.

"It took me a few years to realize that competition would elevate our performing and student learning. I was motivated because I remember in our first year there, we did poorly. It fired me up because I had to prove to myself that their judging me would be worth their time and attention. So in our second year, we took second in kahiko, and that started it up for me -- that there was a chance, so long as I chose my dancers and prepared my students well."

De Silva makes it a point to always look for wahine who are as strong in character as they are in hula.

"You can't teach them to have good attitude and care for their hula sisters," she said. "They have to be strong young women who make a difference in other peoples' lives. Techniques can be taught, but personality has to be developed by their own choosing."

In grooming dancers from childhood through their high school years, "to get to the Merrie Monarch class, that's a huge jump. It takes a year."

The students selected are those who work the hardest. They help with the children's classes and, in the process of picking plants and flowers for festival performances, work with botanists to cut back invasive species and replant native plants.

The Halau's 30th appearance at Merrie Monarch, while a landmark, is something that de Silva keeps in perspective.

"Everything matures in time, and there's nothing unusual about this whole process," she said. "I'm kumu to my halau and to the festival. There's nothing profound about it."

Given the growth in television viewership of the festival, and additional exposure on the Internet, de Silva feels that "a lot more things are done for effect than in the early days. Some of the other kumu choose this, hoping to be noticed. ... But from my perspective, I'm a very strong traditionalist. It's not because I feel it's not right or I'm better, but I've seen the envelope pushed way farther than I would have gone.

"I'm definitely maintaining what I learned from my kumu. She had a very strong foundation but still was a show person herself. When I graduated as a kumu, Aunty said, 'I'm setting you free. I've given you the tools, so go out and establish yourself.'"

Still, de Silva said, she wanted Lake to accept what she was doing. "And I do know that in my talks with her in later years before her death that she'd given me her approval. That helps me to know that she enjoyed and supported what I did, and for that I try to stay on the same path Aunty forged for us."