Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 5, 1 May 2012 — Kaimukī dancer wins Hawaiian Language Award [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kaimukī dancer wins Hawaiian

Language Award

By Francine Murray Keahiahi Sharon Long's masterful use of 'ōlelo Hawai'i won her the Hawaiian Language Award, a $1,000 prize presented to a Miss Aloha Hula eontestant by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Long scored second overall in the competition, with the title going to one of her best friends, Rebecca Lilinoekekapahauomaunakea Sterling of Hālau Mōhala 'Ilima, under the direction of kumu Māpuana de Silva. "I've prepared for this all my life," said Long, 23, who has danced for 15 years with her cousin and kumu, Maelia Loebenstein Carter, with Ka Pā Hula O Kauanoe O Wa'ahila, based in Kaimukl, O'ahu. Long said her kumu had prepared her for the Miss Aloha Hula competition since Christmas 2007. "If she had told me in 2007 that I would run in 2008, 1 don't think I would have been spiritually, mentally, physically ready for this journey," Long said. "The experience itself was more than I could have ever imagined. We went on amazing huaka'i (joumeys), me and my kumu. We got to do so many things together that we had never done before." The kahiko Long performed, "E 'Ike i ka Nani a 'o Llllnoe" was composed by Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, and in January he took Long and Carter up to Mauna Kea to experience eaeh plaee he mentions in the mele. After their adventure to the sacred summit, Hewett was moved to write the oli Long chanted before she danced. It varied between kāwele and olioli style, reminiscent of talking to someone. Because not everyone is allowed on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hewett wanted Long to take the audience on the journey through this mo'olelo. She did. With Long's amazing chanting voice and her poise on stage, she guided onlookers at the Merrie Monarch Festival in a smooth and graceful adventure, offering a glimpse of Līlīnoe, goddess of the mist. This was the first time Carter and Long had ever presented a hula pahu, a drum dance of spiritual essence, at Merrie Monarch. "This was one of the hardest hula that I have ever done," Long said of her kahiko performance. "If you are going to do something like Miss Aloha Hula do something great. Challenge yourself. These were definitely

hula that challenged me as a dancer and student." Carter said it challenged her as a kumu too. "The way my grandmother (Mae Ulalia Loebenstein) trained me, it's like your whole life is spent training in hula," she said. "The actual learning of a dance is the easy part. It's the journey to it that ean be a challenge. If I don't see my grandma dancing in my mind, or in my dreams, then it's not the right moves. I pray on it, until it comes to me." Long studied 'ōlelo in high school at Kamehameha Schools and earned her bachelor's degree in Hawaiian language from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, where she is currently in the master of library science program. "When you do all the research for Merrie Monarch you have to do it on your own," Long explains. "That's why I went into library science. There are so many things that tie into research like mele, hula, oli and nohona (relationships). You have to research some aspect of all of it. It all goes hand-in-hand." Her dream job would be an independent researcher/cultural consultant like Kepa Maly. "If I could have a job like his, in any form, I would be so happy." ■

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Keahiahi Sharon Long won the Hawaiian Language Award at the 49th annual Merrie Monarch Festival. - Photo: Niek Masagatani