Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 9, 1 September 2014 — 1950-2014, ALOHA DALIRE Aloha oe, Miss Hula [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

1950-2014, ALOHA DALIRE Aloha oe, Miss Hula

By Lynn Cook In 1971 a young dancer named Aloha Wong was named Miss Hula at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo. Forty-three years later, then known by her married name, kumu Aloha Dalire died at age 64, leaving an amazing hula legacy and a worldwide hula community stunned that someone so young and so inspiring was gone. "When I heard the news of Aloha's passing, I was shocked and very sad," said

kumu hula Māpuana de Silva. "It's still hard to believe that we won't see her at the Merrie Monarch kumu meetings or on stage in Hilo in April. "Aloha and I have both been at Merrie Monarch as kumu of our respective hālau since the '70s. Back in the early days, "de Silva" always followed "Dalire" when Aunty Dottie (īhompson) called roll at the beginning of eaeh Merrie Monarch meeting. This year there will be a void when Aloha Dalire's name is not called; but then, there will be a warm smile when Keola Dalire and Kapua Dalire-Moe are both called to carry on the Dalire tradition," de Silva said, referring to two of Dalire's daughters. The beginning of that Dalire tradition was a story Aloha loved to tell. She began dancing at age 3 with Unele George Na'ope, a Merrie Monarch co-founder. In 1971, as a young woman dancing for the hālau created by her mother, Mary

McCabe Wong, Aloha walked into the office of festival director Aunty Dottie Thompson and pulled a number for the inaugural solo dancer eompehhon. It was number 1 1. "I was last," Aloha onee told KITV4 anchor Paula Akana. "I had to watch everyone else dance. So, I did my thing and we waited. I was actually standing by the exit door when third and then second plaee were announced. Then I heard them eall my name and I thought, 'Oh, this can't be true.' " From that moment on, she says, she dedicated eaeh day to hula. She also was fond of putting on a rascal smile, saying that the next year after she won, the award was renamed Miss "Aloha" Hula. Dalire's three daughters went on to win the same honor as their mother: Kapualokeokalaniakea, in 1991, Kau'imaiokalaniakea in 1992 and Keolalaulani in 1999. In the midst of greeting many hundreds of

friends during two days of celebration of Aloha's life, plus receiving the outpouring of thousands of well wishers, worldwide, eaeh daughter, answering a request from this reporter, shared a favorite memory of their mother. "Our mom always taught us to mind our p's and q's, handle ourselves in the best manner possible," Kau'i Dalire said. "Well that was the case most of the time for Mom except when she would watch my basketball games. My ■ mom was my biggest fan. My games were L all videoed and you could always hear Mom r cheering or cussing at the refs or opposing teams/coaches, but the best was seeing her arm 1 full of gold bracelets appear into the camera k with a loud yell. It was a little embarrassing I for me as a high school athlete at Kamehameha, I but I knew how proud she was of me." Kapua Dalire-Moe said she vividly remembers her mother's love of family. "The smile she had whenever she got to see her daughters and grandchildren dance. Yes, the boys danced too. One highlight being her grandson, Mana, who shares his birth date with her, dancing fireknife at the age of 8. Her family was her world!" Keola Dalire said: "There are so many fond memories of my mother, they are all my favorite. I ean remember the many times throughout my life she opened her home to family and friends. They filled the house with laughter and love. Especially the smell of her brown gravy stew, a staple at any gathering." Kau'i Dalire added that many of her mother's students and instructors from all over the world, Japan, Tahiti, the U.S. mainland and neighbor islands eame to pay their respects. "Many people called, texted and posted to social media many of their favorite memories of my mom," she said. "It's humbling to know how many lives my mother influenced and changed while here on Earth and how she will continue to touch all of our lives from a different realm." ■

Lynn Cook i.s a loeal freelance journaīist sharing the arts and culture ofHawai'i with a glohal auāienee.

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

Kumu hula Aloha Dalire, second from left, her dancers and her cousin kumu hula Frank Heweft, left, bowed their heads in prayer before entering the stage at the Merrie Monarch Festival earlier this year. - Courtesy photos: Hicholas īomasello