Wedding proposal makes Merrie Monarch history
Immediately after Miss Aloha Hula 2010 Mahealani Mika Hirano-Solem performed her final dance as Miss Aloha Hula, her kumu, Kauionalani Kamanao, gets on one knee to propose to her.
Mahealani Mika Hirao-Solem, last years Miss Aloha Hula, and her kumu and now fiance Kauionalani Kamanao, wave after Kamanao proposed on stage last night and she accepted.
Mahealani Mika Hirao-Solem, last year's Miss Aloha Hula, exchanges a kiss with her kumu now fiance, Kauionalani Kamanao. He proposed to her onstage last night and she accepted as the crowd cheered.
Mahealani Mika Hirao-Solem, last years Miss Aloha Hula embraces and kisses her kumu and now fiance Kauionalani Kamanao. Kamanao proposed to her on stage after she completed her final dance as Miss Aloha Hula 2010 last night.
After Mahealani Mika Hirao-Solem danced her final time on stage as Miss Aloha Hula 2010, her humu, Kauionalani Kamanao, gots on one knee to propose to her. He teared up, so she cupped his face before he could say his marriage proposal. The answer was yes.
HILO — It was a beautiful aloha performance by Miss Aloha Hula 2010 Mahealani Mika Hirao-Solem.
Dressed in a shimmery, gold dress, she was up on the Merrie Monarch stage dancing her farewell hula to a mix of songs, ending with a rendition of Sting’s "Fields of Gold."
Little did she know that when she took her final bow as Miss Aloha Hula, her boyfriend and kumu hula Kau’ionalani Kamana’o, would walk on stage, drop on one knee and ask her to marry him.
Spectators cheered and shrieked as Kamana’o presented a diamond ring, and watched her emotional reaction. The answer was yes.
It is believed to be the first time in Merrie Monarch’s 48-year history that anyone has every proposed on the stage at Edith Kanaka’ole stadium.
"I was super-surprised," said Hirao-Solem afterwards. "I was just focused on doing my dance."
Hirao-Solem and Kamana’o have been together for five years, she said. He is the kumu hula of her halau, Hula Halau ‘O Kamuela, along with Kunewa Mook, of Kalihi and Waimanalo.
Hirao-Solem, who friends and family call "Mika," also offered a lei to her first kumu hula, Mapuana de Silva, during her performance last night.
Last year, she took the Miss Aloha Title the first time competing for it. The year went by quickly.
"I just turned the page from Miss Aloha Hula," she said. "This is the next chapter, I guess."
