Jayda Lum Lung will dance a conventional hula in honor of Lahaina wildfire victims at Hawaii’s biggest hula competitors of the year. Her hand actions will move gracefully to represent the winds, rains and mountains, she mentioned, and the dance itself will inform a narrative of the sacred land.

Lung, whose household was at dwelling the morning of Aug. 8 and barely escaped the fires, is a returning participant to the Merrie Monarch Festival, a weeklong cultural occasion in Hilo, Hawaii, each spring. The hula competitors, which runs April 4-6, options one of the best hālau hula, or hula faculties, from throughout the nation, and this year performers can pay particular tribute to Maui with dances and songs within the Hawaiian language.

“The mele [song] for Kahiko [traditional hula] and ‘Auana [modern hula] are about Lahaina. When I dance it, when we practice every time, it just gives me a special sense of connection and it makes me so proud to be from Lahaina,” Lung said. “I hope to bring a sense of hope for Lahaina, and to remind everyone that we can do this together and we are going to come out stronger.”

Four hālaus from Maui were invited to the festival this year: Hālau Hula Kauluokalā, Hālau o Ka Hanu Lehua, Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi and Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka o Uka.

Seven dancers in the Merrie Monarch lineup from Hālau o Ka Hanu Lehua lost their homes in the fires.

“We have a mother and three daughters who are struggling financially to dance,” said Kamaka Kukona, Hālau o Ka Hanu Lehua’s kumu hula (grasp hula instructor), a few household combating to make ends meet after the hearth. “But we have raised money for them to be able to go.”

“We have two sisters who are originally from Catalina Island who sacrificed everything to live in Maui, to dance hula — they lost their home. We have a young, 15-year-old girl whose family lost their home. Somehow, we are managing to pull it all together,” Kukona added.

At Hālau Hula Kauluokalā, Lung is considered one of two dancers whose households have been displaced by the wildfires. Their boat ramp on Kahana Beach, 9 miles north of the historic Lahaina city, turned a supply hub for provides within the following days.

“I feel like when I dance hula, when I dance in general, it clears my mind in a way,” Lung mentioned. “I’m not seeking anything except for the hulas that I’m dancing and it’s a nice way to escape.”

Other hālaus have chosen to dedicate their efficiency to survivors like Lung’s household.

“We are humbled to take Lahaina to the Merrie Monarch stage this year, a kuleana [responsibility] we do not take lightly,” Napua Silva, Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka o Uka’s kumu hula, wrote on Facebook. “It is our hope, e ko Lahaina, that when you watch us, you see you. You see the great aloha you have for your home and the great aloha we have for you.”

The Merrie Monarch Festival is additionally creating a possibility for the viewers to straight assist restoration efforts. Organizers are offering free admission to the Wednesday-night Ho’ike performances in return for donations on the door towards Maui wildfire aid funds.

The stage is not the one place the place Maui and Lahaina will likely be represented. Lahainaluna High School college students, who couldn’t return to the classroom for 2 months resulting from environmental considerations, will be capable to watch the hālaus from a particular spot backstage.

“To give these students that real-life experience that nobody in the general public gets to have … it’s going to increase their passion for hula,” Lahainaluna High School Kumu Hula Eva Palakiko mentioned.

And that hula is offering a protected house for the group to heal.

“I can confidently say at least 90% of my students who are going have either lost their home or cannot currently live in their home,” Palakiko mentioned. “This trip for them would be a trip of healing. It’s just a time for them to disconnect from the strain and pressures of their daily lives.”