A fun moment for my husband Chris and me at the Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau as we play kōnane last Wednesday. A passing tourist--- one of several who stopped to watch--- snapped this. Unfortunately for me Chris is a quick study and beat me 44-42.
Thank you Kumu Kauʻi for helping me to learn this challenging yet simple game! I have walked past that board by the little bay several times over the years and wondered how the game worked.... You may ask: how does kōnane relate to hula? At our hōʻike and luʻau last spring, we hula dancers entertained our guests by playing kōnane with them (and we played to win but didnʻt always!).
Huliheʻe Palace
Hula Sister aka Aunty Nan Orman visited Huliheʻe Palace in Kona today and received a two-hour guided tour of HHM David Kalākauaʻs occasional residence by a lovely docent named Peter who, I discovered, dances hula with the kūpuna of Keala Ching.
No photos allowed, so the beautiful cradle of little Prince Albert, who passed away at age four, and who is immortalized in the song "Nā Hala O Naue" (a mele my Half Moon Bay group performs with pūʻili) canʻt be shown here, nor can the many other historic artifacts I would have snapped shots of.
But....I was able to snap a shot of items in the gift shop of this summer palace of Hawaiʻiʻs aliʻi---the books for sale included "Hula Sister". I felt very humbled and honored.
THE MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL
THE MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL is coming soon! This grand display of all things hula will unfold next week in Hilo, Hawai`i, as hula lovers from near and far gather in the often sleepy town to celebrate the art with pageantry, color and energy.
The highlight is the Merrie Monarch Hula Competition, held April 20-22, but the weeklong festivities begin on Sunday April 16. Ticket holders have been guarding their tickets since last December---only days after the tickets go on sale, they are sold out, and prized by their owners. The Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium is the site of the competition, but all of Hilo town is transformed into a hula venue during this week.
Named after King David Kalākaua (“Kah-LAAH-cow-uh”), the cherished patron of hula and the Hawaiian culture during the last years of the Hawaiian monarchy, the festival is enhanced in many locations by photos and drawings of Kalākaua, Hawai`i’s last king, who restored Hawaiian cultural traditions that had been suppressed for many years under missionary teachings. He advocated a renewed sense of pride in Hawaiian mythology, medicine and chant as well as hula. A hula step is named for him, so he is remembered in each and every hula class!
The relationship to the monarchy which stretches back in time to when Hawai`i was a sovereign kingdom is marked in hula tradition in many ways---the competition itself begins with a royal couple, splendidly dressed in the Victorian finery which Hawaiian royals wore in monarchy days, entering and seating themselves on thrones to watch the competition. It’s a most moving sight!
The lineage of hula, of course, goes back much farther, to a time before written history, and that ancient, ancestral hula form, the kahiko style, occupies an entire day of the competition.
Although not every hula dancer can attend in person, the competition is visible on television in Hawai`i, and is streamed on the internet to the mainland. Video of the entire competition can be purchased later in the year, and a new dancer can learn to her heart’s content as she watches dancer after dancer: each one is a living, breathing testimonial to the resilience of hula!
THE ORIGIN OF HULA SISTER
I am Aunty Nanette Orman, a real person, a hula dancer since 1957, and a lifelong journalist with a passion for capturing ideas and images via the written word.
Hula Sister is my alter ego. She is the embodiment of your older sister and good friend who guides you gently and clearly into the complex, fascinating, and sometimes perplexing world of hula. It can be so nice to have an older sister to show you the way!
I had hula sisters as guides when I re-entered the world of hula in 1998. I had been born in Chicago and transplanted to Van Nuys, California as a 13-year-old. I was a sort of feminine Rip Van Winkle---I had gone to sleep in 1960 and stopped dancing for many years, following hula only as an audience member, but I was abruptly awakened in 1998 when I rejoined a hula class.
Like most hula lovers born and raised on the mainland (or continent, as it is often called these days), I had to relearn hula and learn about the Hawaiian culture one little bite at a time, as a child learns a new language---a process which takes years. Frustrated, puzzled, and occasionally angry as I struggled to understand, I vowed someday to do for others what my sweet hula sisters did for me, and to help the hula newcomer to understand the ways of hula.
What is hula? It is more than a dance! Much of what the new dancer must learn is hidden from view. In my book Hula Sister I define it as: “The sinuous, graceful and artistic dance form of the Hawaiian Islands which depicts in pantomime form the words of chants and songs so as to depict the words’ meanings in a way that perpetuates and remembers the values, traditions and history of the Hawaiian people.”
In my book, on my website, in contacts with fellow dancers, I seek to depict and demonstrate the difference in order to bring my brothers and sisters into the world of genuine hula. There are many ways to perform authentic hula, and each way is correct as long as each descends from the unbroken chain of hula knowledge which arose and flourished in Hawai’i. This is Hula Sister’s mission--- to help the beginner along, and in addition to dispel the image of a hula dancers as nothing more than a showgirl in a grass skirt.
HAWAIIAN WORDS OF THE DAY: “Pau ka wā malo`o”
“Pau ka wā malo`o”---“Finished (is) the drought”---Pronounce this sentence “Pow kah waah mah-loh-oh”. This sunset photo of the ocean west of Half Moon Bay shows the rain clouds rolling in yet again this week---our deliverance from the wā malo`o---the period of dryness.
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY---“Pili”
"Pili”---“Close by, connected, together”---Pronounce this “Pee-lee”. These Half Moon Bay egrets were conducting their early spring courting ritual last week, by the ocean. They seemed to be very much in love, with the large male guarding his sweetheart carefully! To use this in a sentence: “E pili kaua!!---“Let’s be together!” --- Kaua” (“Cow-uh”) is “you and I”.
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY--- “`Ānuenue”
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY--- “`Ānuenue”---“Rainbow”---Pronounce this “AH-noo-eh-noo-eh.” Hula Sister spotted this `ānuenue just after sunrise today above Pillar Point Harbor, signaling an end to several stormy days and nights. Our drought is finally winding down!
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY: "Mohala"
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY: "Mohala"---"Blossom"--- pronounce this "Moh-hah-lah". Cattleya Crispin Rosales ʻCarmelaʻ is fully open now---a reason among many others to be thankful today. No scent yet but Iʻm hopeful!
FLOWERS FOR YOUR HULA HAIR
A new blessed event is slowly unfolding on my orchid porch---I canʻt wait to see what these flowers are like! It seems like an eternity waiting but I know theyʻll be fully open by Thanksgiving.... this cattleya is Blc. Crispin Rosales ʻCarmelaʻ AM/AOS.
FLOWERS FOR YOUR HULA HAIR
Just bloomed in my orchid porch---seven blossoms, each one six inches across---too big for a hula dancer but oh so beautiful. I guess one could rest on each side of a bun at the back of the head.
FLOWERS FOR YOUR HULA HAIR
This sweet miniature red vanda came from a seedling kiosk at Keahole Airport in Kona. Like many on those kiosks the label was absent but in spite of being nameless it has prospered here in Half Moon Bay. Flowers are just the right size for hula hair.
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY---"Ke Alaula"
"Ke Alaula"---"The sunset glow". Pronounce this "Keh Ah-laoo-lah". Literally "The fiery road" or "The red road". Can also refer to the dawn. This was the western sky last Friday evening looking toward the beach in Half Moon Bay.
Hawaiian Word of the Day: "Ka ʻEhu Kai"
"The Sea Foam or Sea Spray"--- Pronounce this "Kah Eh-hoo Ka-ee". This was Half Moon Bay at the shore yesterday afternoon---frothing and foaming with a mist overhanging the beach. The poetic, hidden meaning of this phrase refers to the surface or upper layer of something deep and substantial.
Hula Sister Nan Orman in Half Moon Bay Review
Check out the great write up on the Hula Sister: A Guide to the Native Dance of Hawaii in the Half Moon Bay Review, by Clay Lambert : Full article here
