• Na Palapalai sang a cappella onstage for Miss Aloha Hula candidate Kapalai'ula Kamakaleiakawainui de Silva of Halau Mohala 'Ilima. This was arresting for two reasons: Kumu hula Mapuana de Silva usually isn't one to break new ground, and the musicians usually perform all but anonymously, down in the musical pit at the rear of the stage. To bring them onstage, kumu de Silva had to take the risk that their unplugged performance might not come off — it takes strong voices to fill this cavernous, high-ceilinged place. But she made a good choice: Placing the musicians so close to the dancer, and leaving them unamplified, leant a lovely, relaxed party hula air to this auana performance. Kumu de Silva (yes, she's Kapalai'ula's mom) stood with the band, beaming, throughout.

• Two small things popped up in the dances of different halau. Several soloists skipped the kaholo (the characteristic, arms-out vamp that fills in between verses), instead pausing in an expressive position until the next verse began. Less successfully to my eyes, the choreography of several dances included a move that can only be called twirling — not the classic three-quarter turn or the "around the island" vamp, but a one-footed pivot that just doesn't look like hula to me. (But I admit that I'm little more than a party hula wanna-be.)

• In costuming, trends included strapless, princess-line dresses of classy simplicity for auana, often in satin or velvet, contrasting colored underskirts peeking out from under wider overskirts in both kahiko and auana and, in color, green, particularly a shade I'm tempted to call Martha Stewart green — the hue of a fresh spring lettuce.