I remember Keahi Allen asking mothers to remove their crying babies from the Cannon Activities Center, and Kalani Akana chanting one such infant to silence.  I remember the string of Chun, Akana, and Tony Lenchanko wins; a decade of excellence that has yet to be equaled, or even approached.  I remember the Topolinski juggernaut; the overwhelming, unbeatable there-ness of Ka Pā Hula Hawai‘i in 17 or so first-place kahiko performances over a quarter-century of competition.      

I remember the year when Keahi locked the doors on a bunch of very unhappy late arrivals and last-minute ticket seekers.  Back then the Cannon was packed and the atmosphere intense, explosive even.  No one left early, no one gave up seats  There were no rubber chicken and transformer skirt routines, no po‘e kepanī chanting "Kaulana‘ula loves me" and dancing "Hold fast child to your heritage," no nacho breaks to dull the consequent angst.  It was traditional chant and dance, hardcore stuff, stodgy stuff.  Stuff for the purist.

Well, those days are gone.  And they have been for a while.  The 33rd Annual King Kamehameha Hula Competition took place last weekend (June xx to xx. 2006) in a half-empty NBC Arena.  The audience was typically swim meet, predictably Keiki Hula -- that is to say, in constant turnover as moms, sisters, husbands, and girlfriends followed their favorite dancers into and out of the arena.  Only a few hundred die-hards sat through the entire competition.  Most watched their favorites, left, and returned for the awards presentation on Saturday afternoon.     

I can’t really blame them.  Almost nothing is compelling about the new millenium’s KKHC: no juggernauts, no decade of oli masters, no uninterrupted string of hardcore hula, no exquisite intensity, no internal-wave beefs or fans pounding on locked doors.  For one thing, the old guard no longer shows up in force; noticeably absent this year were the hālau of Kaha‘i, Robert, ‘Ala, Vickie, Alicia, Aloha, and Chinky.  Same with the new guard:  no Keali‘i, Sonny, Kau‘i and Kunewa, Lehua and Doreen, Michael and Veto.  Only Māpu, O’Brian, Leimomi, and Manu were entered this time.  They and their peers are no longer the event’s cornerstones; like the new audience, they come and go, enter and drop out, as time and interest allow.   

What we were left with, this time, was an often-odd assortment of hālau and hula.  Japanese women smiling sweetly through the storm-tossed battle imagery of "Pā Ka Makani" as if it were a sunny love song.  A hula noho version of Victoria Kamāmalu’s embittered "Aita ‘Oe e Pālau" that resembled a missionary picnic performance: white dresses and moena, choral harmony and row-your-boat rondo.  A ku‘i-structured mele inoa for Queen Emma that was presented as if it were a sacred hula pahu.  A mind-numbing blur of hula ‘auana performances in which costumes, adornments, formations, and parasol-passing took precedence over poetry and tasteful, informed expression. 

With all due respect to the event’s organizers and participants, I think that the King Kamehameha Competition -- in trying to be too many things to too many people -- has lost its identity, vitality, and appeal.  Its two-day, multi-division, international, mixed bag, surprise honoree format is -- pardon me -- more garage sale than showcase, more K-Mart than K-Lake, more combo-plate at L&L than poi supper at Tūtū’s.  It is not drawing the po‘okela, not attracting or captivating a significant audience, and (outside of ‘Ōlelo) not generating media interest of any kind.  None of the papers featured it; none of the nightly newscasts covered it.  Like the Pu‘ulena wind, it passed through without notice or impact.  

I’d like to see the whole event tightened up, trimmed of fluff, reduced to something that we can process and appreciate.  How about a return to the old format.  One day.  3 hours.  Oli first.  Kahiko second.  Awards third.  Pau.  How about limiting the number of entries and screening the participants to ensure the quality and integrity of each performance.  How about revising the kahiko division to eliminate the male, female, combined, and kūpuna sub-categories:  how about one entry only per hālau -- each entry to consist of maybe 3 to 15 dancers of any age or gender.  Best performance wins.  And how about a more intimate venue: the Hawai‘i Theatre, for example.  I’d gladly pay big bucks to sit through something like that! 

At the close of Saturday’s competition, Keahi Allen introduced the third place oli winner as "Alexandria with-the-long-Hawaiian-middle-name Gonsalves."  "Ū," some of us gasped, "that’s no way to honor our language or the importance of our names and name-givers."  Ua kani hou ka ‘ū when Keahi then told the subsequent winners, "Don’t kiss the judges when you go up for your awards; we don’t want to be here all night." 

"My mother," Keahi later offered in lieu of apology, "is probably not very happy with me right now."  Apology accepted.  It was a long, exhausting two days, and exhaustion does that to all of us.  It robs us of grace and good sense.  But before year 34 finds us trapped in the same lets-get-outa-here scenario, how about we fix things so that, at the end, we can all celebrate the excellence of Hawaiian culture in an ebullient Hawaiian manner.  E ho‘i hou ka wai i uka o Ao.  Let the water return again to the uplands of ‘Īao. 

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2006 Competition Results

Chant 

1.  Nālei Pokipala (Keali‘i Reichel)

2.  Sarah Ke‘alohilani Freitas (Keali‘i Reichel)

2.  Alexandria Kalanikauika‘alaneokiloulaninuiamamao Gonsalves (Lilinoe Lindsey)

Male Kahiko   

1.  Ke Kai o Kahiki (O’Brian Eselu)

2.  Hālau Hula ‘o Kawaiho‘omalu (Kūkaho‘omalu Souza and Keali‘iho‘omalu Puchalski)

3.  Hālau o ka Hanu Lehua (Kamaka Kūkona III)

Female Kahiko

1.  Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima (Māpuana de Silva)

2.  Hālau o ke ‘A‘ali‘i Kū Makani (Manu Boyd)

3.  Hālau Hula ka No‘eau (Pili Pang)

4.  Hālau ka Liko Pua o Kalaniākea (Kapua Dalire-Moe)

5.  Hālau Hula ‘o Mehanaokalā (Ku‘ulei Hashimoto)

Combined Kahiko

1.  Hālau Hula ka No‘eau (Pili Pang)

2.  Hālau nā Pua mai ka Lani (Kale Pāwai)

Male ‘Auana

1.  Keali‘ika‘apunihonua Ke‘ena a‘o Hula (Leimomi Ho)

2.  Hālau Hula ‘o Kawaiho‘omalu (Kūkaho‘omalu Souza and Keali‘iho‘omalu Puchalski)

3.  Hālau o ka Hanu Lehua (Kamaka Kūkona III)

Female ‘Auana

1.  Hālau o ke ‘A‘ali‘i Kū Makani (Manu Boyd)

2.  Hālau ka Liko Pua o Kalaniākea (Kapua Dalire-Moe)

3.  Tie:  Keali‘ika‘apunihonua Ke‘ena a‘o Hula (Leimomi Ho), Hālau o ka Hanu Lehua (Kamaka Kūkona III), Ka Pā Hula o Lilinoe (Lilinoe Lindsey), Hula Hui o Leialoha (Leialoha Watada)

4.  Hālau Hula o Nāpunaheleonāpua (Rich Pedrina)

5.  Hālau Hula ka No‘eau (Pili Pang)

Combined ‘Auana

1.  Hui o Kamalei (Kamehaola Sataraka)

2.  Keali‘ika‘apunihōnua Ke‘ena a‘o Hula (Leimomi Ho)

3.  Hālau Hula ka No‘eau (Pili Pang)

Kūpuna Wāhine ‘Auana

1.  Hui o Kamalei (Kamehaola Sataraka)

2.  Hālau ka Liko Pua o Kalaniākea (Kapua Dalire-Moe)

3.  Keali‘ika‘apunihonua Ke‘ena a‘o Hula (Leimomi Ho)

Hawaiian Language, Kahiko

1. Tie:  Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima, Hālau ‘o Kawaiho‘omalu, Hālau o ke ‘A‘ali‘i Kū Makani, Hālau ka Liko Pua o Kalaniākea

Hawaiian Language, ‘Auana

1.  Tie: Hālau o ke ‘A‘ali‘i Kū Makani, Hālau Hula o Nāpunaheleonāpua

2006 Award of Distinction

Bill Kaiwa

© Kipi Brown 2006