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Heiva competes with canoes
by Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island
KAPA‘A — Organizers of the Heiva I Kaua‘i were hoping for a better day yesterday.
The 6th annual Tahitian dance and drumming competition event was competing with the annual state canoe paddling championships in Hanalei, and organizers were hoping that dancers who were paddling Saturday would come out on Sunday.
“Mi Nei Oliver, a Tahitian dance instructor, had several of her dancers paddling, but asked if they could come and dance, today,” one of the organizers said. “We said, ‘sure.’”
Ray Carpenter, a longtime supporter of the event at the Kapa‘a Beach Park, was his jovial self yesterday morning, greeting fairgoers with his smile and sense of humor.
“We had a pretty good crowd, Saturday — even with the paddling going on,” Carpenter said. “But things moved pretty fast.”
That was due to some of the entertainers and groups who were planning to compete being unable to get to Kaua‘i, one of the organizers said while waiting for T-shirt sales to pick up.
“From what we heard, there were several groups who just couldn’t get flights here,” the vendor said. “On Saturday, one girl came running in just as they were announcing her competition because she had just come off a flight here.”
Over at the food area, sales were brisk despite the crowds that flocked to Hanalei.
Carol Casil, visiting here from the Big Island, had two of her daughters with her, and was planning to visit the Heiva following the paddling championships. Casil was the founder of the Tahiti Fete, Kaua‘i, and has been a longtime advocate of Tahitian dance and music competition before moving to the Big Island.
Naomi Asai was visiting from Hillsborough, Ore., and took her turn cranking out pronto pups for her aunt’s food booth.
Asai, who grew up here before moving to Oregon, said she lives close to Aloha, Ore., where a lot of local people gather.
“You never lose the taste for local food,” she said, not missing a beat in flipping the morsels in the hot oil. “Everyone up there gets together and there is even a local style restaurant.”
This year’s Heiva was dedicated to the memory of David Kaneholani, a longtime supporter of the Heiva.
The honu, or sea turtle, formed the basis of this year’s Heiva design created by Tepairu Manea, the director of Heiva I Kaua‘i.
Sand was the color selected for the festival T-shirt, that color representing the sands of Earth. The honu, depicted in a dark brown, represents one of the colors used to create patterns on tapa, an ancient Hawaiian fabric.
According to a flier that came with the T-shirt, the honu is a powerful metaphor of the connection between people, land and ocean.
The honu is part earth because it must return to land to lay its eggs. As an icon in myth, the honu is known as a messenger, a monster sent to attack enemies, or a living canoe that transports love to each other.
The ancient connection between land and sea that the honu represents is still strong today, the flier states.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
The 6th annual Tahitian dance and drumming competition event was competing with the annual state canoe paddling championships in Hanalei, and organizers were hoping that dancers who were paddling Saturday would come out on Sunday.
“Mi Nei Oliver, a Tahitian dance instructor, had several of her dancers paddling, but asked if they could come and dance, today,” one of the organizers said. “We said, ‘sure.’”
Ray Carpenter, a longtime supporter of the event at the Kapa‘a Beach Park, was his jovial self yesterday morning, greeting fairgoers with his smile and sense of humor.
“We had a pretty good crowd, Saturday — even with the paddling going on,” Carpenter said. “But things moved pretty fast.”
That was due to some of the entertainers and groups who were planning to compete being unable to get to Kaua‘i, one of the organizers said while waiting for T-shirt sales to pick up.
“From what we heard, there were several groups who just couldn’t get flights here,” the vendor said. “On Saturday, one girl came running in just as they were announcing her competition because she had just come off a flight here.”
Over at the food area, sales were brisk despite the crowds that flocked to Hanalei.
Carol Casil, visiting here from the Big Island, had two of her daughters with her, and was planning to visit the Heiva following the paddling championships. Casil was the founder of the Tahiti Fete, Kaua‘i, and has been a longtime advocate of Tahitian dance and music competition before moving to the Big Island.
Naomi Asai was visiting from Hillsborough, Ore., and took her turn cranking out pronto pups for her aunt’s food booth.
Asai, who grew up here before moving to Oregon, said she lives close to Aloha, Ore., where a lot of local people gather.
“You never lose the taste for local food,” she said, not missing a beat in flipping the morsels in the hot oil. “Everyone up there gets together and there is even a local style restaurant.”
This year’s Heiva was dedicated to the memory of David Kaneholani, a longtime supporter of the Heiva.
The honu, or sea turtle, formed the basis of this year’s Heiva design created by Tepairu Manea, the director of Heiva I Kaua‘i.
Sand was the color selected for the festival T-shirt, that color representing the sands of Earth. The honu, depicted in a dark brown, represents one of the colors used to create patterns on tapa, an ancient Hawaiian fabric.
According to a flier that came with the T-shirt, the honu is a powerful metaphor of the connection between people, land and ocean.
The honu is part earth because it must return to land to lay its eggs. As an icon in myth, the honu is known as a messenger, a monster sent to attack enemies, or a living canoe that transports love to each other.
The ancient connection between land and sea that the honu represents is still strong today, the flier states.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
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puput wrote on Apr 3, 2009 10:19 AM: