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Merrie Monarch Hula Festival

spleen93

By spleen93,
in Hawaii

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spleen93

spleen93

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Those of you that have been reading this board for a while know how I rave about the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. Well, for those that live here or will be coming in the next few days, the Merrie Monarch will be starting on Thursday and will run to Saturday. Watch it on TV if you're around - see some of the best hula halaus (schools) around compete - there IS a difference between commercial hula and competitive hula. It'll be on at night on KITV 4.

Spleen

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bug_dan

bug_dan

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For those of us poor unfortunates living on the Mainland [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img], they do sell tapes and DVDs of the performances. You can get more info and results of the festival if you visit KITV's web site at [url="http://www.kitv.com"]www.kitv.com[/url] click on Merrie Monarch. Tickets for this event are scarce as hen's teeth as they only are sold beginning in January and hotels in Hilo are filled a year in advance.

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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  • 2 weeks later...
bug_dan

bug_dan

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Just received the 3 set CD of last year's festival. The 3 cds are one of the Miss Aloha contest, one of Hula Kuhiko and the other of Hula Auana. Wow! all I can say is I would never make a judge, they'd all wind up in first place. Spleen my friend, you are correct, there is a big difference between the commercial and the Merrie Monarch. Just a little insight, in the Miss Aloha contest, the girls not only must be able to dance, but they also must perform a mele or chant and demonstrate their command of the Hawaiian Language. I highly recommend the CD versions, much better than the tapes, but they only started making CDs in 2001.

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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SweetEmi

SweetEmi

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Next time I'm at Wal-Mart I will check because before I've seen the Merrie Monarch videos there. That way those who are going to be visiting could maybe get them at Wal-Mart when they were here. I'll check though to see how old they are and if they have any on CD. Of course...unless you actually know some participants it may not matter to you very much if they were from a couple of years ago.

Hawaiian hula sometimes makes me cry it is so beautiful and often times gives me chicken skin.

Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005!
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bug_dan

bug_dan

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Emi,

I would guess they are probably available, but the KITV website was sold out. I got mine ZG Hawaii at [url="http://www.hawaiiancity.com"]www.hawaiiancity.com[/url]. Price was a bit steep at $59.95 but no charge for shipping. You are not alone in the "chicken skin" reaction, some of the dancing and accompaniment are truly beautiful. The first contestant on the CD in the Miss Aloha contest had as her chanter in the Kahiko portion Robert Cazimero, then in her Auana portion, Roland Cazimero and two other men joined in with great harmony.. one does not really have to know the contestants to appreciate the beauty of Hula.

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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SweetEmi

SweetEmi

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Dan: Oh...I bet it is just beautiful, both the hulas and the music. What year was yours or is it a compilation?

My point exactly in that it wouldn't matter to most of us if they were a couple of years old - unless there was someone in particularly you wanted on the video.

Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005!
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spleen93

spleen93

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Dan - my favorite portion is usually the men's kahiko section. Did you watch the women's kahiko yet? I love Hula Halau 'O Kamuela - they're SO good. It's still amazing to me that this year, they lost in kahiko and overall. Though the group that won (Halau Na Lei O Kaholoku) was pretty good ...

Spleen

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spleen93

spleen93

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I didn't know that the 2003 festival was out on a 3-DVD set. I ordered my own as well from the same site. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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bug_dan

bug_dan

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The recording of these CDs for 2003 for whatever reason do not tell you what place the dancers finished in. I obtained the list of winners for 2003 on KITV's web site. These recordings apparently have all the contestants unlike the previous years where only the top four entrants in each category were shown and only the winner of the Miss Aloha Contest. I don't know what the winners get other than prestige, but it amazes me that only about one point seperates the winner from the runnerup in most of the categories. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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spleen93

spleen93

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OK, now I'm eagerly awaiting my DVD set to show up ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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spleen93

spleen93

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Darn, now I find out ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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spleen93

spleen93

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Got it! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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bug_dan

bug_dan

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Spleen,

What did you think of the DVD recording of the 2003 Merrie Monarch. I really enjoyed it although I still have a hard time figuring out how they determine winners. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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spleen93

spleen93

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Dan - haven't had a chance to look at it yet ... I'm popping it in tonight to take a look ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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spleen93

spleen93

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OK, watching the hula kahiko section. One nitpick that jumps out at me ... they got rid of the majority of Kimo Kahoano and Paula Akana's commentary! The commentary was where they explained the meaning behind each hula and what it represented. It's on some of the performances but sadly missing on the others. Very annoying. But we're reminiscing, watching these performances that we saw originally last year on the telecast.

I've never really understood the scoring either ... I know that they score things like the ability to oli and whether they seem to inflect understanding into it as well as how close to unison the halau moves. But besides that, don't know.

Spleen

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bug_dan

bug_dan

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I agree the commentary was an added plus. Also I was surprised to learn that Kahiko chants are still being written, I mistakenly thought that Kahiko were dances passed down through generations. Apparently it only refers to dances about subjects prior to King Kalakaua and they may have been written recently [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img] At least that was my take on this [url="http://starbulletin.com/1999/04/08/features/story1.html"]article[/url]

Uncle George(in my case maybe it's cousin [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]) was the founder of the Merrie Monarch Fesitval. I bought his cd Among My Hawaiian Souveneirs, the proceeds are going to fund a hula archive. Hard to believe that he only charges $3 for a Hula lesson, Hey Emi, he lives in Kona [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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debiitodd

debiitodd

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Dan ~ Can anyone get a hula lesson or do you have to live there? My children and I will be in Kona from 7am to 6pm on the Infinity. I'd love to have a set of the CD's to "get in the mood" prior to our trip! I tried the site above, but didn't get through... any ideas?

Thanks for the info...

Take care,
Debi
[I]Aloha[/I] to [B]Infinity[/B] with only [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2004;12;5;21;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] to go [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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spleen93

spleen93

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One of the biggest Hawaiian music publishing companies in Hawaii is the Mountain Apple Company. You may wish to take a look at their [url="http://mountainapplecompany.com/"]website[/url] ... they have samples of the majority of their CDs there. You can listen to them and decide as to what you want to get ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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bug_dan

bug_dan

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Debi,

The 3 dvd set of the 2003 festival is still shown at [url="http://www.kitv.com"]www.kitv.com[/url] click on Merrie Monarch at the top of the page and then on the Merrie Monarch dvds at the bottom right. Their price is only $49 compared to the $59 some of us paid [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] I can't tell you if George Naope gives lessons to anyone walking in, maybe Emi can let us know. The article about him I referrred to was written in 1999, so maybe his price has gone up [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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SweetEmi

SweetEmi

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Sorry - I haven't been keeping up!

Hmmmmm...I don't know whether Uncle George gives lessons and/or especially to visitors...Here's a tip though...if you find a "local" band/person singing and playing and they have a hula dancer or two dancing with them...ask the dancer or musician if they could teach you a hula. "Most" of the time, they would be happy to and they try to get a bunch of the audience up there. It may not be a regular part of the show though, so try asking.

Also, on Kauai if you take the Fern Grotto tours...they will get you up and teach you - I think - the Hukilau...

When my niece was here, she "learned" a couple of hulas from Annette's sister at Huggos on the Rocks and she got one of the Hula lesson tapes to take home so she could practice.

Debii - The NCL Star had several lessons through the week...not sure about the Infinity but maybe they could learn on the ship...

Aloha,
Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005!
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bug_dan

bug_dan

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The Infinity did have a lovely lady by the name of Hauanani who was the resident Kumu. She not only taught the hukilau but also a Hawaiian song and some of the history and culture of the Islands. She also gave several shows singing the Island songs. We first met her on the Independence in 1993. She is another of those incredible Hawaiians who seem to be filled with Aloha. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Dan

Infinity Panama Canal 10/17/2004
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debiitodd

debiitodd

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Thanks everyone for all your information. This is such a helpful site. I'm sure you'll be seeing "or hearing" a lot from me between now and sail date. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] I'm not happy unless I have my whole schedule thought-out before hand...

Dan ~ I went to site and saw that they will have the 2 disc set for 2004 coming soon - I'll wait and get them when they become available.

Emi & Dan ~ I'll wait and see about lessons on board - one less thing to have to make time for while on land! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Take care,
Debi
[I]Aloha[/I] to [B]Infinity[/B] with only [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2004;12;5;21;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] to go [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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