Likened to warriors heading to battle, Kumu Hula Leinaala Pavao Jardin led a streetside oli on Wednesday, before the group of chaperones, keiki hula dancers and traveling parents boarded a plane to Oahu.
The group, including Halau Ka Lei Mokihana O Leinaala, was headed to Oahu where they are participating as the sole Kauai halau in the Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula Competition.
“Kumu Hula Leinaala and the halau cannot perform for the Koloa Plantation Days because they’ll be on Oahu at the Keiki Hula Festival,” said Cheryl Shintani, a Koloa Plantation Days board member. “The Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula competition changed their dates to adopt the last week in July as their Keiki Hula event. That means that Kumu Hula Leinaala will be participating at Keiki Hula instead of the park.”
Jardin was born and raised on Kauai, and hula has always been a life-long journey, according to the Keiki Hula website. She studied under Aunty Lovey Apana on Kauai, and master Kumu Hula Rae Fonseca in Hilo.
Fonseca suggested Jardin start her own halau, and she started by teaching kupuna at the Kauai Senior Center.
An annual participant at the Merrie Monarch hula event, Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinaala has grown to include more than 200 participants.
The Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula Competition is a yearly event for keiki ages 6 through 12 that brings together hula halau from all of the Hawaiian Islands and Japan to perform and compete for the Miss and Master Keiki Hula Awards for solo dancers, as well as kahiko and auana competitions for halau.
Awards are presented for best keikikane, or boys, and kaimakahine, or girls, in the top five places. Special recognition is given to the top halau for Hawaiian language, or olelo, as well as for the Overall Winning halau for their best keikikane and kaimakahine.
Started 45 years ago by the Kalihi-Palama Culture and Arts, this year’s competition will be held at the Neal S. Blaidell Center in Honolulu over three days, starting Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Unlike the Merrie Monarch hula festival, there are currently no scheduled live television coverage.
Thursday’s schedule included the Miss and Master Keiki Hula competition. The traditional hahiko competition take the stage today. The Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula Competition wraps up on Saturday with the auana, or contemporary, hula.
Since its beginnings during the Second Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, the Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula Competition, supported by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, and numerous other sponsors, has grown to become a world-class event that showcases and honors Hawaiian culture through hula, music and fashion.
For more information, visit www.keikihula.org.
Source: The Garden Island