For Robert Ke‘ano Ka‘upu IV, the 63rd Annual Merrie Monarch Festival was a homecoming fit for a king.
The Hilo-born, Keaukaha-bred kumu hula of Oahu’s Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua and his charges made a clean sweep of the kane awards — hula kahiko (ancient hula), hula ‘auana (modern hula) and kane overall.
Their 1,225 points also earned them the overall title — allowing Hi‘iakainamakalehua to lay claim to the Lokalia Montgomery Perpetual Trophy for a year. In addition, Ka‘upu’s wahine took first place in wahine hula kahiko.
“I’m shocked at the result, but I’m not shocked about how the boys and the girls did. They made me happy. We won before they even announced any results,” Ka‘upu told the Tribune-Herald after the hula trophies were awarded Sunday morning at Hilo’s Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium.
“Aside from the award, it was just a wonderful journey with my students,” he added. “We all became much closer and we understood each other’s trials and tribulations, both personally and in halau. It was really important, this journey, and it was more than just performances. It was real-life experiences.”
Ka‘upu as sole kumu is a new chapter in his life, as he and Lono Padilla, former co-kumu of the halau, have parted. The theme of the halau performances was “hulihia” — which Ka‘upu described as “upheaval, turmoil, volcanic activity” — apropos considering the 44th episode of Kilauea’s ongoing eruption occurred Thursday.
In each category Hi‘iakainamakalehua came in first, Maui’s Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi, under the direction of na kumu hula Haunani and ‘Iliahi Paredes, finished second, including being first runners-up in overall, kane overall, kane hula kahiko and kane hula ‘auana, as well as wahine hula kahiko.
“We feel so blessed. The kids worked hard over the past few months and it feels really good to be recognized,” ‘Iliahi Paredes said.
The exact opposite occurred Thursday night as Faith Kealohapau‘ole Paredes of Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi, a 21-year-old Dartmouth College junior and the daughter of the husband-and-wife kumu, became Miss Aloha Hula, the most prestigious title a solo hula dancer can earn. It was the first Miss Aloha Hula title for the Maui halau.
The first runner-up was Keoe Momilani Michiko Hoe of Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua. Ka‘upu and Padilla were the kumu of three of the four Miss Aloha Hulas at the end of the previous decade — Kayli Ka‘iulani Carr in 2016, Kelina Kiyoko Ke‘ano‘ilehua Tiffany Eldredge in 2017 and Taizha Keakealani Hughes-Kaluhiokalani in 2019.
“The award is never the goal,” Ka‘upu said. “Progression, for me, is the goal. And as long as I saw progression in (Hoe), as a dancer and as a person, I was pleased.”
The triumph of the two kane groups occurred in the 50th anniversary of kane dancers being welcomed to the Merrie Monarch stage in 1976. The festival’s signature hula competition, founded in 1971 by then-Merrie Monarch President Dorothy “Aunty Dot” Thompson and hula master “Uncle George” Na‘ope, had been an all-wahine event onstage for its first five years.
Ka‘upu danced in the Wednesday evening Ho‘ike as a kane student of the late Hilo kumu hula Rae Fonseca. Also part of the special celebration was kumu hula Robert Cazimero and Halau Na Kamalei O Lililehua, the first kane division overall winners in 1976.
Blessed with longevity, Cazimero and his Oahu halau came in third overall and took the kane division title last year. Now 77, he said then it would be his last Merrie Monarch appearance. When Cazimero, a Hawaiian music superstar, took the stage Wednesday to do a medley of Hilo-themed songs for the appreciative audience, he started by reciting a self-penned poem: “Aloha there, Hilo, and what’s going on?/We arrived this morning. By tomorrow, we’ll be gone./Tonight’s for the guys, so we’ll give it a whirl./Tomorrow’s Miss Hula, so we’ll pass it back to the girls.”
The golden anniversary wasn’t exclusive to the men, however. The wahine overall title went to Oahu’s Halau Mohala ‘Ilima under the direction of kumu hula Mapuana de Silva — who opened the Kailua halau in 1976 after receiving her ‘uniki — hula’s formal graduation — from the legendary hula master Aunty Maiki Aiu Lake, who also ‘uniki’d Cazimero.
The women’s overall title was decided by a tiebreaker, as Halau Mohala ‘Ilima finished in a draw at 1,209 points with Kauai’s Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala, under the direction of kumu hula Breeze Ann Kalehuaonalani Vidinha Pavao, the wahine first runners-up.
Pavao’s mother, kumu hula Leina‘ala Pavao Jardin — who led the halau to the overall title in 2022 — died Oct. 4 at 51 after a 15-month battle with cancer. The halau billed Pavao Jardin as an active co-kumu with her daughter on the official program.
“I am just so, so, so grateful. We came this year not expecting anything. I just wanted to honor my mom. There are no words, I’m so in shock,” Pavao said.
Concerning her mom, Pavao added, “I think she’s happy, and if she were here she’d be beaming with pride right now.”
As the broom-and-dustpan patrol cleared the stage of grass-skirt debris, Kathy Kawelu, the Merrie Monarch’s vice president, described this year’s festivities in three words: “It was great.”
“The competition was really, really fierce this year. Every year, they seem to up their game,” Kawelu said.
Email John Burnett at john.burnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
