Hawaii Tribune-Herald Sunday, April 1, 2018 13
2018 Merrie Monarch Festival
Dancing From page 12
judges tallied up the scores.
Ka‘upu, a native of Hilo’s
Keaukaha neighborhood, is
proud of his dancers and pleased
with the outcome of the judging,
but said he’s still in shock.
“It could’ve been another time
and it could’ve been another day
and it could’ve been a different
outcome, because everybody is so
good,” Ka‘upu said. “That’s the
humbling part, that it could’ve been
anybody. Our girl won by 0.2 points
last year. What does that mean?
Nobody knows. It’s that close.”
Ka‘upu was a dancer for Johnny
Lum Ho, who has entered the wahine
of his Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua
in this year’s competition, and
whose Miss Aloha Hula candidate,
Alana Maureen Ka‘ano‘anookalani
Paiva, is a 21-year-old University
of Hawaii at Hilo student pursuing
a bachelor’s degree in
Hawaiian language and studies.
“After I graduate from college,
I’m hoping to pursue my master’s
in teaching,” Paiva said.
“Then I want to perhaps go back
to Kamehameha Schools Hawaii
campus and teach there because
that’s where I graduated from.”
“You can feel her heart when
she dances,” Lum Ho said of
Paiva, who has danced for
Lum Ho since she was 4.
Lum Ho usually composes the mele
for his ‘olapa, but for her hula kahiko
(ancient hula), Paiva will dance
to a traditional chant about Niihau.
“It’s about Queen Kapi‘olani and
a huaka‘i she took to Niihau. It’s
actually written to show the love for
the people there,” she said. “When
you think about it, Niihau is far different
than it is here. It’s more of
an old, traditional style. When they
talk, their dialect is different. They
speak Hawaiian the old Hawaiian
way, which involves the ‘t’ sound.
See DANCING Page 15