Winning 2024 Miss Aloha Hula competition a dream come true for Oʻahu dancer

Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes, called Nohi by people close to her and her family, had a mound of lei adorning her neck by just after midnight Friday at Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo.

She was wearing so many of the fragrant fresh flower garlands — given to her by family, friends and others — that she had to pull several of them down from in front of her mouth just to talk.

The lei were given with congratulations and honor for the 21-year-old of Oʻahu, who only about half an hour earlier was announced as the winner of the 61st annual Merrie Monarch Festival Miss Aloha Hula competition.

She is a member of Oʻahu hula hālau (school) Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe and was one of 13 young women dancers to compete Thursday. It was the first night of the Super Bowl of Hula which is part of the Big Island’s annual weeklong cultural celebration of hula and everything Hawaiian.

“It’s always been my dream to not just be Miss Aloha Hula, but to dance on that stage just like my mom did, just like my sister did,” said Lopes, who has danced hula her entire life, even in the womb while her mother danced when pregnant with her. “I can’t believe that it’s come true.”

Each dancer performed two pieces. The first was in the hula kahiko (traditional hula) style and the second was in the hula ‘auana (modern) style. Lopes was awarded 1,164 points from the competition’s seven judges, 42 points more than the second-place winner. It was the highest point margin among the top five.

For her hula kahiko, Lopes, wearing a pink skirt with a white top, a solid yellow lei and adornments made from greenery, performed the mele hula ʻōlapa, or chant, “Aia Ka Lani Kua Kaʻa I Luna,” which honors the peaceful home of royalty beside the sacred pool of Anianiku.

The bass in her voice as she chanted boomed throughout the stadium. The audience was quiet the entire time. It was almost entrancing.

Her hula ʻauana was a piece called “Kanani Holokai” composed by beloved and well-respected hula exponent George Ainsley Kananiokeakua Holokai. It celebrates “Uncle George” as a humble reflection of a noble lineage yet gentle like the kolonahe breeze blowing like a dance throughout the land.

Lopes was decked out in a sea blue dress, darker yellow lei and hairpiece with white and yellow flowers. You could feel the joy throughout the entire dance.

She is the fourth member of Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe and second daughter of the group’s nā kumu hula (teachers) Tracie and Keawe Lopes to claim the title.

The Oʻahu hula hālau has dominated the individual competition for the past 4 consecutive years, starting with Rosemary Kaʻimilei Kamoai-Strickland’s win in 2021.

Pi‘ikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekau‘ōnohi Lopes, the oldest daughter of Tracie and Keawe Lopes, was Miss Aloha Hula 2022, and hālau member Agnes Renee Leihiwahiwaikapolionāmakua Thronas Brown, who returned to the Merrie Monarch stage Thursday, won in 2023.

Lopes’ mother, formerly Tracie Farias, also is a past Miss Aloha Hula winner, claiming the title in 1994 as a member of O‘ahu hula hālau Nā Wai ‘Ehā o Puna.

Lopes is wowed and filled with gratitude by the support she’s had on her journey to the Miss Aloha Hula competition and the Merrie Monarch stage, including from her parents/kumu, her hālau and even those who gave her all  those lei Thursday night.

“It’s so overwhelming and I’m so thankful for everyone who supported me,” she said.

The other dancers placing in the top 5 were:

• Amedée Kauakohemālamalama Conley-Kapoi of Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi on Maui received 1,122 points for second place.
• In third place with 1,120 points was Nāhakuʻelua ʻĀpuakēhau Kekauoha of O’ahu-based Hula Hālau ‘O Kamuela.
• Heleolanimaināmakaohāʻena Hailee Jo Yokotake was awarded 1,119 points for fourth place. She is a member of Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinā‘ala on Kauaʻi.
• Fifth place was won by Caly Ann Kamōʻīwahineokaimana Ragonton Domingo with Hālau Nā Mamo O Pu‘uanahulu of Oʻahu. Judges awarded her 1,111 points.

Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe also won the Hawaiian Language Award on Thursday night.

Lopes, who is working on her master’s degree in communications at the University of Hawaiʻi and hopes to one day get involved with continuing to encourage ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) around the world, gave her fellow contestants props and love for all their hard work and performances.

Tracie Lopes said every single person who dedicates their life to their hālau and represents their kumu and families deserves so much because they carry the voices and lineages of their kumu and do it with so much heart.

“It really does come to the presentation on the stage and having them exude their love,” she said about what sets a Miss Aloha Hula competitor apart from the others. “I told my daughter at rehearsal [Thursday], I said, ‘You engage the audience, but first you have to engage yourself. You have to bring out all those things that are already in you.”

Every parent, no matter what, will be proud of their children when they do their best. As kumu to her daughters, Tracie Lopes said there’s another layer of joy, pride and gratefulness that they’re receptive and open to learning from their mother.

“I’m just so grateful to God and my family that we are able to do hula together,” she said.

Keawe Lopes was anxious Thursday night. It was the second time in four years one of his daughters was representing their hālau and competing for the most coveted title in hula.

His anxiety was replaced with gratitude when she was announced as this year’s winner. It was a surreal moment for the Lopes family patriarch, whose 51st birthday was also Thursday.

He called his daughter’s Miss Aloha Hula win a beautiful gift.

“I’m going to celebrate it in a big way tonight,” said Keawe Lopes, beaming from cheek to cheek. “Actually, [we] already have celebrated it in a big way, in a way where we’re able to celebrate our kūpuna with the mele that we have to present on the stage. That was more of a gift than anything — to have the opportunity to be on the stage and celebrate mele that honored people and places that are very dear to us.”

You can check out video from this year’s Miss Aloha Hula competition on the Merrie Monarch Festival Instagram page and find photos from Thursday night on the Merrie Monarch Festival website.

The Merrie Monarch Festival hula competition continues at 6 p.m. today at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium with group hula kahiko. It concludes Saturday with group hula ʻauana beginning at 6 p.m., with a group awards presentation to follow.

For more information about what’s happening at the festival today and the last day Saturday, click here.