As you might know the Merrie Monarch, Hawai'i's biggest cultural festival & hula competition, just passed.  In this newsletter, I'll start with some links on hula. Very little is online from this year, but here's a good sampling of hula.

The Merrie Monarch performances always start with a ho'ike on Wednesday night which is free & open to the public.  Hula Halau 'O Kekuhi always opens the Wednesday night show. A video of their performance is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldkf8QU99GI  Kekuhi's halau is known for wearing real kapa (barkcloth) pa'u (skirts) rather than pa'u made from commercial fabric, among other things of course.

Kekui's halau performance from the 2017 ho'ike is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAaVbBQZxDA

This year one halau swept the competition--  Ka Leo 'O I Ka Hikina O Ka La, Kumu Hula Kaleo Trinadad.  You can see their 'auana (modern hula) performance at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOhfkMx39zo There are some really unique & entertaining moves here!

Some highlights (both 'auana & kahiko) from the 2017 event are at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFFQ18eZuuo

There's a great kane kahiko (men's ancient hula) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xr1Wd17w-g .  This was the halau that took first place in 2009.  You can see why!

A very well-done keiki performance by Hula Halau 'O Kamuela is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBqHxrVgqXc

There is an excellent video of renowned Kumu Hula Iolani Luahine  online at https://vimeo.com/254707100?ref=fb-share

Now on to tattoo...

On the topic of Maori tattoo, Radio NZ has a great series on wahine (women) taa moko practitioners.   See https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/teahikaa/audio/2018639327/taa-moko-sessions-julie-paama-pengelly On the right side of the page you an link to interviews with practitioners Pip Hartley  & Anikaaro Harawira.  

Another  Maori wahine taa moko practitioner, Paitangi, is featured in a great video that streams at https://www.heaokotahi.co.nz/view-series/

There's several other excellent videos on Maori art and culture at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkbyoo8lIj0

Tricia's tattoo schedule:

Until May 26th:  Home on O'ahu
June 1 - 10th:  Long Beach, PIEAM
June 16 - July 8th:  North San Francisco Bay Area
July 12 - mid-August: Home on O'ahu
Late August - mid-September:  Long Beach
mid-September - early October:  East San Francisco Bay Area

If you are interested in an appointment, please call Tricia at 808-734-8677 or email her at tattoo@lava.net.  Sign up before May 1st for a guaranteed appointment during the June/July trip.  Late sign-ups will be accepted on a space-available basis. For August/Sept. appointments, please sign up by August 1st.

You can see Tricia's work & read more about the process on her website, http://www.thepolynesiantattoo.com/  If you are a new client it may be beneficial to read the FAQ on the site.

Mahalo!