Sunday Mariteragi at the Moanikeala FestivalFor the past 18 years the Polynesian Cultural Center has been honoring its first kumu hula, the late Aunty Sally Moanikeala Wood Naluai, with a modern hula festival.

This year's event on January 19 included the appearance of several halau or groups from Koolauloa, including:

Cy Bridges at the Moanikeala FestivalHula Halau 'O Kekela, led by Kela Miller of Laie, and Hui Hooulu Aloha, a tribute to the PCC's own halau led by Maria Bridges-Nakila of Hauula. Maria's father, Cy Bridges [pictured at left] of Hauula, was one of the kumu that helped start Hui Hooulu Aloha in the 1980s. The halau appeared several times in the Merrie Monarch Festival and other hula competitions.

Other schools came from all over Oahu as well as two from Japan, and several of Aunty Sally's former students still associated with the PCC took the stage, including: Cy Bridges; Sunday Mariteragi [pictured at upper right] and her sister Ellen Gay Dela Rosa of Laie — nieces of Aunty Sally; and Keith Awai, who also brought his halau from Haleiwa. Another former student, Harry Brown of Kahuku, emceed the event, as usual.

Mariteragi played a key role in founding the hula festival as well as having her own halau practice at the PCC as a cultural demonstration.

Dela Rosa, who was recently named Theater Director for the PCC, described the festival as "a lovely occasion, especially with a lot more halau this year. It was fun. That's the bottom line," she said, "and I'm sure Aunty Sally must be very proud. I could feel her spirit here with us."

Dela Rosa will also continue to oversee the PCC's Promo Team and help with special events.

Kela Miller, whose halau performed in the festival, was one of the first PCC hula dancers. She recalled Aunty Sally "was strict, and when she wanted something done, she wanted it done right."

"When we were first starting, she made sure we came to practice and learned the basics. She also wanted us to know the kaona or meaning of the dances we were doing."

Miller further recalled Aunty Sally's style of hula called for "everybody dancing together, hands go up together, the feet go out together. She had a style that was very different from the kumu hula of her day."

"Aunty Sally kept to her traditional ways," she continued. "Now it's very different, not that it's wrong."

Halau Hula 'O Kekela at Moanikeala Festival

Kela Miller's hula halau dances in the Moanikeala Festival

Miller praised her own dancers, who "have grown to love the hula," including one originally from Germany and 85-year-old Aunty Dora Akina [see the related story]. It's an honor to have them in my halau. The kupuna mean a lot to me."

Next up: PCC's Samoan festival in May.