12 Sunday, March 27, 2016 Hawaii Tribune-Herald 2016 MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL wind whipping through the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium on a cold, blustery evening. “Uncle Johnny’s style is, we move all over the stage, everywhere. We don’t just stay in one area,” she explained. “I’m putting that into my dance, working with my body, working on my facial expressions, just trying to put everything together.” For her hula kahiko (ancient hula), De Sa is dancing to a chant about High Chiefess Kapi‘olani — not to be confused with Queen Kapi‘olani, wife of King Kalakaua, the Merrie Monarch — and her conflict with Pele, the goddess of Kilauea volcano. “Basically, Chiefess Kapi‘olani is a Christian,” De Sa said. “So, her journey to the volcano, to Halema‘uma‘u, she wanted to protest to everybody. She walked 100 miles from Kona to defy Pele and she told everybody along the way, ‘If I take this stone and throw it into the crater, and if I eat these ohelo berries and nothing happens to me, then you need to believe in God. But if something happens to me, then you guys continue to believe in Pele.’ So, she threw the stone into the crater and she ate the ohelo berries and nothing happened to her.” Lum Ho, who composed the chant, said he and De Sa are both “excited about presenting this dance.” Lum Ho said the original mele he composed for De Sa’s hula ‘auana (modern hula) is inspired by a woodrose he saw at a plant nursery on his way to work at his halau. “One day, I saw the woodrose hanging from a high tree with the yellow flowers,” he said. “And the fruit is kind of brown. The people let us pick the fruit and the flowers because they said it’s kind of a pest. The flowers, of course, they died. But we had one of our ladies fashion the fruit into her lei.” De Sa said she doesn’t know for sure but thinks Lum Ho wrote the song for her. “Everybody in Hilo loves to represent Hilo, and that song is so fitting for me,” she said. “It talks about a girl who goes and picks woodroses from all the vines she can find for a lei. It’s such hard work for her, but in the end she made this beautiful lei, and once she put it on, she felt like the most beautiful girl in the world. And, in the dance, my dad is actually going to give me the lei. When it comes to my dad, he brings confidence to me. He’s definitely my No. 1 supporter in everything I do.” While the image of Miss Aloha Hula is one of beauty and grace, the other side of the coin is one that embodies the passion of competition. As De Sa, whose father is the baseball coach at Hilo High School, noted, “Everybody brings their A game.” The second time was the charm for last year’s Miss Aloha Hula, Jasmine Kaleihiwa Dunlap, who was second runner-up in 2013. Her halau, Oahu’s Hula Halau ‘O Kamuela, under the direction of na kumu hula Kunewa Mook and Kau‘ionalani Kamana‘o, will try to (D) District 2 State House “Continuing a Lifetime of Community Contribution” As we get caught up with the excitement, scents and beauty of the Merrie Monarch Festival, let us take the time to refl ect upon the legacy King David Kalakaua left for us. May we be inspired to make it our responsibility to carry on the perpetuation of the native Hawaiian traditions, language and arts for generations to come. Paid for by Friends of Clift Tsuji, 1382 Auahi Pl., Hilo 96720 Dr. Jack Fujii, Campaign Manager Photo by Jaysen Niedermeyer A special aloha and welcome to our guests from Taipei, Taiwan! E komo mai Merrie Monarch Visitors and Participants! Queen Lilioukalani Festival, Sept 2015 Flickr Photo by Clift Tsuji HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald Kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho talks with student and Miss Aloha Hula candidate Kayshlyn Keauli’imailani Victoria De Sa during practice at Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium. CHARM From page 11 See CHARM Page 14
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