A graduate haumāna (student) pursuing a master’s degree in communications at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa earned the Miss Aloha Hula title and Hawaiian language award at the 61st annual Merrie Monarch Festival. Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes competed alongside 12 other contestants in the solo category held at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo on Thursday, April 4.
Lopes’ parents, UH Mānoa alumna Tracie Lopes and UH Mānoa Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language Director R. Keawe Lopes are also her kumu hula, leading Windward Oʻahu-based hālau Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe. 21-year-old Kaʻōnohi, who is fluent in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), also earned a BA from the university’s Hawaiian language department.
“One of the goals in Kawaihuelani is for our predominantly Hawaiian population of students to acquire their language and realize a sense of self through ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,” said C. M. Kaliko Baker, a Kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi at UH Mānoa. “That sense of self was evident in the way that Kaʻōnohi carried herself last night. She absolutely knew who she was.”
Soloists are judged on a variety of criteria, everything from posture, expression, costume authenticity and mele (song) interpretation. Each contestant is required to dance both hula kahiko (ancient) and ʻauana (modern).
For her kahiko portion, Lopes shared mele Aia Ka Lani Kua Kaʻa I Luna, which transported audiences to Lanikūhonua, a revered cultural refuge at Ko Olina. The West Oʻahu abode, once frequented by aliʻi (royalty), holds great significance to her parents’ hula lineage.
Lopes’ mele ʻauana honored her namesake, the late Uncle George Ainsley Kananiokeakua Holokai, a revered kumu hula. Draped in golden strands of lei kukunaokalā, she danced Kanani Holokai, likening Uncle George to a gentle breeze that dances across the land.
Hula heritage earns 3rd ʻohana title
Lopes comes from an ʻohana deeply rooted in hula. Her mother Tracie won the Miss Aloha Hula title in 1994. This is also the fourth consecutive solo title secured by Keawe and Tracie’s hālau. Two of those were earned by UH Mānoa alumnae; Lopes’s older sister, Piʻikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekauʻōnohi Lopes (Miss Aloha Hula 2022) and Rosemary Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland (Miss Aloha Hula 2021).
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There are two more nights of hula competition with wāhine (women) and kāne (men) groups. Hālau from across Hawaiʻi and the U.S. continent will perform on Friday, April 5 (hula kahiko) and Saturday, April 6 (hula ʻauana).
Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language is housed within Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at UH Mānoa.
