At the Merrie Monarch Festival, hula’s most celebrated stage, one hālau‘s story of change and renewal rose to the top in 2026.

Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua earned top honors at the 63rd annual competition in Hilo, sweeping major categories. The group earned first-place finishes in kāne (men) overall, kāne ʻauana (modern hula), and both wāhine (women’s) kahiko (ancient hula) and kāne kahiko.

The hālau is led by Kumu Hula Robert Keano Kaʻupu IV, a graduate of Honolulu Community College.

“I’m still in shock,” Kaʻupu said. “I’m not surprised because they worked hard and they did exactly what they needed to do, but I’m in shock. This year more than ever it was the purpose of the journey, more than the destination. And so I am really appreciative for the recognition. There are no words to really describe what I feel.”

Turning point

The win followed a year of deep change.

Kaʻupu and Kumu Hula Lono Padilla founded the hālau together. In 2025, Padilla stepped away for personal reasons. The departure reshaped the Oʻahu hālau.

Kaʻupu described it as a time of upheaval. One that pushed both him and his haumāna (students) to reflect and rebuild.

“That’s part of the process,” he said. “Acknowledging the catastrophe, acknowledging the upheaval, acknowledging the overturn. Our lives were deconstructed and now let’s find the processes to reconstruct, rebuild, regenerate, re-energize.”

That idea guided their performances at this year’s festival.

Hulihia, overturning

Kaʻupu chose mele (songs) that mirrored both his experience and that of his hālau. Their performances centered on hulihia, a Hawaiian concept that speaks to overturning and transformation.

In the kahiko category, the wāhine performed hula kālaʻau (dancing stick) to Kau Kahaʻea Ke Ao Uahi I Luna. The mele is a creation story, where akua (deities) shape a submerged island still forming off �鶹��ý Island.

Kaʻupu‘s kāne followed with Hulihia Ka ʻĀpapa Ka Unu Koʻakoʻa O Ka Moana. Their performance evoked the ocean floor shifting and fire rising from below, as life emerges through heat and pressure.

Together, the pieces reflected a simple truth that change can be destructive, but it also creates space for renewal.

UH roots

Kaʻupu, a Keaukaha native, attended UH Hilo before moving to Oʻahu. He continued his studies at Honolulu CC, entering the cosmetology program and graduating in 2007.

“I thought I knew how to do hair until I went through the program,” he said. “They just expedited and transcended the technical skills for me. I am super, super grateful for that.”

For years, those skills helped shape his presence at Merrie Monarch, where he handled his dancers’ hair and makeup, an important part of the competition’s scoring. He also designs every costume, sketching ideas by hand before working with a seamstress to bring them to life. However, for each of his Miss Aloha Hula contestants, he sews each piece himself.

In many ways, that same cycle of creating, overturning and rebuilding reflects where Kaʻupu stands now, as he continues to grow into his role.

“Trust your gut, trust your kūpuna (elders),” he said. “Find the things that serve you and let go of the things that don’t. There’s always regeneration. You just have to trust the process.”

—by Moanikeʻala Nabarro

For nearly 20 years, Rachel Hualani Loo has graced the Merrie Monarch stage on ��ōʻ����� night as an ʻō�����貹, or dancer, with Hālau o Kekuhi. This year, she returned to the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in a profoundly different role: as the 2026 ��ōʻī Wahine (Queen) of the Merrie Monarch Royal Court.

A University of �鶹��ý at Hilo alumna and the director of the , Loo has spent over a decade supporting Hawaiian students on their educational journeys. But when the Merrie Monarch Festival committee asked her to serve in this role, the weight of carrying this kuleana (responsibility) for her community felt different.

“Just to be included in all of this—not just the honor on an individual and personal level, but the real honor is continuing to be part of this community in a different capacity,” Loo expressed.

One of the most special things about being in Hilo during Merrie Monarch week is the opportunity to witness the community’s hospitality and ability to hoʻokipa, to host. Whether welcoming family, friends, or ��������� hula, �ᾱ����’s community shows up year after year to graciously welcome everyone. Growing up in Hilo and being part of the Merrie Monarch in different capacities has shaped Loo’s own commitment to this practice.

What the Merrie Monarch Festival and its stage represent isn’t lost on her. Loo recalled the words of her Kumu Hula ��������Ծ� Kanakaʻole Zane, whose legacy continues to permeate the festival: “She would remind us that this is the biggest stage for hula: an opportunity to share our language, culture, and dance in excellence. It’s an example of Hawaiian excellence at its highest level.”

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As Hilo prepares for Merrie Monarch, �鶹��ý Community College is highlighting its associates in arts degree in with a hula concentration, rooted in the legacy of revered kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole. Her philosophy: “Teach all who come to learn.”

Kanakaʻole established Hawaiian studies at �鶹��ý CC in 1973. Her daughter, Pualani Kanahele, expanded this vision to revive hula rituals.

The program has strengthened students’ cultural identity and connection to ʻohana (family). Kekoa Gabriel, a 2025 honors graduate with multiple AA degrees, found the program clarified his kuleana (responsibility).

“Because of this program I feel a lot more connected to my ancestors, my ʻohana, my Hawaiian-ness, who I am as a Hawaiian,” Gabriel said. “I have a better look at where I want to go as a Hawaiian, who I want to be as a Hawaiian.”

Kamryn Kanoe Bosque, pursuing her degree with a hula focus, added, “I expanded my knowledge more than I ever could have, and I’m deeply grateful to be able to come here and learn more about my Hawaiian culture.”

The program includes unique hands-on practices, such as learning hula Pele (the Hawaiian goddess whose home is Kīlauea on the island of �鶹��ý) where the volcano is active.

Hula, a ‘living practice’

“Studying hula here at �鶹��ý Community College goes beyond choreography,” Kumu Hula Pele Kaʻio. “It exposes the learner to protocol, ceremony, traditional regalia, discipline and leadership.”

The program’s impact is evident during Merrie Monarch, where participation in the annual festival’s opening ceremony has grown from about 30 individuals to more than 400 ritual practitioners, including �鶹��ý CC students, alumni and community members.

Taupōuri Tangarō, founder and advisor of the college’s hālau hula, Unukupukupu, said the Kanakaʻole ʻ�dz󲹲Բ�’s mission remains central.

“Hula becomes the doorway through which learners come to know their purpose,” Tangarō said. “Students come to �鶹��ý CC not simply to learn hula as performance, but to experience hula as a living practice grounded in ritual.”

Related stories:

• Hundreds celebrate Edith Kanakaʻole at UH Hilo, May 9, 2023
• Native Hawaiian advocates, educators, leaders awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, April 20, 2023
• Native Hawaiian icon Edith Kanakaʻole honored in naming of library collection, July 22, 2025

A new exhibition honoring the life and legacy of legendary kumu hula and musician Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero opens at Windward Community College’s on January 23, 2026. The exhibition Ke Kilo Lani, reflects on Cazimero’s lifelong commitment to the continuity of Hawaiian cultural practice and knowledge.

A public reception is scheduled for 4–7 p.m. on opening day. The exhibition will be on view through May 15, 2026.

Focusing on mentorship

Ke Kilo Lani highlights the traditional foundations and evolving expressions of ʻike �鶹��ý (traditional Hawaiian knowledge), and is presented in partnership with the Wāhea Foundation.

“Ke Kilo Lani inaugurates a series of exhibitions focused on mentorship as the foundation of cultural continuity,” said Kapulani Landgraf, Gallery ʻIolani director. “I see this exhibition engaging the ongoing practice of Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero—whose innovation as a kumu hula and musician continues to shape generations—and honoring perseverance as a lifelong commitment to holding, evolving and passing forward tradition.”

Tours, talk story, performances

In conjunction with the exhibition, Gallery ʻIolani will host several events, including:

• Guided gallery tours led by Hālau Nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua.
• Community talk story sessions.
• Scheduled performances in both Gallery ʻIolani and Palikū Theatre.

Gallery Information

Gallery ʻIolani is located on the Windward CC campus at 45-720 Keaʻahala Road, ����Ա�ʻ�dz��.

• Hours: Monday–Saturday, 1–5 p.m. (closed Sundays and holidays).
• More information: and the

The University of �鶹��ý is mourning the death of Faith ��������Ծ� Kanakaʻole, a revered kumu hula, cultural leader and UH Hilo alumna who also served as a former faculty member at �鶹��ý Community College, and whose life’s work profoundly shaped Hawaiian cultural practice and Indigenous education across �鶹��ý and beyond.

Born on March 19, 1946, and raised in Hilo, Kanakaʻole died peacefully at her home on January 3, surrounded by family. She leaves behind a legacy deeply rooted in ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge), artistic excellence and an unwavering commitment to ensuring Hawaiian culture remains a living, evolving practice.

Kanakaʻole was part of an extraordinary lineage. The daughter of Luka and the legendary kumu hula and educator Edith Kanakaʻole, she stood in the fifth iteration of a direct line of kumu hula within a family whose traditions span eight generations. As the youngest of six siblings, she was part of an ʻohana whose influence on Hawaiian studies and cultural preservation is unparalleled.

She stepped into the kuleana (responsibility) as kumu of Hālau o Kekuhi alongside her sister, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, and later with her niece, Huihui Kanahele-Mossman. A guardian of the ancient ʻai haʻa (hula danced with bended knees) style, Kanakaʻole helped elevate hula as a classical art form while grounding it firmly in , genealogy and ceremony.

Hilo roots

A graduate of UH Hilo, Kanakaʻole studied art history in the early 1970s during the same period her mother was pioneering Hawaiian studies courses on campus.

Together with her husband, Sig Zane, Kanakaʻole co-founded Sig Zane Designs in 1985, helping build a globally recognized brand rooted in Hawaiian values and cultural integrity.

After years devoted to family and co-founding one of �鶹��ý’s most recognized fashion lines, she returned to UH Hilo and earned her bachelor’s degree in art in 2001.

“��������Ծ� was an extraordinary cultural leader and UH Hilo alumna whose dedication to perpetuating Hawaiian knowledge touched countless lives,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin. “Her work elevating hula and Hawaiian cultural practices helped shape the broader movement toward indigenous education — a movement that has profoundly influenced our university’s mission.”

Merrie Monarch icon

Kanakaʻole’s leadership extended far beyond campus. In 1993, she and her sister were named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts. She was also deeply connected to the Merrie Monarch Festival, serving as a respected judge for more than two decades.

“It’s a sad day for hula,” said Luana Kawelu, Merrie Monarch Festival president and UH Hilo alumna. “She was reviewing plans for this year’s presentation just three days before she passed. That’s how committed she was to hula and to Merrie Monarch.”

Kanakaʻole

The Kanakaʻole family legacy is visible throughout UH Hilo, from Edith Kanakaʻole Hall and its iconic mural to the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund, established with the UH Foundation to support Native Hawaiian students across the UH System.

• Related UH News story: Hundreds celebrate Edith Kanakaʻole at UH Hilo, May 9, 2023

“Our ʻohana has lost a treasured kumu and cultural icon,” said ʻohana member and Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lei Kapono. “Through generations of haumāna—many of them UH Hilo students—Aunty ��������Ծ� ensured that traditional knowledge thrives as lived practice, not merely performance.”

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The pageant title of Miss �鶹��ý 2025 was bestowed on University of �鶹��ý–West Oʻahu alumna Emalia Dalire, who graduated in fall 2024 with a bachelor of arts in with a concentration in .

The Kāneʻohe resident, 19, was crowned on May 31 at �鶹��ý Theatre by the , which provides women with the opportunity to promote platforms of community service, share their talents, intelligence, and positive values while serving as role models in our island communities, according to the organization’s website.

“Being crowned Miss �鶹��ý 2025 is an indescribable honor and a dream come true,” Dalire said in an interview with the morning after being crowned. “I feel overwhelmed with gratitude, knowing I get to represent the beauty, culture and mana (power) of our islands. This moment is not just mine. It belongs to every person who believed in me.”

Dalire competed as Miss Kāneʻohe and topped 12 other competitors, called “delegates,” and will move on to represent the state at the Miss America competition in September in Orlando, Fla.

Hula lineage

It may come as no surprise that the talent Dalire showcased at the Miss �鶹��ý competition was hula. She just competed and placed third in the category at the held in April in Hilo. Dalire dances for Keolalaulani Hālau ʻŌlapa O Laka under Nā Kumu Keolalaulani Dalire (her mother) and Regina Mākaʻikaʻi Igarashi Pascua.

Keep empowering yourself

The community service initiative that Dalire will focus on throughout her upcoming Miss �鶹��ý reign is, “K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself.” It’s a platform she holds close to her heart and the same one she promoted when she was crowned in December 2023.

“’The K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself’ is my message of empowerment to all youth, especially Indigenous people, to be who they are,” Dalire had said in a previous article after winning her Miss �鶹��ý Teen Volunteer title. “In the words of my mother, ‘The best person in life to be like is yourself,’ and learning about my Hawaiian culture and being proud of my Indigenous heritage, I gained the confidence and determination necessary to create my future, my story.”

Accelerated academic journey

As a freshman at Damien Memorial School, Dalire began attending Windward Community College, simultaneously taking high school and early college classes. The dual enrollment enabled her to graduate a year early from high school in 2022 at the age of 16, then in December of that year, receive two associate degrees from Windward CC in liberal arts and Hawaiian studies along with three certificates of completion.

The (APDF) is moving ahead—despite a last-minute loss of major funding. Just two weeks before its May 19 return to the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa, the National Endowment for the Arts withdrew its $25,000 grant to support the festival’s programming.

“While this loss poses a significant challenge, the APDF team remains committed to delivering an inspiring celebration of dance, culture and connection, and this only strengthens our resolve,” said SheenRu Yong, associate director of APDF. “We’re not canceling—we’re coming together. The show will go on. If anything, this challenge is a call to gather for what matters, so come through.”

Hosted by UH ����ԴDz�’s , the festival runs through June 1, and brings together artists and dance traditions from across Asia, the Pacific and �鶹��ý. Participants can take part in immersive workshops, attend performances and explore the cultural roots behind each movement.

The festival happens every two years and offers a deep, hands-on dive into storytelling through dance.

or by phone (808) 956-8246.

Festival highlights

Residents Artists

, under the direction of Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine

from India/Canada, directed by Deepti Gupta

from Rotuma, Fiji, led by Letila Mitchell

Living the Art of Hula
Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
Thursday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Local Motion!: A Tribute to H. Wayne Mendoza
A celebration of traditional Filipino dance by Mendoza’s former apprentices
Sunday, May 25 at 2 p.m.

ʻIke Hana I & II
Two dynamic performances showcasing different works by this year’s resident artists
Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 1 at 2 p.m.

“The public is warmly encouraged to attend this year’s performances, share the festival with others,” said Yong. “Every ticket, every social share, and every gesture of support helps sustain this work.”

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The is honoring the 2025 Merrie Monarch Festival with a weeklong celebration rooted in culture, creativity and connection.

Starting April 22, will bring together students, faculty and community members for a series of events at UH Hilo that honor the legacy of hula.

Kahikuonālani is a poetic name for King Kalākaua, meaning “the seventh of the heavens,” honoring his chiefly lineage. As the “Merrie Monarch,” Kalākaua is celebrated for his dedication to revitalizing Hawaiian culture, hula and traditions during a time of great change.

“The University of �鶹��ý at �ᾱ����’s celebration of the Merrie Monarch Festival allows us to honor the deep scholarship embedded in hula, elevate the voices of practitioners and scholars alike, foster community collaboration, and reaffirm our kuleana (responsibility) to use our ʻike (knowledge) to serve �鶹��ý,” said Pelehonuamea Harman, director of Native Hawaiian Engagement at UH Hilo.

April 22

Kahikuonālani Mākeke featuring local retail and food vendors
10 a.m.–2 p.m., Campus Center Plaza

April 23 and 24

Cultural presentations and special pop-up exhibit featuring Merrie Monarch history
11 a.m. Mookini Library

April 25

Live music and grab-and-go lunch (while available)
Noon–1:30 p.m., Campus Center Dining Hall Lānai

A free UH Hilo shuttle will run on April 23 through April 26 connecting campus to craft fairs and the Merrie Monarch parade route in Hilo town. UH Hilo will also host an outreach booth at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Lei making, live music

UH �ᾱ����’s , a major hub for the celebration, is offering hands-on experiences such as hula workshops, lei wili (twist-style lei making), and laUHala weaving.

“ʻImiloa exists at the intersection of tradition and innovation, and Merrie Monarch week is a powerful reminder of how our ancestral practices continue to evolve and inspire,” said Kaʻiu Kimura, executive director at ʻImiloa. “These programs are not just about observation—they’re about participation. We’re inviting our community to experience the depth of ʻike passed down through hula, storytelling and cultural practice in ways that resonate today.”

Full schedule of ʻImiloa events

Keepers of knowledge

A lineup of respected cultural practitioners will lead presentations throughout the week offering an immersive path into Hawaiian knowledge—whether through movement, material or moʻolelo (stories). Sessions will spotlight practitioners including Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻoleohaililani, Taupōuri Tangarō, Kaʻea Lyons-Yglesias, Lehua Hauanio, Kaʻohu Seto, Kimo Keaulana, Pele and Kekoa Harman, Umi Kai, Keani Kaleimamahu, Cy Bridges, Leialoha Ilae-Kaleimamahu and Aulii Mitchell.

As a child, Miss �鶹��ý Volunteer 2024 Makenna Kinsler first became aware of the hardships in her island home when she walked through Kakaʻako with her mom to help the homeless. Now a double major at the , Kinsler is still impacted by that experience.

“Seeing those vulnerable parts of our community that needed upliftment was really eye-opening,” Kinsler recalls. “I always remember to be grateful and give back where I can because recognizing what I have made me want to help others.”

Driven by her dedication to serve, Kinsler participated in , a scholarship program that promotes community service, academic excellence and leadership. Raised in Mānoa Valley and educated at La Pietra School for Girls, she remains closely connected to her community, from working knee-deep in loʻi kalo (taro patches) to mālama ʻ�徱�Բ� (care for the land) to feeding the hungry.

Merging science with ʻike �鶹��ý (Indigenous knowledge)

Kinsler is pursuing degrees in and and is determined to merge both disciplines into her future career as an urban planner. Her vision is to create communities that are sustainable, resilient and rooted in Hawaiian values.

“In �鶹��ý, we give a lot of importance to places and wahi (locations). I’m taking an ahupuaʻa (land division) class right now and it’s an interesting perspective of how we can model our communities today looking at the urban side of balancing nature and city as �鶹��ý really rapidly grows our population,” said Kinsler.

• Related UH News story: Miss �鶹��ý Teen Volunteer developed platform at UH West Oʻahu, June 21, 2024

Pioneer professors

Currently, Kinsler is immersed in researching climate change impacts for her global environmental science thesis. She finds inspiration from professors at UH Mānoa who are leading innovative projects addressing challenges such as sea level rise in the islands.

“It’s really cool to be in the same room as the pioneers of �鶹��ý’s future and just seeing firsthand all the cool projects that they’re working on,” Kinsler said.

Hula is life

Kinsler said she is grateful for the opportunity to have stayed in �鶹��ý for college, not only because it’s just blocks from her home, but it ensures she can continue another long-standing passion, hula.

The trained ʻō�����貹 (dancer) has studied under kumu hula Hiwa Vaughan and Hālau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine since she was five. Kinsler has competed in the Merrie Monarch Festival two times, and she performed a hula for the talent portion of the Miss Volunteer America pageant in Tennessee this summer.

“Hula is such a big pillar of my life,” Kinsler said. “I really just wanted to transport people to �鶹��ý and show my love.”

This fall at UH Mānoa, Kinsler plans to apply for the or BAM program, which enables students to start on their master’s during their senior year.