For the love of Hula--Pa'i Award winner

Sista Act 2: Back in the lineup again
Former Miss Hula Aloha contestants bring halau back to festival
By Karen Welsh
For the Tribune-Herald
A flock of birds fluttered back and forth through Hilo's open-air Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium, matching the flowing, gliding hands of the dancing Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka.
Never mind this group of 23 young women and two kumu hula members got up at the crack of dawn on the first day of spring break to catch a plane from their home in Pukalani, Maui to the Big Island. Forget the bumpy ride from the nasty weather pattern hanging stubbornly over the island chain.
Don't mention lunch was missed in the busyness of the moment, or the soggy conditions the girls endured from the continuous and torrential downpour saturating the land.
It simply didn't matter. They were smiling. Happy. Poetry in motion. Nothing could dampen their spirits because they were thrilled to be dancing on the official Merrie Monarch stage.
"This is so exciting," said 21-year-old Orama Brault, a dancer with the halau for eight years. "We never thought we'd be on this stage. When the halau started we'd come every year to the festival and dream about it. Now we're actually here. It's so great. It's so awesome. I would practice all day. I can't get enough of this stage."
Their shirts said it all --touting the halau's motto, "Hula Built." They have practiced long hours and pushed themselves hard, hanging on every word of their co-kumu hula leaders and sisters Jaye "Napua" Greig and Patty "Kahulumealani" Maluo-Huber, both former Miss Aloha Hula contestants and performers at past Merrie Monarch festivals.
"It's all about respect," said 18-year-old Emily Spenser, who flew home from the University of San Diego to participate in the rehearsals. "They are our role models."
It's been a longer road back to the festival for Kahulumealani, first runner-up in the 1990 Miss Aloha Hula competition and Napua, second runner-up in 1992.
Both sisters moved to Hilo a couple of years apart in the late 1980s to attend the University of Hawaii's Big Island campus.
Kahulumealani arrived first. She immediately began taking lessons from kumu hula Ray Fonseca's Halau Hula O Kahili Laulani. She felt it a great honor when Uncle Ray asked her to dance in the competition.
"It was a world-stopping experience," Kahulumealani remembered. "Personally I stopped everything, gave up college and gave it my all."
Napua followed in her big sister's footsteps only two years later. She had joined Johnny Lum Ho's Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua and was soon asked to dance in the solo competition.
"It helped me to be a lot more confident," she said. "To dance in front of all those people by myself."
Both sisters eventually moved back to Maui, opening their own halau in 1996. Over the years it has grown from 30 to 125 members, ranging in age from four to 44 years old.
The sisters believe hula is comparable to a sport, but is also something deeply spiritual and cultural too. They stress hula is something the dancers have to prepare for before coming to the halau.
"We connect with hula on many different levels," Napua said. "Spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. You can see right through this dance and if their life isn't in order they just don't dance well."
Kahulumealani and Napua started bringing a select group of dancers from their halau to watch the Merrie Monarch Festival six years ago. Then, they began to dream.
"We would talk about our experiences and the hard work it took to get there," Napua said. "The determination and the sacrifice it took to get up on that stage."
Finally the sister's felt their "Opiho" class of young women, ranging in age from 13 to 40 years, were ready for the challenge and commitment and put their name on the waiting list.
Everyone was blown away when festival officials notified the kumu sisters of their acceptance.
"The girls have been wanting to do it forever," Napua said. "When we told them they were excited. They're hard working kids. They apply themselves."
"They brought themselves to a whole new level when they started practicing for the competition in August," Kahulumealani added.
It was a costly venture, but the troupe arrived in Hilo for the sole purpose of relentless practicing in order to do their best in the upcoming competition.
Despite the distractions of landing planes, squawking birds and noisy traffic surrounding the stadium, the halau remains committed to the art, determined to be precise and focused completely on the two kumu sisters.
"You guys have got to overcome the noise," Napua told the students over the sound of the pounding rain. "You guys have got to bring it. You've got to belong."
Napua, the more outgoing personality of the two sisters, chants and sings and she either plays the ipu for the oli or the ukulele for the mele.
Reciting the living history of her ancestors is second nature to the seasoned performer.
"It's easy if you understand the language because it's like a story," Napua said. "It's history and you know what comes next."
The young women provide the interpretation, and every little nuance of the hula, from facial expressions, vocal inflections, hand movements, ka'o or 'uwehe, are under the watchful eyes and trained ears of the kumu hula sisters during the rehearsal.
Tirelessly they practiced the kahiko "Hana Waimea" chant in honor of King Kamehameha or their and auana "Pu'uhonua Nani" over and over again. Their voices echoing, their feet thudding on the hollow wooden stage floor. None complained when they were asked to do it "one more time, please."
"Wit da attitude and everything dis time," Kahulumealani told the girls as they returned to the stage.
This is serious business, an expensive field trip to make sure the girls are comfortable on stage and they are dancing each step with pinpoint precision.
"You've got to make this stage your home," Napua reminded the group. "We're here so that when you walk on the stage it will be like you've done it a million times. You guys can be the best dancers in the whole world, but it's not going to do you nothing if you're scared. If you're scared people aren't gonna watch cause they are uncomfortable. You need to relax so the audience can enjoy it."
"When you walk up that ramp you've got to command everyone's attention," Kahulumealani added. "You need to have that intense, eager face when walking up on the stage. You need to exude confidence."
Napua also reminded the women that first impressions are the most important.
You are the newcomers on the block," she stressed to the eager onlookers. "You've got to make the audience sit up and pay attention. That's your goal."
Three hours past and the rigorous rehearsal was finally over. They would all come back over the next two days and do it all over again.
The troupe made it's way outside into the liquid air. Many ran to the vans to find relief from the moisture. The sisters stopped, however and smiled at each other, welcoming the wet sight.
"The rain is what makes Hilo home," Napua said. "It's good to come back to Hilo. Every time I step off the plane to Hilo I am energized. It feels good to come back to Hilo. It's really good."