Monday, May 2, 2011

Merrie Monarch Time!

A l o h a !



Courtesy: Dennis Oda


Fans of Hula ALL over the world are OVERJOYED!
again in Hilo Hawaii.

Halau from all over Hawaii, the US AND Japan
are here in the paramount competition & display
of the cultural treasure.



The couple in the photo at top
thrilled us all on opening night:

"Outgoing Miss Aloha Hula leaves the stage engaged

by Nina Wu, Honolulu Star-Advertiser


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 medley 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 to one knee and propose marriage to her.



Spectators cheered and shrieked as Kama­na‘o presented a diamond ring, and watched her emotional reaction. Her answer was yes.


"I was super surprised," Hirao-Solem said afterward. "I was just focused on doing my dance."


Hirao-Solem and Kama­na‘o have been together for five years, she said. He is kumu hula of her halau, Hula Halau ‘o Kamu­ela of Kalihi and Wai­ma­nalo, along with Kunewa Mook.

Hirao-Solem, whom 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 Hula title the first time she competed in it. The year went by quickly."






Happy SPRING Weekend to YOU!  cloudia

18 comments:

Full-On-Forward said...

C- aRE THEY AFRAID OF wEEDEATERS? bEAUTIFUL POST sIS--AND you have an award!! sURPRISE, SURPRISE HUH> as if!

hftec,

yOUR bUDDY,

jOHN

SEE CLA!!!!!!

Daryl said...

Happy spring to you too .. if you havent seen the footage from the Washington Correspondents Dinner you must go to YouTube and watch both President Obama's speech AND my boyfriend Seth Meyers' speech .. and be prepared to laugh out loud! Aloha sis!

Anonymous said...

The picture at the top is missing, Cloudia. All I see is a box with a small red X in the top left corner.

UK said...

Nice information, many thanks to the author. It is incomprehensible to me now, but in general, the usefulness and significance is overwhelming. Thanks again and good luck!

Reader Wil said...

What a lovely post and I like the love story of Hirao-Solem and Kama­na!
Groeten, Wil

G-Man said...

Merry Monarch time Cloudia!!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful festival - seems so joyful!

Marguerite said...

Looks like a great festival! Love those dancers! Aloha, cher!

Myrna R. said...

What a lovely story. (I couldn't see the picture at the top either.)

No matter, happy Spring to you too.

Anonymous said...

this helps

modal

Cloudia said...

Thank YOU!

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

Well said, beautiful series. Cloudia !

Kay said...

That really was so cool to see! I enjoyed watching the show. One of these days I'd love to go see it for myself, but I understand the tickets are really hard to get.

And yes, that top photo is missing for some reason.

Jenn Jilks said...

That is so much fun! Gracious, beautiful. I bet it is great exercise. My daughter took belly dancing a couple of children ago.

Happy spring, although we're still having 9 C. temperatures, and rain for days.
I cut the grass today. Good to get out, cold of not!
cheers from Perth!

Lori Skoog said...

I sure wish I could hula! So beautiful.

SandyCarlson said...

I hope President Obama gets to take in some of this wonderful dancing.

Dinesh chandra said...

great dance mam

Dinesh chandra said...

nice dance mam