Laulau, lomi salmon, poke, rice and haupia are ideal dishes for days like Saturday, as the Polynesian Cultural Center pays homage to traditions encouraged by Auntie Sally Moanikeala Wood Naluai, its late, beloved, longtime hula instructor.
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MOANIKEALA HULA FESTIVAL
Where: Hawaiian Village, Polynesian Cultural Center, 55-370 Kamehameha Highway, Laie
When: Noon-5 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $10; $6 for ages 5-11
Info: polynesia.com
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“When PCC opened up in 1963, she was already teaching hula all over the island,” said Sunday Mariteragi, Naluai’s niece. “She had come out a few times to teach the college kids … so when PCC opened, they asked her, since she’s already doing that, to be the Hawaiian hula instructor for the show.”
Back then, Mariteragi recalls, the show was staged only a couple of nights a week, versus the current Monday-through-Saturday schedule.
Hula is now featured daily, and the hula tribute is in its 28th year.
The Moanikeala Hula Festival features nine half-hour performances by local halau and troupes from Japan. Adults and keiki will showcase kahiko, or traditional hula, as well as auana, its contemporary iteration.
The PCC’s food and beverage team will offer a Hawaiian plate that includes laulau, lomi salmon, poke, rice and a drink for $10, and poke bowls for $4.
The food aspect is another reflection of “Auntie Sally.”
“Many of the kids from the church college remember her and the fun they had with her whether dancing hula or going over to her house,” Mariteragi said. “She just loved people. Auntie Sally was always happy dancing hula and having lunch with everybody.”
Hungry students at what is now called Brigham Young University Hawaii would know they could get a bite to eat and have fun at Auntie Sally’s house, and she would feed them “whatever she had,” Mariteragi said, “It was always things like musubi or laulau or poi; she always had those.”
For a time the festival moved to the Blaisdell Center, “but PCC allowed us to bring it back,” Mariteragi said. She has rounded up sponsors for the past few years to help stage the event.
PCC is beefing up the event with activities including Hawaiian quilting demonstrations, ukulele playing, poi pounding and Hawaiian games — an added bonus for kamaaina and visitors who attend the festival.
