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Click on album cover for high resolution jpeg. 15th Annual Hawaii Award WINNER! 2011 Winner for Best Liner Notes Contemporary renditions of historical hula chants in honor of Queen Lili‘uokalani, proudly presented by award-winning kumu hula of Kulia i ka Punawai (Kumu Hula Association of Southern California). Full texts and translations are included. Curated by respected hula scholar Dr. Amy Ku‘uleialoha Stillman. |
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| Song List
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| Album Notes
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| Lili‘uokalani (1838-1917) was born Lydia Kamaka‘eha Paki, to parents who had embraced Christianity not many years prior. Her education at the Chief’s Childrens’ School, under the tutelage of American Calvinist missionaries, was designed to prepare her for a rapidly-changing world. Hawaiian lifeways were caught between epic forces: the state ritual system had already been toppled by Hawaiian chiefs, and western forms of capitalism were on the verge of alienating significant numbers of Hawaiians from traditional means of subsistence and livelihood. Her brother, King David Kalakaua (r. 1874-1891) attempted to reign in the increasing political and economic power wielded by American and European residents in the kingdom. By the time she ascended the throne in 1891, Queen Lili‘uokalani was locked into a struggle for the very existence of the kingdom, a struggle lost in the overthrow of her government by American businessmen in 1893, and subsequent annexation of the archipelago to the United States in 1898. It is one of history’s ironies that her belief in the moral obligation of democratic governments to act ethically was overrun by the very government whose citizens deposed her, and took Hawai‘i’s government as their own. It is said that history belongs to the conquerors. It can equally be said that memories keep alive flames of hope among the conquered. The Kingdom of Hawai‘i could not prevail against the political might of the United States. But nothing the United States could do to its possession could, in the end, erase the memories, meticulously recorded by Hawaiian people, of a heritage wrongfully dispossessed. Expressions of allegiance to the Kingdom and the Queen raged throughout public discourse in Hawai‘i during the 1890s. Importantly, many Hawaiians turned to mele to vent their expressions. Sentiments in mele were vows of allegiance to the Kingdom, and loyalty and affection to the Queen. Dozens of mele circulated publicly, published in newspapers. Dozens more mele were also carefully amassed in personal collections, many of which have come to rest in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (successor to the Hawaiian National Museum, and symbolically named in Hawaiian “Hale Ho‘ike‘ike o Kamehameha.”) Recovering these mele from the archives, and bringing them back to life in performance, honors the acts of insistence they register. It is a legacy that we are fortunate to be recovering, thanks to a successful revitalization of the Hawaiian language, a new generation of Hawaiian scholars determined to restore knowledge of the legacy of fortitude, and a thriving sovereignty movement that is working to broaden the means by which Hawaiians can live and prosper as a self-determining people in the 21st century. Vol. 3 of our Legacy Hula series focuses on Queen Lili‘uokalani. Members of Kulia i ka Punawai (Kumu Hula Association of Southern California) present a selection of three sets of mele uncovered in archival sources, and chosen to illuminate various dimensions of our Queen. The first and third of the sets included were composed in her honor. The second set honors the Queen‘s beloved husband, John Owen Dominis, who served as Governor of O‘ahu. The Queen herself contributed one of the mele. The sets of mele are presented in their entirety, to pay tribute to the fullness of mana‘o crafted by poets in mele, and to foster reflection on the scale of this expression that exceeds any single mele. |
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| The Performers
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| Na Kumu Hula: Maile Bailey, Na Maile O Kaehukai Puaehu ‘o Kawohi, Ventura Kanoe Barker, Halau Ka Pa Hula O Hi´iaka, San Pedro Anne Blankenship, Halau Ka Lei Aloha o Hula, San Diego Keali´i Ceballos, Halau O Keali´i O Nalani, Los Angeles Randy Chang, Kaulana Ka Hale Kula O Na Pua O Ka ´Aina, Torrance Puanani Edgar, Hula Halau O Puananiha´aheo, Ventura Barbara Finneran & Karen Kealoha Finneran-Swatek, Pualani’s Hula Studio, Rancho Penasquitos Susan Ke‘oluokoumino‘aka Imai, Halau Ke ‘Ala o Na Lei Milo, Carson Puanani Jung, Halau Hula Lani Ola, Mission Viejo Kanani Kalama, Kanani Kalama Hula Studio, Torrance Kapena Malulani Perez, Halau Hula O Malulani, San Diego Kathy Gore Stanley, Halau O Heali‘i, San Diego Kawika & Leinani Viloria, Halau Hula a Kawika Laua O Leinani, Diamond Bar KKekaimoku Yoshikawa, Kekaiulu Hula Studio, Torrance Amy Ku‘uleialoha Stillman, Facilitator E Lili‘u E, May 16, 2010 Production Manager: Lowell Edgar Stage Production: Puanani Jung and Kanani Kalama Music Director: Randy Kaulana Chang Backstage Manager: Lee Anne Sako Front of House Manager: Keali‘i Ceballos Financial Manager: KMarketing & Hospitality: Kawika and Leinani Viloria Stage Decoration: Moku Yoshikawa Carpenter Center Events Manager: Aimee Bramble Production Manager: Jonathan Mulvaney Kulia i ka Punawai (Kumu Hula Association of Southern California) Kulia i ka Punawai is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the perpetuation of hula and professionalism in hula practice. Members are kumu hula of halau hula—hula schools that span southern California from Ventura to Chula Vista. The organization fosters unity among the kumu hula, and a mentoring network. The Association’s four-fold mission—of maintaining the foundations of hula, perpetuating hula in unity, developing professionalism, and strengthening knowledge and understanding of hula—infuses its various activities. Workshops held during quarterly gatherings focus on educational activities that enhance members’ knowledge base of hula. Performance presentations are opportunities for students from different halau to expand their experiences through sharing repertoire, and through performing in a wide range of theater and festival venues. |
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| Credits
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Record Label: Daniel Ho Creations |
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