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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
 Posted - 04/29/2010 : 09:07:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
Ludicrous. They didn't even wait for Uncle George or Aunty Dottie to hardly be cold in their graves before trying to make things change. Some things are best left alone.
Are they?
I don't believe this was an attack on Uncle George, Aunty Dottie, or any of the revered kupuna who judge - now or in the past - this competition. The quintessential question the author poses - if you read between the lines - is... Are tradition and competition mutually exclusive?
Look at how much time this forum alone spends talking about who won (or did not win) a Hoku, a Grammy, a Hawai'i Music Award, Merrie Monarch, Prince Lot, or _____________, and one has to wonder if a tradition can be perpetuated successfully without making it a game or a contest. The author poses a question not merely about competition, but about competing priorities.
Perhaps "tradition" and "innovation" aren't mutually exclusive either. The author asks if there is a place for both? I might be so bold as to posit that one might not be able to exist without the other. Everything is not as black and white as it may seem...
If some things are best left alone, I give you the ipu - the only instrument Hawai'i would have if some things are best left alone. That would effectively shorten the Merrie Monarch Festival by two days, and with it, reduce the controversy over it by 2/3, as well.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 09:30:37 AM
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But crikey - when he moans about the mele being boring and written for the same old people...sheesh. And the voting ala American Idol style, -- people who may have no idea about what the mele mean, about whether the costumes are appropriate to the mele, or whether the language was correct, then it could turn into a beauty contest for say, for instance, the kanes with the skimpiest malo. Rules have evolved over the years. Now you can present a mele that is a new mele, but written in the style of the mele of the time. Already I have heard kumu who are more traditional complain that there is a penchant by the judges for faster, falshier hula, flashier costumes.
I would prefer to ensure that at least, the judges are all well-respected, knowledgeable kumu hula. I think to do otherwise seems to only be a way to water it down and increase interest in watching it on TV so commercials may be sold.
i, |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 09:58:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
But crikey - when he moans about the mele being boring and written for the same old people...sheesh. And the voting ala American Idol style, -- people who may have no idea about what the mele mean, about whether the costumes are appropriate to the mele, or whether the language was correct, then it could turn into a beauty contest for say, for instance, the kanes with the skimpiest malo. Rules have evolved over the years. Now you can present a mele that is a new mele, but written in the style of the mele of the time. Already I have heard kumu who are more traditional complain that there is a penchant by the judges for faster, falshier hula, flashier costumes.
I would prefer to ensure that at least, the judges are all well-respected, knowledgeable kumu hula. I think to do otherwise seems to only be a way to water it down and increase interest in watching it on TV so commercials may be sold.
To one of your most important points, I, too, agree that public voting may not be the best idea. The larger public - especially those who are not ka po'e hula - understand hula technique about as well as I understand gymnastics technique.
The author has a larger point, however: The reason why he suggests that audiences have a voice is because audience tastes may not currently be aligned with the judges' tastes. That is... The audiences might be more accepting of innovation than the judges.
Is it safe to say - when judging any form of art - that there are aspects of both technique and style? The clinical stuff is the technique. And although hula technique has evolved, it can be judged quantitatively. But how then do you quantify style? Style and taste goes hand in hand. With regard to culture, there will also be generational divisions on style. Is that really a quantifiable question of right and wrong? Or a difference in tastes between yesterday and today? It is not merely true that we know what we like. Often we like what we know - and only what we know. Familiarity breeds familiarity. Hearts, minds, and <gasp> stomachs might not be open to change.
This is where this author gets it at least half right. I think "American Idol" is a terrible analogy. A better one might be "Dancing With The Stars." You have judges well qualified to judge the technique, and then you have laypeople who judge style - which, at the end of the day, is simply what they liked. By this I am not saying that Merrie Monarch judging should be changed. But by drawing this analogy, I am posing the question... Who is representing the voice of the people?
Which brings me back to my original point: Is tradition something that stands still or something that evolves? Is it a point in time to be recreated without deviation over and over? Or can one maintain what is most important about tradition while still being their own a) slack key artist, b) falsetto singer, c) steel guitarist, or d) kumu hula?
The evidence would suggest that tradition evolves. We just don't all evolve with it at the same rate. Sometimes we can't even see the stream of evolution while we're too busy riding it. Sometimes we only see it in hindsight. This would make some decisions by qualified judges appear "out of touch" with the tastes of the people. And since hula is by the people for the people...
And in case anyone thinks this is an issue related only to hula or cultural issues in Hawai'i, I need to find a link to a recent New York Times article on the liberties certain conductors have taken in their recordings of iconic classical works. Can the first movement of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons be played too slow or too fast? Is the score Vivaldi wrote a Bible or a guideline? Food for thought - I hope taken in the most positive light.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
Edited by - hwnmusiclives on 04/29/2010 09:59:20 AM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 10:20:22 AM
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To me, Merrie Monarch is about adherance to certain established standards, published criteria. A halau has the choice to go or not go when invited to participate. If the kumu and if the dancers who dance felt it was so outmoded, they could simply elect to not participate.
I do not like to see some things evolve.
I do not like the designated hitter rule in baseball.
I would like hula to stay as pure as it can, true to the way your kumu has taught you and how his/her kumu taught, and on back, back, back as far as it goes.
Frankly, to me, Merrie Monarch is not for all the people. It is not for those who do not want to malama the art and yes, TRADITION of hula. It is SACRED. Hula is SACRED. The `uniki is quiet and private but follows certain very sacred traditions. Anyone who does not want to follow those traditions has no `uniki. The kumu will know how your heart is. What your mana`o is. Hula is so much more than dancing on TV for the public to see. So very much more. You frequently hear people say it is "Life". |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 12:24:16 PM
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| One question that also has to be addressed: is Merrie Monarch primarily presented for halau, or for the audience? If you choose the desires of one over the other, how might that make the event change? If the audience ever dwindles away (something that does not appear to be in danger of happening at present), do the organizers say "well, it's still pure to the traditions of hula, so we can accept fewer people in attendance" (which I doubt many Hilo merchants would accept so easily), or do they say "we're open to changes, in order to keep the interest level high"? |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 2:06:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
You frequently hear people say it is "Life".
With all due respect, the way you just described hula, it sounds more like "death."
I very much respect your opinion. But I do think it discounts the fundamental idea of "tradition." You (and others before you, so you are not alone) have picked an arbitrary point in time and said, "From this point on, things must always be this way." But what if we pick a different point in time? The hula that you call "traditional" was merely a point in time of a longer evolution of hula. Aunty Maiki Aiu revolutionized hula. But she didn't invent hula. So if David Kalakaua himself were sitting front row center at the festival named in his honor, do you think he would find the hula presented there "traditional?" I don't know the answer to that question. It is merely a question.
Even the terms devised by Hawaiians to describe hula and the mele written for the hula bespeak an evolution of the hula tradition. The song form with which we are most familiar for hula - the verse-vamp-verse-vamp-rinse-lather-repeat song form - is called hula ku'i. According to wehewehe.org, hula ku'i literally means "joined hula" - or, more appropriately, "hula where old and new steps were joined together." Not only did the Hawaiians themselves coin a phrase to describe a point-in-time change, the phrase portends that if there was a change once, there may be many more changes in the future.
I would hate to imagine a world where the hula still looked the way it did in Kalakaua's time. I would hate to imagine a world where there were no compositions by Helen Desha Beamer, Vicki I'i, Lena Machado, Haunani Apoliona, or Kainani Kahaunaele. (After all, women were once forbidden from writing songs. That was a tradition.) I would hate to imagine a world where Keola Beamer could not play slack key guitar on a Fender Stratocaster or where Jeff Au Hoy could not plug in his Rickenbacker fry pan steel. (The Strat did not exist when slack key was born. And electricity was not prevalent in Hawai'i when the steel guitar was born. So neither is part of the Hawaiian music tradition.) And I would hate to imagine a world where I could not jam with Konabob while he plays his Walkingstick. (The Walkingstick is not part of the Hawaiian music tradition. Bob took two widely accepted Hawaiian traditions - upright bass and slack key guitar - and created an entirely new instrument - an upright slack key bass. By combining two existing traditions, did he expound on tradition or altogether buck it?)
I cannot find words to express my most profound belief that "tradition" is a construct that varies from person to person. Despite that we can find whole populations and subpopulations of people who say they adhere to the same "tradition," if you ask them specific questions about their specific beliefs and understandings of their tradition, you will likely find thousands of variations on their tradition. Definitions of "tradition" have to allow for shades of gray, but so much of the conversation about the Hawaiian tradition is had in black and white.
How do we prove that what appears to be the end of tradition by revolutionaries with new ideas may, in fact, be the continuation and evolution of tradition necessary to keep it from dying? Here are a few names that might serve as reminders of those who served Hawai'i in their efforts to stay true to tradition while moving tradition forward: Andy Iona. Johnny Noble. Alvin Isaacs. Pua Almeida. Lena Machado. Freddie Tavares. Benny Saks. Richard Kauhi. Sonny Chillingworth. Eddie Kamae. Kahauanu Lake. Peter Moon. Keola Beamer. Pauline Kekahuna. Keali'i Reichel. Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu. Zanuck Lindsey. If you don't know what these brave people did that was different than those who came before, there is some more reading - and listening - in your future.
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 2:35:53 PM
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If you had to summarize these types of conversations (which we have often here at TP as well as in person - because we all clearly give a damn about the arts we enjoy) in brief, you could do no better than this:quote:
Originally posted by hwnmusiclives
You have picked an arbitrary point in time and said, "From this point on, things must always be this way." But what if we pick a different point in time?
Thanks, Bill. And Wanda. |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 4:32:50 PM
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(Bill, come back and jam with me any time!)
I know very little about hula, but I am glad that there are people who do. If they know the tradition, and choose to push the limits, it is probably a good thing. There will always be a place for old school hula.
Don Kaulia and others keep pushing slack key out of the box. I have no problem with that. Others enjoy recreating the older styles note-for-note and I have no problem with that either. It is done out of respect for the traditions...
I would personally be thrilled to see some young kid figure out a new set of tricks for the steel guitar. Shirley and I were just on Maui for the Henery Allen steel guitar festival. I am 57, and may have been the youngest steel player there (Alan Akaka is probably younger than me, but not by much). Something fresh is needed. I don't need to hear a 20 year old playing "Pearly Shells" or "Beyond the Reef"... Traditional Hawaiian steel guitar stuff. Just to see a young local kid playing one with a sense of love for the instrument would thrill me. Last week a young kid walked up to me and asked me what instrument I was playing. When I told him it was a Hawaiian steel guitar, his eyes glazed over and he walked away playing his 'ukulele.
Aloha,
-Konabob |
Konabob's Walkingbass - http://www.konawalkingbass.com
Taropatch Steel - http://www.konaweb.com/konabob/
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=Konabob2+Walkingbass |
Edited by - Konabob on 04/29/2010 4:39:01 PM |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2174 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 03:20:03 AM
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| Innovation is part of tradition. It's that way because every human experiences life differently (we're all alike- we're all different), bringing different temperment and background to the present task. Modern consumer culture forces one to be a spectator. Humans fair better as participants. Thus the tension between personal preferences and what is offered for spectating. It is good to see performances. It is also good to participate with friends and family. It is impossible to raise a group to consciousness. |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 07:39:00 AM
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"Modern consumer culture forces one to be a spectator."
It certainly prods us in that direction. I really hate to hear people say "Oh, I can't sing", or "I can only play CD's". BullS%%$T!
They just have been told by our culture; "Leave singing and playing to the professionals". Kanikapilas are a really good antidote.
If you are afraid to sing in public, try it in your car or the shower until you learn how to control your vocal cords... that's how the pros get started... really!
Aloha,
-Konabob |
Konabob's Walkingbass - http://www.konawalkingbass.com
Taropatch Steel - http://www.konaweb.com/konabob/
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=Konabob2+Walkingbass |
Edited by - Konabob on 04/30/2010 07:39:40 AM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 07:40:24 AM
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Changes brought about by those who are expert in their field is one thing, permitting the uneducated public to vote demeans everything Merrie Monarch is and has been. Soome things ain't fittin' and boy-oh-boy, to ME that is one thing that sure ain't fittin'.
I am not talking about no innovation in the genre of hula. A kumu hula can change what he/she wishes, as long as it is something they can live with inside themselves. But a kumu hula has the chops to do so. The ordinary viewing public knows little if anything of the mele, the reason the mele was chosen, what the meanings are, why the costuming fits the hula. Everything that is done there is done for a most specific and deliberate reason, from the lei they wear to the color choices of their clothing, to the hairstyles. All the hula has been so thoroughly researched until the haumana, until the dancers, know that mele as well as if they had written the it themselves. The moves are so classic and so specific, similar to ballet. Each movement means something.It really is a very formal dance and is so much more than a dance. It is a way to tell the story of the mele, to help the chanter or the singer remember what words to say.
I posit that many who may be calling for a change in the Merrie Monarch are the ones who a. Do not speak the language of Hawai`i, 2) have not studied hula to any great depth and know very little about the history, myths and legends of Hawai`i, from the names of the various ali`i who may be sung about to the names for all the different moons, to the names of various plants and when one is appropriate to use in a lei to the different names for the winds. It is just so much more complex, and it is not a MIss America contest. It is sacred. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 05/01/2010 05:23:33 AM |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 1:32:33 PM
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| No one has more zeal than the convert. |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 2:57:56 PM
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"Slinging mud ain't arguing." -Huck Finn.
If you don't have logical points to make,don't resort to quotes taken out of context. At least credit the author.
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 3:16:53 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by rendesvous1840
"Slinging mud ain't arguing." -Huck Finn.
If you don't have logical points to make,don't resort to quotes taken out of context. At least credit the author.
Unko Paul
"No one has more zeal than the convert."
-Retro, not quoting anyone else, to the best of my knowledge; rather, stating my own perspective. |
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 9:04:16 PM
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How many of you are not "converts"?
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A better way to judge Merrie Monarch????
