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Celebrate May Day by taking in free hula performances at Ward Warehouse and the Royal Hawaiian Center on Sunday.
The Iwalani Foundation will host “Hula for Health” from noon to 6 p.m. at the Ward Warehouse amphitheater. In addition, Na Mea Hawai‘i will present various activities, including lei making by Syl Kop, lomilomi massages by Uncle Bert McDonald and a lei contest.
Lei submissions should be brought to the shop from 10 to 11 a.m., with winners announced at noon. Hula performances by Halau na Pua Lei Mamo under the direction of Pi‘ilani Hanohano and Reyna Keaunui begin at noon inside Na Mea Hawai‘i.
In Waikiki, dancers who performed at the Hawaiian Room at the Hotel Lexington in New York will be part of May Day celebrations at the Royal Hawaiian Center. For 30 years the glamorous showroom, which opened in 1937, spotlighted Hawaiian musicians and hula dancers. Some of the original dancers will perform again to the hapa-haole music of the era from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Royal Grove.
Their appearance is sponsored by the Hula Preservation Society, which will also offer a free screening of “The Hawaiian Room,” a documentary film by Ann Marie Kirk about their experiences, from 3:45 to 5 p.m. in the Royal Hawaiian Center’s Helumoa Hale.
