History remembers Queen Lili‘uokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch, for many things, among them her deep, abiding love for children, although she had none of her own. Upon her death on Nov. 11, 1917, her estate was left in trust for the care and welfare of orphaned and destitute keiki, with preference given to those of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
On Sept. 11, 1976, the Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society hosted a festival at Aala Park in Honolulu to honor the queen. One of its highlights was a keiki hula competition, the brainchild of society founder and executive director Wendell Silva and the late kumu hula George Na‘ope.
The contest featured hula auana (modern hula) by children aged 6 through 12 from six Oahu halau. Without elaborate decorations, lighting and sound systems, the little ones’ love for hula and the joy they expressed as they danced touched many hearts.
Thus, the Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Festival was born.
IF YOU GO
Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Festival
>> Where: Neal S. Blaisdell Arena
>> Dates: Thursday through Saturday
>> Times: 6 p.m. Thursday (Miss Keiki Hula and Master Keiki Hula); 6 p.m. Friday (hula kahiko); 1 p.m. Saturday (hula auana)
>> Admission: $14, $12 for ages 4 to 12; separate admission each day. Call 768-5252. Buy tickets at Blaisdell box office or through Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000.
>> Phone: 521-6905
>> Email: info@kpcahawaii.com
>> Website: keikihula.org
>> Notes: A craft fair on the arena concourse opens two hours prior to performances and stays open throughout each day, with lei, jewelry, clothing, hula implements and more. A festival ticket is needed to shop. The competition will be broadcast on KFVE-TV and streamed live at k5thehometeam.com.
After a few years, the competition moved to Farrington High School’s auditorium, then to McKinley High School and Kamehameha Schools to provide the young dancers with better venues to showcase their talent. It also grew in attendance, participants and scope: A Hawaiian-language critique was added, along with a boys’ division and categories for Miss Keiki Hula, Master Keiki Hula and hula kahiko (traditional hula).
Trisha Kehaulani Watson, president of the society’s board of directors, explained the language component: “Hula is much more than hand gestures and foot movements. You must understand the story the dance is sharing, so that you can display the appropriate emotions and facial expressions when you perform. For hula kahiko, that is where knowing the Hawaiian language comes in.”
Outgrowing Kamehameha Schools’ auditorium, the festival moved to the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in the 1990s and now draws 2,000 people annually.
“It’s exciting and heartwarming to see the Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Festival grow and help ensure hula will be perpetuated as a traditional Hawaiian art in the future,” Watson said. “There’s something magical about children dancing hula; it is so uplifting, so inspiring!
”Many past participants are now adults who are well respected in the hula community. For example, former Miss Keiki Hula winners Hiwa Vaughan and Keola Dalire went on to win the coveted title of Miss Aloha Hula at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo and are now kumu hula in their own right.”
Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society
Founded in 1972, the nonprofit Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society provides education, training and services in culture and the arts. Although it primarily serves the needy in the Kalihi-Palama area, events such as the Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Festival and the Malia Craver Hula Kahiko Competition (held in May for secondary school students) are open to all. The society holds weekly classes in hula, Okinawan and Filipino dance at Kauluwela Community Park, Kalihi Valley District Park and Susannah Wesley Community Center, respectively. The classes — $10, free for seniors — are open to the general public. Tax-deductible donations are accepted. Call 521-6905 or go to kpcahawaii.com.
This year’s 43rd annual Keiki Hula Festival will spotlight some 400 children representing 20 halau from Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii island and Chigasaki, Japan, which is about 35 miles south of Tokyo. Honolulu and Chigasaki became sister cities in 2014.
The festival comprises three events: solo dancers vying for the title of Miss Keiki Hula and Master Keiki Hula on Thursday night, and group competitions for kaikamahine (girls) and keiki kane (boys) in hula kahiko on Friday and hula auana Saturday.
New this year are lifetime achievement awards named after William Pitt Leleiohoku II and Miriam Likelike Kekauluohi Keahelapalapa Kapili, the siblings of Queen Lili‘uokalani and King Kalakaua. These alii were gifted musicians and composers known collectively as Na Lani ‘Eha (The Royal Four).
The Leleiohoku Award will be presented Thursday and the Likelike Award Friday to individuals who demonstrate the values of the competition — aloha, ohana, excellence, kindness and commitment to legacy and culture.
“Our hula festival’s founders, Wendell Silva and Kumu Hula George Na‘ope, dreamed of creating generations of hula dancers, practitioners and leaders, and the event has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams,” Watson said. “As the children dance, their faces beam with pride, happiness and pure aloha, and that radiates throughout the entire arena. There’s music, laughter, camaraderie everywhere.
“The Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Festival represents the very best of Hawaii, its culture and its people.”
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
