Photo gallery
| • | Festival welcomed the familiar |
| • | Merrie Monarch results |
Photos by Eugene Tanner
Advertiser Staff Photographer
Right: Hilo's Halau Hula O Kahikilaulani use pebble implements called 'ili'ili to mark the rhythm of "Ke Ao Nani," a seated hula translated as "the beautiful world." Their costumes resemble kapa but are made of pellon dyed with the pala'a fern. Right: Halau Ke Kia'i A 'O Hula dancers use the kala'au sticks in their telling of "Pana'ewa." The chant is a prelude to the battle which took place between the goddess Hi'iaka and the man-eating mo'o (lizard) Pana'ewa.
Ka Pa Nani 'O Lilinoe, the 'Aiea school led by Lilinoe Lindsey, performs "Ho'onanea," a song about passing time in peace and pleasure.
Above: Ranks of dancers from Moana's Hula Halau wear contrasting colors to tell the dramatic story of a battle between Pele and her goddess-sister Namakaokaha'i, "Pi'i Ke Kai." In the chant, Pele is destroyed and her bones are scattered, but she rises as a victorious, divine spirit. The group comes from Moloka'i.
The women of Ka Pa Hula o Kamehameha, the Kamehameha Schools' halau, enact the travels of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in "'O Kalani Pauahi Ke Ali'i." The mele commemorates her visit to Nu'uanu and Mololani and the beauty of those areas.
The men of Halau Na Mamo O Ka'ala convey the joy of a beautiful day at the beach in the rousing "Halona I Ka Ehu Kai."
Above: In this crowd-pleaser, Johnny Lum Ho's Halau Ka Ua Lehua use the postures and sounds of pigs and dogs. The hula,"Ho'onaukikuki Ka 'Ilio Ka Pua'a," tells of the chase between the pig god Kamapua'a and the legendary dog Pupulenalena.
Na Pua Me Kealoha drew a welcome-back ovation as the California halau, long absent from the comeptition, perform the rousing "Ka Huaka'i O Kaha'i."
