Merrie Monarch Festival: Pi‘ikea Lopes wins Miss Aloha Hula 2022, follows in her mother’s footsteps

MERRIE MONARCH

Piʻikea Kekihenelehuawewehiikekauʻonohi Lopes was named Miss Aloha Hula for 2022.

UPDATED: APRIL 25, 1:30 a.m. PDT

After two years of the pandemic, the Merrie Monarch Festival, the premier hula competition in the world, returned with competitors dancing in front of a live audience. 

On Thursday (April 21), Piʻikea Kekihenelehuawewehiikekauʻonohi Lopes from halau Ka La ʻOnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe on Oahu was named as Miss Aloha Hula at the 2022 Merrie Monarch Festival.

Lopes, under the direction of her parents and na kumu hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes, scored 1,168 points and also won the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Hawaiian language award.

RELATED: For more results in the group competitions, click here.

Pi'ikea Lopes winning performance was  a continuation of a family tradition. Her mother, Tracie Lopes, won the title in 1994. s 

In one of the festival's tightest contests in years, the top four finishers were separated by only 11 points.

Pi'ikea Lopes topped the other nine dancers in Thursday’s competition with a judges’ score of 1,168 points, also winning the Hawaiian Language Award with a perfect score of 50.

The 21-year-old Lopes, who is about to receive her master’s degree in Hawaiian language immersion education, is the second consecutive Miss Aloha Hula from the halau her parents operate. Last year’s winner of the Miss Aloha Hula competition was Rosemary Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland, who also dances for the Lopeses’ school.

The younger Lopes paid tribute to her parents in her singing and Hawaiian chant.

She performed “Pua Be-Still” a “song of deep affection,” that honored her father’s side of the family and the region of Kohala. The song “encourages us always to take time to reflect and cherish the memories of home,” according to the festival program.

Piʻikea followed by kneeling and delivering an oli (chant) paying respect to Puna to honor and acknowledge those who came before.

The finalists are listed below:

1. Pi‘ikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekau‘ōnohi Lopes – Nā Kumu Hula Tracie & Keawe Lopes (1168) 1st place / ʻOlelo award
2. Auliʻionāpualokekūonaona Jon-Marie Hisayo Faurot – Nā Kumu Hula Kunewa Mook & Kau‘ionālani Kamana‘o (1105) 2nd place / 1st runner up
3. Marina Laʻakea Choi – Nā Kumu Hula Robert Ke‘ano Ka‘upu IV & Lono Padilla (1097) 3rd place / 2nd runner up
4. Manaia Kawaipuamakanakauʻikawēkiumekanoeuʻiokeolamaikalaniākea Dalire Moe  – Kumu Hula Kapua Dalire-Moe (1095) 4th place / 3rd runner up
5. Kyleigh Hōkūao Manuel-Sagon – Nā Kumu Hula Haunani & ‘Iliahi Paredes from Maui (1094) 5th place / 4th runner up

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Merrie Monarch Festival will be held this summer

The Merrie Monarch hula competition draws schools from all over the islands.

After being canceled last year because of the coronavirus, the Merrie Monarch Festival has developed safety guidelines and virtual format so that the hula competition can be held this summer.

The ultimate hula competition has been held annuallly since 1964, except for 2020. Hula schools and individual dancers from all over the islands compete in the festival meant to preserve the Native Hawaiian culture.

“The health and wellbeing of all hālau participants and the community overall was our top priority then and continues to be now as we move forward with holding the event this year,” said Kawelu who worked with health professionals and a team of advisors to develop safety guidelines modeled after those used by professional sports teams and associations over the past year. 

“We are grateful to our partners, including representatives from The Queen’s Health Systems, that are lending their time, expertise and resources to help us set up and implement this comprehensive safety plan,” Kawelu continued.

The 2019 Miss Aloha Kahiko title was won by Taizha Keakealani Hughes-Kaluhiokalani.

All hālau participants, festival staff, as well as the television production crew have agreed to follow the guidelines that include undergoing multiple COVID testings, a 5-day isolation period prior to entering the competition venue for the first time, and daily screenings to continually monitor participants for symptoms. 

Kumu Hula Keʻano Kaʻupu of Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua shared that, “it was a lot to consider given that competition preparation is intense in and of itself. But hula isn’t just an activity we do, it is our way of life and we really wanted to be back in this Merrie Monarch space and community.” 

Fellow Kumu, Lono Padilla, added that “the level of detail and analysis that went into the guidelines and protocols reassured us that this was something we could do safely.”

County of Hawaiʻi Mayor Mitch Roth affirmed the County’s support of the festival saying, “as a dedicated and crucial partner, the County of Hawai‘i continues to work closely with Merrie Monarch Festival President Luana Kawelu, and the Organizing Committee.” Roth specifically acknowledged the plan saying, “I have received, read and approved the comprehensive and robust outline of the extensive protocols and actions.” 

Men dancers compete in the Merrie Monarch Festival.

As announced in November 2020, there will be no live audience but there will be a three-night television broadcast of the competition on Hawaiʻi News Now’s KFVE. 

Performances will take place and be judged in Hilo at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium on June 24, 25, and 26 and then be broadcasted on KFVE the following week on July 1, 2 and 3 at which time the winners will be announced. 

There are a total of 15 hālau participating (listed below) that will present 11 Wahine and eight Kāne performances in both the Kahiko and ʻAuana categories as well as seven Miss Aloha Hula entrants.

Following is a list of the participating Hālau:
-Hālau Hi‘iakaināmakalehua
-Hālau Hula ‘O Nāpunaheleonāpua
-Hālau Hula Ke ‘Olu Makani O Mauna Loa
-Hālau Hula Olana
-Hālau I Ka Wēkiu
-Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinā‘ala
-Hālau Ka Liko Pua O Kalaniākea
-Hālau Kala‘akeakauikawēkiu
Hālau Kekuaokalāʻauʻalaʻiliahi
-Hālau Keolakapuokalani
-Hālau O Ka Hanu Lehua
-Ka Lā ‘Ōnohi Mai O Ha‘eha‘e
-Kawai‘ulaokalā
-Kawaili‘ulā
-Ke Kai O Kahiki

Merrie Monarch Fest: Hula dancers preserving Hawaiian culture

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Taizha Keakealani Hughes-Kaluhiokalan was named Miss Aloha Hula for 2019.

The best hula dancers and hula troupes were named in the Merrie Monarch Festival, an annual competition keeping Native Hawaiian culture alive. 

The dances and chants performed by the competitors are not your parents' hula tourists flock to at the hotel luau's on Waikiki, Kaanapali or Poipu beaches. 

The dance competition was held in late April in Hilo, Hawaii this year and crowned the title of Miss Aloha Hula to Taizha Keakealani Hughes-Kaluhiokalan from the Kalihi-based hula halau (hula school) Halau Hiiakainamakalehua based in Oahu, which has produced three of the last four winners. 

“The energy, the feeling of even walking into the stadium, I could immediately feel just, I could feel my kupuna,” Hughes-Kaluhiokalani said. “I knew they were surrounding me, I knew they were coming out of me. It was a magical, magical feeling.”

Hughes-Kaluhiokalani, 23, danced two styles of hula for the judges, kahiko (traditional) and auna (modern), and was given high marks for her proficiency in olelo Hawaii (Hawaiian language), eventually winning the Hawaiian language award as well. 

The Merrie Monarch festival is the biggest of several hula competitions that help preserve the traditional Hawaiian culture and language, which is seeing a revival in recent years after being banned for decades by Christian missionaries.

Even if you don't understand the language, onlookers can see and feel the enthusiasm and pride of the energetic young dancers as they beautiful dance traditional and modern hula.

Winners were also announced in the group dances for men and women.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Our sincere apologies for the delay in covering this annual dance competition. Views From the Edge was  distracted this year because of political Trump and immigration news, but better late than never, right?

Maui dancers win halau and individual awards at Merrie Monarch Festival

IT WAS A CLEAN SWEEP for the dancers from Maui over the weekend at the 55th Annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo on the island of Hawaii.

Saturday night, (April 7) Maui’s Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka O Uka, under the direction of Kumu Nāpua Greig, won the overall title at the 55th annual competition. The women took the overall festival title, overall wahine title, first place in the wahine ʻauana division and second place in the wahine kahiko division.

Among the criteria that judges used to score the halau were the adornments, expression, interpretation, posture, precision, hand gestures, foot and body movements, authenticity of costume and overall performance.

The panel of judges this year included Cy Bridges, Maelia Loebenstein-Carter, Ainsley Halemanu, Nalani Kanakaʻole Zane, Mae Kamamalu Klein, Piʻilani Lua and Kalena Silva.

Thursday night (April 6), one of the group's members, Shalia Kapuauionalani Kikuyo Kamakaokalani, won the Miss Aloha Hula 2018 title.

A total of 29 hula troupes — nine kane (men) and 20 wahine (women) — competed in the group kahiko competition on Friday, followed by the group auana competition on Saturday.

Shalia Kapuauionalani Kikuyo Kamakaokalan

Maui contestant Kamakaokalani, 21, dances for the winning Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka. Under the tutelage of her kumu hula (hula teacher) Grieg. She took the prestigious award with a total score of 1,130, edging out first runner-up, Ecstasy Jetta Laverne Kamakalikolehua Ligon.

RELATED: A hula for the ages

Kamakaokalani's hula kahiko (traditional hula) performance, “Lei No Kapi‘olani,” is an oli, a chant in Hawaiian, which commemorated Queen Kapiolani's journey through culturally significant locations on Maui such as Kauiki and Hana Bay. With elegance and grace, the specific hula she performed is called hula noho kalaau, where she remained partially seated and used percussion sticks, and her soulful voice to bring the audience's into her spirit.

For her hula auana (modern hula), Kamakaokalani danced to the tune of "Kaiulani." The song, which praises Princess Kaiulani for her intelligence and determination in her efforts to prevent the annexation of Hawaii, was the same song her kumu, Grieg, performed to in 1992 while competing for the Miss Aloha Hula title.

“It felt good,” she said of her performance. “I just wanted to honor who I was dancing for — Kapiolani and Ka‘iulani and bring them with me on my journey and also, my ohana, my halau, my kumu and friends.”

Watch their performances below:

The Merrie Monarch Fesitval held every year in Hilo, Hawaii, is dedicated to helping preserve the culture and traditions of ancient Hawaii. In preparation for the Merrie Monarch Festival hālau hula in Hawaiʻi and parts of the U.S. hold classes, workshops, and seminars throughout the year. Kumu hula (hula teachers) teach their dancers the art of hula, the meaning of Hawaiian chants and songs, the nuances of Hawaiian language, the craft of Hawaiian clothing and implements, and the history of the Hawaiian people. In this way knowledge is gained about the people of old, including our aliʻi (chiefs) and gods.

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