Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 3, 1 March 2015 — HOLOMUA KA NOʻEAU, KUʻU PUA, KUʻU LEI ALOHA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOLOMUA KA NOʻEAU, KUʻU PUA, KUʻU LEI ALOHA

Sat, Marcli 14, 6 p.m. The 35th annual Holomua Ka No'eau, presented by Kumu Hula Māpuana de Silva and the Merrie Monarch Festival award-winning dancers of Hālau Mōhala 'Ilima. The dancers will string a lei of shared memories and beloved llowers - all recounted in hula that will delight the senses. The audience ean count on a glimpse of what is to eome as the Menie Monarch dancers prepare for their upcoming joumey to the stage of the Hilo festival. Young dancers, adult women and the three-time Kamehameha Hula Competitionwinning male dancers will join the Merrie Monarch ladies, dancing to the music of Nā Hoa. Tickets are $25 and $35, available at the Hawai'i Theatre box office or from HMI dancers. Hālau Mōhala 'Ilima, founded in 1976, is dedicated to the preservation of Hawaiian culture through hula, specializing in traditionally learned and transmitted chants and dances from the legacy of dances of the 18th and 19th century, celebrating the land and people, and modern hula with a spirit that carries forward the older traditions of hula. Kumu Māpuana de Silva graduated as kumu hula from Maiki Aiu Lake and continued her studies with Lani Kalama, Sally Wood Naluai and Pat Namaka Bacon. A Hālau Mōhala 'Ilima concert offers a total experience of the joy of hula, balanced with discipline and eommitment to excellence. — Lynn Cook ■

Kumu Hula Māpuana de Silva. - Courtesy: Hicholas īomasello