Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 3, 1 March 2013 — Hula conference is dedicated to all things Merrie Monarch [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hula conference is dedicated to all things Merrie Monarch

By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham he sixth annual InterI national Waiklkl Hula

I Conference promI ises to bring new I meaning to old j saying "the more the merrier" I with a lineup of more than 80 Merrie Monarch-themed workshops and seminars. Paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Merrie Monarch Festival, the Merrie Monarch himself, King David 1 Kalākaua, and the festival's I storied founders - this year's I conference, May 17-19 at the Hawai'i Convention Center, offers so many workshops and

seminars, attendees will likely have a hard time picking. With 40 notable kumu hula, the hula workshop choices include such rare

opportunities as "Nani Koleka" (Beautiful Dorothy) - a mele written in honor of Merrie Monarch founder Dottie Thompson - from composer and Kumu Cy Bridges. Just as tempting, "Mālua Ki'iwai Kealoha," a hula kahiko (ancient) from Kumu Maelia Loebenstein Carter, who presented the dance

with a Miss Aloha Hula winner at the 2006 Merrie Monarch and is herself a former Miss Aloha Hula. Yet another plum, "Hilo Hula"

telling of the special places of Merrie Monarch's hometown, comes from Kumu Iwalani Kalima, granddaughter of Joseph Nohea Kalima, who wrote the mele in the 1940s. Seminars likewise will do honor to Merrie Monarch. Hula Preservation Society will offer presentations on some of

hula's brightest lights: Merrie Monarch co-founder and hula master George Nā'ope, the pioneering hula dancers of New York City's Hotel Lexington and a not-to-be-missed personal appearance by "Queenie" Ventura Dowsett, a legendary dancer featured in the 1951 Hollywood film Bird ofParadise. With its work centered on documenting the life stories and legacies of hula's kūpuna elders, Hula Preservation Society has been part of the conference since its inception, providing at least one kūpuna-een-tric seminar per day. "The niee part is, it brings

together groups of our elders to share in unique ways and create very niee and educational experiences for the attendees," says Maile LooChing, HPS president. "For us, it's the joy of seeing them together ... magic always happens when you get them in the same room." Seminars will incorporate presentations by hula masters and cultural experts, including opportunities to make ti leaf Hilo-style lei or an ipu heke (double gourd drum)

with master implement crafters. Panel discussions include "Protocol for Hula Dancing in Modem Times," moderated

by Maelia Loebenstein Carter, with Miss Aloha Hula winners Twyla Ululani Mendez and Kailihiwa "Hiwa" Vaughan-Darval. The International Waikīkī Hula Conference is world's largest hula conference, attracting nearly 600 SEE WAIKĪKĪ HULA ON PAGE 25

lnternational Waikiki Hula Conference When: May 17-19 Where: Hawai'i Convention Center Registration and info: waikiki hulaconference.com Fee: $385 ($250 for kama'āina) forthe full three days, with special rates for groups of 10 or more

Hula dancers from around the world gather at the lnternational Waikīkī Hula Conference eaeh year. - Courtesy photos: lnternational Waikīkī Hula Conference

In addition to learning mele and hula, workshops and seminars cover related aspects of hula, such as making your own 'ūli'ūli, or feathered gourd rattles.

WAIKĪKĪ HULA

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hula practitioners and aficionados from Japan, īaiwan, China, Singapore and Korea, as well as Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Germany, England and Finland. Sponsored by the Waiklkl Improvement Association, the eonference was conceived as a magnet for cultural tourism; a way to give visitors an authentic experience of hula in its piko (birthplace). "What we wanted to do was create an experience where people could eome here and experience hula in the land of its birth," says Mamie Weeks, the conference producer. "That may be as simple as seeing the oeean, hearing what the oeean sounds like, the scented breeze, the tradewinds, so when you make a mohon for the breeze you have that instilled in you, you know what that is." Of course, the conference isn't just for visitors. "For our loeal hula practitioners and dancers or people who just love

hula this is an opportunity to experienee 40 kumu hula under one roof," says Weeks. "We try to have most lineages and styles represented in a real sort of smorgasbord, a buffet of hula." Weeks encourages conferees to sign up early, knowing that with the eonference's password-protected system, attendees ean return to the web site and change their schedule up until one month before the conference. With three days of workshops - two slots to fill on the first day and three eaeh on the second and third - dancers, tempted to fill their schedules with hula, may miss out on the foundational offerings and deeper understanding of hula provided by the seminars. "Don't disregard the value of the seminars," Weeks advises. ■ Marv Ali.ce Ka'iulani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and colunmistfrom California 's Central Coast.