Hapa Haole Festival logo.

Hapa Haole Hula sways
at Waikīkī event

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola

With signature cellophane skirts and tacky tongue-twister titles, such as “How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo,” hapa haole hula music may seem way too old-fashioned to have a place alongside today's purist forms of kahiko and 'auana. But not so, says Vicky Holt Takamine, a cutting edge kumu, who learned her hapa haole numbers when she was haumana to the legendary Maiki Aiu Lake. “We were searching for our roots – even though our language had been taken away, so as young people, hapa haole hula was part of the culture that we loved,” she said.

In addition to being cultural, it's just plain catchy, as evidenced by the crowds that turn out every year for the annual Hapa Haole Competition and Concert in Waikīkī, organized by Holt Takamine and the PA'I Foundation.

At this year's event, 19 groups, finalists chosen during an Aloha Week competition, will vie for prizes while they showcase their mastery of mele and movement that sprang from the pens of both Hawai'i and U.S.-continent composers during the hapa haole heyday that ran roughly from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Soloist Megan Kauimalulani Lorenzo performs at the 2007 Hapa Haole Hula & Solo Vocalist Competition.

The all-English lyrics and relentlessly swaying rhythm painted the Hawaiian Islands as a Shangri-la of ultimate romance – definitely an outsider's view – but one that caught on fast. Tin Pan Alley songwriters and iconic crooners like Bing Crosby plumbed the hapa haole genre for its rich imagery; Hollywood during this era seemed to translate lyrics straight into scripts about Hawai'i-as-paradise. The results were mesmerizing to an international audience, which contributed to the first wave of jet-age Hawai'i tourism.

But hapa haole hula – as “hapa,” or half, infers – also meant that Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian musicians met halfway and cross-fertilized one another's muses, according to Holt Takamine.

She said local lyricists picked up some newly minted jazz harmonics of the time from their counterparts across the Pacific Ocean and infused a jazzy sophistication into crafting lush hapa haole hits of their own. Perhaps it's an apt analogy to say their works were to their era what so-called world beat is to today's music scene – a bridge of cultural exchange built by art. Holt Takamine names some favorite sons of the Islands whose 78 rpm's found their way hand-cranked Victrolas on the U.S. continent: Andy Cummings noted for his “Waikīkī” or Johnny Noble and his parade of hits such as “Hula Blues.” Such vintage chestnuts have been re-recorded and revived by the likes of the Brothers Cazimero and the Peter Moon Band.

The kaikamahine of Leimomi Maldonado's Ka Hale I o Kahala perform at the 2007 Hapa Haole Hula & Solo Vocalist Competition. - Photo: Courtesy of James Miura

Hapa Haole music was also a main staple of the widely syndicated Hawai'i Calls radio show from the 1930s to the 1970s and the vintage-tinged Territorial Airwaves program first hosted by Harry B. Soria Sr.

Holt Takamine said hapa haole numbers have proved to be an inspiration for hula choreography because the limerick-like lines offer so much text, “an essential ingredient that dictates the motions of hula,” she said.

Most of all, hapa haole hula has disproven the modern adage that “what is hip today will tomorrow be passé.” While limerick-like lyrics and relentlessly sunny rhythm reflect an old-fashioned optimism, Holt Takamine has seen how the musical genre catches modern audiences pleasantly off-guard: “Hapa haole is appealing to all kinds of fans today, because it's very comical, and it gives us all a chance to laugh together at this old-fashioned vision of Hawai'i,” said Holt Takamine.

At the upcoming festival, the new-fashioned renditions of hapa haole genre can also be touchstones for future career moves. Winners in various categories will receive cash prizes. The top winner garners a chance to record with Hula Records – one more local institution that grew up with hapa haole music and has lived to download its legacy to a new generation.

I MAOPOPO IĀ 'OE MANA'O PA'I Foundation presents: Hapa Haole Competition and Concert Fri., Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m. at Hale Koa Lū'au Garden. Special guest appearances by Nina Keali'iwahamana and Mahi Beamer. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at door; discounts for young children and military Information: 375-0847 or hapahaolefest.org