10 Sunday, April 1, 2018 Hawaii Tribune-Herald
2018 Merrie Monarch Festival
A HAPPY
RETURN
Trinidad, halau venture
back with voyagers in mind
Every Merrie
Monarch Festival
has multiple story
lines — some competing,
some confluent.
Two of the story lines in
this year’s festival are the celebration
of the Hokule‘a, which
returned home from its epic
Malama Honua worldwide
voyage last June, and the dedication
of the Wednesday night
Ho‘ike in honor of the original
crew of the Polynesian
Voyaging Society’s double
hulled canoe, which made
its initial voyage from Hawaii
to Tahiti and back in 1976.
Yet another story line is
the return of kumu hula Kaleo
Trinidad and his kane to the
Merrie Monarch competition
stage. Trinidad’s halau, Ka
Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina O
Ka La, won the overall title in
2014. In 2015, they took the
top spot in kane hula kahiko
(men’s ancient hula) and
came in third in kane hula
‘auana (men’s modern hula).
The return of Trinidad and
Ka Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina
O Ka La after an absence of
two years from hula’s most
prestigious stage is cause for
excitement in and of itself. But
Trinidad, who is also a kumu
for Kamehameha Schools
Kapalama’s Performing Arts
Department and one of the
school’s Ho‘ike directors, has
chosen a confluent theme that
will heighten the excitement
for his halau’s performances.
“I think a question every
kumu and halau has to ask
themselves is, ‘What is the
reason for competing?’ There
has to be a driving motivator,”
Trinidad said. “What is
the important message that
we want to share with all
the world that’s watching
the performances. I really
would like to lift up the
efforts of the Polynesian
Voyaging Society, Nainoa
Thompson, the original crew
members and, of course, all
of the new Hokule‘a family
members that took Hokule‘a
around the world, helping
everybody to realize the
Ka Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina O Ka La was named overall winners for the 2014 Merrie Monarch
Festival.
importance of sustainability.
“My students and myself
were involved with supporting
Hokule‘a, so we
were unable to participate
in Merrie Monarch the past
couple of years. And so our
message at Merrie Monarch
this year will be ‘Navigators’
and where we came from.”
Ka Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina
O Ka La will feature a large
group of performers, about
30 in all. Trinidad, who at 42
is one of the competition’s
younger kumu, describes his
group as “youthful” with ages
ranging from 17 to early 30s.
The mele for the halau’s
hula kahiko (ancient hula)
is “Eia Hawai‘i.” Trinidad
described it as “really,
really special” and “one
of the oldest chants from
our Hawaiian stories.”
“It talks about one of the
first migrations over by the
chief Mo‘ikeha, and he actually
sees the Big Island, Hawaii
Island, as he’s coming over,”
he said. “And his navigator,
whose name is Kamahu‘alele,
chants out ‘Here is Hawaii,
a man, a child, a child of
Tahiti.’ So this hula that we’ll
Photos: HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
be presenting, which is a
traditional hula, is very, very
linked into our hula tradition,
linked into our voyaging tradition,
and it speaks to the
legacy of voyaging in our
very earliest days in Hawaii.
“Our kahiko will be very
traditional. It will feel like a
hula pahu (sacred hula), so it
will not be very bombastic at
all. It will be very grounded in
the Maiki Aiu Lake tradition.”
The halau’s hula ‘auana
mele (“Kaulana Ka Inoa E
Hokule‘a E”) is an homage
to the recently completed
Malama Honua voyage.
“It’s a song that was composed
by Chad Takatsugi
specifically for the voyage
home,” Trinidad said.
“It should feel very celebratory.
We should be
moving quite a bit and it
should be quite exciting.
“Three other pieces will be
interjected into that song to
speak about the Polynesian triangle
— Hawaii in the north,
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui,
in the East and Aotearoa, or
New Zealand, in the west. And
exactly on the opposite side
of the world, if you picked up
a globe and turned it to look
at the exact opposite, is South
Africa. So that’s going to be
our ‘auana, the song about the
arrival of Hokule‘a in Hawaii,
including the Polynesian triangle
and South Africa, as well.”
Trinidad and his students
were able to travel as part of
Hokule‘a’s support group,
including to South Africa.
And although his own voyage
the past two years has
provided memories that will
last a lifetime, his halau’s
return to the Merrie Monarch
stage will be emotional.
“There’s no event like it,
anywhere. Nothing comes
close to Merrie Monarch.
And nothing can compare
to the aloha and hospitality
of Hilo. Last year was the
first year that I wasn’t there,
not even in the audience. If
you’re a hula dancer, a cultural
practitioner of any kind,
and you’re not in Hilo, then
a big piece of your soul is
missing for that week. And
there’s pain to be away from
the bosom of hula, so we’re
really excited to be back.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@
hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Kumu hula Kaleo Trinidad has
a tear in his eye as he reacts
to his halau winning the 2015
kane kahiko.
link
link
