Ka Pa Hula Hawai'i - I Hawai'i Nei Ku'u Aloha

This clip is of Ka Pā Hula Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Dance Troupe), Kumu Hula, John Kahaʻi Topolinsky. The mele is called “I Hawaiʻi Nei Kuʻu Aloha” – “My love is here in Hawaiʻi”. The style is Hula ʻOlapa – today we call it “Hula Kahiko!” The men are dressed in 1800’s Colonial style costume – dark trousers and puffy pirate shirts. They wear on their heads a lei poʻo or head lei as well as their lei āʻī or neck lei made of a lacey fern called Palapalai that grows in the mountains representative of the goddess Laka or Hiʻiaka. In life, they loved to wear the sweet smell of scented ferns when dancing. The men also wear a double layer cut pāʻū lāʻī or Ti leaf skirt. In the middle of their dance they pull out a ʻulīʻulī heke ʻole or a featherless top calabash rattle made from the inedible fruit called “Laʻamia” of the calabash tree. These trees are not native to Hawaiʻi. However, the fruit gives off a much crisper sound when seeds are placed within its hollowed-out shell than a coconut or gourd container can provide which was used anciently. The rattles can be danced with or without the feather tops. The competition in this clip is the King Kamehameha Chant and Hula Competition held at Kamehameha Schools before it moved to the Neil Blaisdale Arena in downtown Honolulul were it is still held today. For a short while it was held at the George Q. Cannon Center in La’iē, Oʻahu at Brigham Young University. This clip was one of the first male groups I saw in competition in California through a VHS tape. It inspired me! I hope it inspires you too! It was filmed sometime in the 1970’s when the Hawaiian Renaissance was in full swing. Enjoy!