Mrs. Peltier-Low's class practicing the poi ball dance. From left to right: Shereise's back (?), Ku'u (foreground), Christina, me, Amanda, and two more unidentified people. (29) [640x480] [800x600] [1024x768]
May Day, or "Lei Day," as it is called here in the islands, is an occasion in Hawai'i that is very widely observed. May Day is officially on May 1st, but the May Day events occur all month long. Alvah Scott had their 1999 May Day on May 14th, for example (although we were probably one of the last schools to celebrate May Day). In most parts of the world, May Day is celebrated as a Labour Day. In the United States and England, May Day is celebrated as a "coming of Spring" festival. However, in Hawaii, "Lei Day" is a celebration of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture as well as a celebration of the lei. It was first celebrated in the late 1920's. It is celebrated in a series of festivals and by the simple giving of leis to one another. Following the celebrations, all the leis and flowers are usually taken to Mauna'ala, The Royal Mausoleum, in Nu'uanu where they are used to drape the crypts and tombs of the Hawaiian royalty.
Throughout the state, schools usually hold biannual May Day celebrations (though some schools they are held annually). Alvah Scott holds theirs biannually (barring unforseen circumstances, like after a *certain* prolonged teacher's strike in 2001 that caused May Day to be cancelled) on odd years. Thus, our last May Day at Alvah Scott was held in May 1999.
Preparation for that year's May Day started from about January 1999. Our performance that year consisted of a traditional Maori ceremony, consisting of a spear dance (performed by four males from the four respective 6th grade classes), karanga (performed by four females from the four respective 6th grade classes), haka (um I forgot what this was), and a poi ball dance called, "Pa Mai." Originally everyone was going to do the poi ball dance. Later, however, it was decided to divide the poi ball dance into three different groups: the poi ball performers (mostly females), the ukulele players (mostly males), and the hand dancers (whoever didn't wanna do either). Because of this, I actually learned part of the poi ball thingy beforehand. That's me in the background out in the sun practicing on the photo to the right. I sucked really bad. Later I became an ukulele player though which in comparison was probably easier. Plus I was way better at the ukulele anyway. I even got some kind of reward for being the "ukulele" person in our class but it was mostly tahnks to Reno for helping me so much. Oh well it was a lot of fun and I was happy.
Preparation for the event didn't only include practice. We also had "uniforms" which were modeled somewhat after those used in the Maori culture. They included a skirt made of beads for the spear people and the girls, and a sash for everyone. We also had war paint to draw weird stuff on our faces. We also had these trippy Maori necklaces that we made from clay. We spent a lot of time making the necklaces, I remember, and when one broke everyone mourned. Another notable piece of costume was, of course, the headbands that the girls wore.
Another thing that helped prepare us for this performance was a speaker who came straight from the New Zealand (or Autearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud) where the rich Maori culture comes from). He was a Maori who came as a guest of our Kumu. He answered questions we had about New Zealand, the Maori people, and more.
That year, on April 8th, also to help us prepare, we also visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here we visited a "Maori" village, set up by the staff. It was a very fun experience, visiting Aotearoa, Samoa, and I forgot what else. We also watched an IMAX movie at their IMAX theater which left several of us feeling dizzy.
However, nothing could ever compare to the amount of work we threw into our "Pa Mai" performance. Everyone had a different part. Because Ms. Villarmia taught me the chords for "Pa Mai" and Lance Agena taught me how to play "Hawaiian Suppa Man" on the ukulele, my job was to teach the rest of my class (our teacher wasn't as helpful and was short tempered...). It was fun even though I think the large performance area and the echo threw us off during the actual performance of Hawaiian Suppa Man after our performance...phasing anyone? While we practiced to get the music down, others had to practice the hand dance and the poi ball dance. The ukulele players had to keep sychronized as did the hand dancers. However, the poi ball dancers apparently had the hardest job of all, with many difficult steps in the dance itself especially in getting the poi balls to go so close together without hitting each other).
The first part of the show, as I mentioned, included the four boys--one representing each class--doing the spear dance. The second part of the show included the four girls--one representing each class--doing the karanga. The boys constantly had to practice their dance, because unlike the poi ball dancers, they had no one to follow. The girls also had to practice their karanga, although Kumu made a recording of them beforehand so they wouldn't have to destroy their poor voices. They were the first two highlights of the show so it set the mood for the rest of the show.
Finally, the day of the performance came. Everyone was nervous and tense. Brandon Taflinger had spent the past week compaining about the songs that Grades K-4 were complaining, as they were extremely IRRITATING and all sung by the same lady. We tried to ignore it the day of the show but unfortunately it was impossible. Finally our turn came up and we went onto the field. The spear dancers and karanga people did their thing excellently. Then came Pa Mai, the main part of the show and...well...we rocked! After the show, as we went off the field, we played, "Hawaiian Suppa Man," which we weren't supposed to because Kumu said so (it was a scheme of Ms. Villarmia that got us to do that). Actually come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Kumu was stunned about what we did but I'm not sure exactly how she reacted and she didn't say a word about it to our class or, to my knowledge, Mrs. Vilarmia.
In my time in elementary school, I had participated in four May Day's, but of them, the 1999 May Day was the best. It was most enjoyable and it's what I think about when I think of my final year at Alvah Scott.
Following the performance, the entire 6th grade class assembled onto the field for a group shot. This is the result, though the quality is pretty bad, sorry. Yeah we had a small class. :P (33) [640x480] [800x600] [1024x768]
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