For MM Festival

Miss Hula Hawaii Contest Scheduled

The Merry Monarch Festival Committee will conduct a special contest this year for Miss Hula Hawaii, coordinator George Naope has announced.

Contestants, he said, should be between the ages of 18 and 25 and unmarried.

A contest for group dancing also will be held, Naope said. The minimum in each group will be six with no maximum. Entrants may be of any age of sex.

Numbers to be entered in the contests set for April 17 must be songs or chants from the Kamehameha through Kalakaua periods, ending in 1891. Entrants may be of any sex or age.

Naope explained the contests were being added to the Festival in part because King Kalakaua said, “The hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.”

Kalakaua revived over 300 ancient hula and is credited with inventing the shredded ti-leaf skirts for the dancers.

All persons or groups must submit their numbers to the festival committee by Feb. 28 so that judges will be able to check on their authenticity.

The contest is open to anyone in the State. All performers must be professional.

The prize for Miss Hula Hawaii will be $200, for the first runner up $150 and for the second runner up $75.

The top-rated group will get $200, the first runner up $125, and the second runner up $75.

Those in charge of the event are Miss Iolani Luahine, greatest living exponent of the ancient hula, Mrs. Lokalia Montgomery, Miss Puanani Alama and George Naope, all expert teachers.

For more information phone the committee at 935-9011 or 935-8131 or write George Naope, Coordinator, Merry Monarch Festival, 28 Shipman St., Hilo, Hawaii.

(Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 2/1/1971, p. 3)

(Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Volume 49th Year, Number 26, Page 3. February 1, 1971.