Performing Hula And Being Part of the Royal Court in Hawaii

Aloha everyone !

Wow !  My world is spinning so darn fast !  The last several days chain of events has me taking deep breaths and pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming !

On Monday ( June,18th )  I took a two and a half hour class with Kumu Ehulani Stephany . I have now been  asked to perform with her halau in Kona , on June, 28, 29th 30th and July 1st , during the Annual Cultural Festival - Pu'uhonua O Honaunau .  I will be travelling with her Halau and be part of the Royal Court . I have a week and a half to learn 3 dances , all of them kahiko , the ancient Hawaiian chants. I learned one dance completely on Monday  and now one of the dancers is going to show me the other 2 dances. Hmmmmmm, its gonna be challenging.  As it is, I am still trying to work out my work schedule and getting people to trade shifts with me so that I can go.  I have to believe that this will happen .  I really want to do this. I have dreamed of being in Hawaii  and performing hula in Hawaii .  This truly is a chance of a Lifetime , a dream come true and a great honour.   Yes, I am to be part of the Royal Court , although, I am not sure at this point what that means . This whole thing is so dreamlike .  I have been given stuff to read and I haven't looked at it yet as I have been so busy today . I will read it before I go to bed, which will be in a few minutes.  As I am part of the Royal Court , there is information for me to learn so that if people ask me , I will know the answers. All I know for now is that there are several single space typed pages for me to study about the history of the area . :) . At the Cultural Festival in Kona, I will also be participating in a hukilau , in the old Hawaiian way ! That will be really fun !  At this point , I am suppose to be gathering ti leaves and weaving them into strips to eventually make footwear for me to wear.  I will be shown how to do that tomorrow., the weaving of ti leaves into strips, that is. This whole thing is very surreal and I feel incredibly honoured to be dancing and performing with Ehulani 's halau . So, here's some information about the Cutural Festival that I will be performing in.


June 30 to July 1, 2012
ANNUAL CULTURAL FESTIVAL - PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
The Park will be hosting its 51st Anniversary Cultural Festival from Friday, June 29, through Sunday, July 1. This event is free to all (park entrance fee waived). The event will begin on Friday with a Royal Court and Ho'okupu Ceremony, and the fun activities will be held on Saturday and Sunday, with dozens of hands-on craft activities and hula. On Saturday only, there will be canoe rides in Honaunau Bay. On Sunday only, there will be Hawaiian food tasting and a Hukilau demonstration. Pack a picnic with plenty of food and drinks and spend a day of fun at the festival. Take home craft items that you learned to make with your own hands. Time: 9 AM to 3 PM. Free to the public. 

More to come on this !  It may be a somewhat stressful but fun week and a half ahead. The costumes haven't even been mentioned yet , so that in itself will be interesting as all the leis , head leis , wrist and ankle leis are made with fresh greenery . I know first hand that this is labour intensive as Johnathan has been making  the whole set of leis over these past few days and has been telling me about it . He is making 32 sets of leis ( neck , head , wrists , ankles )  Johnathan is flying to Honolulu tomorrow to help a Halau from  Japan with their  leis, performances and costuming.  King Kamahemaha  Hula Competition is happening  in Honolulu   on June 22nd and June 23rd. I spent a wonderful day with Johnathan today in Hilo . He went Lei making while I spent the day wandering in Hilo. We met for lunch and had much laughter and silliness . He went back to lei making while I wandered some more , and then drove me back to Kalani where we had Chef Mark Ceranski's amazing yummy delicious Coq au Vin for dinner ! Johnathan called me his Chinese sister.  I call him my Hawaiian brother. I cannot dance with Johnathan, Kumu hula ,  while I am dancing with Ehulani. I cannot dance with two kumus at the same time.

Off to bed I go. It is about 11:15 p.m. , Kalani time and the air is cool right now. perfect for sleeping.

With much aloha ,
Molly