Sixteen halau overcome jitters to participate in Waikiki event

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Larry De Rego greets a member of Halau Hula O Leilani arriving from Japan. In the background, right, is Hokulani De Rego. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Least of all, Hokulani De Rego, kumu hula of the sponsoring troupe Halau Hula 'O Hokulani, or her husband Larry, executive director of the annual Hula 'Oni E hula competition.

The three-day festival, now in its 10th year, opens today, as scheduled, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (see box). There were a few nervous moments, of course, when the De Regos wondered whether fears generated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks might cast a pall over an ordinarily joyous occasion or force it to shut down altogether.

Across the Pacific, at Hula Halau O Leilani, the hula school in Chigasaki, Japan, parents of the nine children participating in the event fretted about the safety of sending their children so far on airplanes.

"The children, no — but the parents were nervous," their teacher Mihoko Ogawa said as the De Regos greeted each performer with a lei at the airport yesterday. "But I said, 'We should go.' "

"The halau, they were committed," Hokulani De Rego said. "All they wanted to know was, did we feel safe?"

A total of 16 halau will compete this year, including two from Japan and one from Guam, she said. Only one competitor, Halau Na Mamo O Ka'ala, the Wai'anae school of Tiare Noelani Chang, has withdrawn. That was because of parents being called away for military service.

In addition, said Larry De Rego, only two parties have canceled spectator tickets. One woman sent e-mail regrets from the Mainland: "She wanted to come, but her children were worried about her."

For most people, he said, this may be time for the healing of aloha.

"We look for the strength in it," he said. "This is to share, to help us put all this behind us."

"I think it gives us an injection of happiness," his wife agreed.