20 Sunday, March 27, 2016 Hawaii Tribune-Herald hello! Hilo... Congratulations and Mahalo to the entire Merrie Monarch Ohana! HawaiiUSA proudly supports Hilo and the Big Island Community. If it matters to you, it matters to us. Come in and mention this ad to receive a “hello! Hilo” gift! (*While supplies last. Limit one per person per day) Life matters. IEG Branch 375 Kekuanaoa St. Hilo, HI 96720 Federally insured by NCUA hawaiiusafcu.com 2016 MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL Halau Manaola practices at Waikoloa Elementary School. JOURNEY From page 15 her by Aunty Pilahi Paki.” Lim Yap named her new halau Halau Manaola for her son, Carrington Manaola Yap, a successful young fashion designer who uses his experiences as a hula practitioner as a touchstone for his creations. She said the name Halau Manaola has added significance because the name “Manaola” — which translates roughly to “life force” — was bestowed upon her son by her aunt, Joan Sniffen Lindsey, a longtime kumu hula who was a judge at last year’s Merrie Monarch Festival. Lim Yap’s halau will have 18 wahine dancing in the line, five from the previous halau. Some are as young as 13, the most youthful the Merrie Monarch allows, and the oldest 42, well below Merrie Monarch’s upper age limit of 55. Most, Lim Yap said, are inexperienced ‘olapa (dancers). “We started with HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald three months of basics,” she said. “Of that group, maybe only two have competed with other halau at the Merrie Monarch. We have two from our halau from before and two that have joined us from other halau that have joined us. Everyone else is brand new. Some of them only started in September.” Lim Yap said her halau’s hula kahiko (ancient hula) is a story “from the Waipi‘o hula tradition.” “It looks at all the topography of Waipi‘o and, basically, there are many legends attached to this mele alone,” she said. “One is the story of Maka‘ukiu, a shark-god who used to pose (in human form) in the ocean. Another is Ha‘inakolo. She’s the one who ate the ‘ulei berries and became a little crazy. But this is so much deeper than her just eating the berries. We need to know why she ate the berries. There’s so much attached to these stories that told us this is important, a special energy to this story. “We’re led by the kupuna to tell these stories because they have to be known. There’s a special connection to the mele, to the place. It was very exciting because there is so much research in the halau, and we always try to find narratives that you don’t see on the Merrie Monarch stage. And these are much older mele that come from our hula traditions.” The halau’s hula ‘auana, or modern hula, is the Lena Machado classic love song, “Ho‘onanea,” with a kaona, or metaphoric subtext, which describes drinking deeply from the waters of passion See JOURNEY Page 21
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