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Hawaii Hula

Hula is the soul of Hawaii expressed in motion. Dance and music are combined together to express the rhythm of life.

Hawaii hula is a dance of gods. Hawaiians believe that the first hula dancer was the young goddess Hiiaka (the goddess of mercy and protection). The legend says, she walked in the forest and enjoy the swaying of the trees and rumble of the rocks in the nearby river.

She found that she could stamp the forest floor in the rhythm of the Earth, and move her body in time to the swaying of the trees. Her hands could imitate the language of the leaves. It was the first Hawaii hula dance.

Hawaii hula is unique and totally different from other Polynesian dances. It began as a form of worship during religious ceremonies, but it gradually evolved into a form of entertainment.

Every movement in Hawaii hula has its meaning. It can express plants or animals. Imitating a shark or waving palm tree, a hula dancer believes that he or she becomes the shark or palm.

Chants accompany the dance and tells the dancer's story. The costumes of Hawaii hula dancers consist of leis for the head and shoulders, pau (grass skirt), and anklets fashioned out of dog-teeth or whale bone.

The ancient hula dancers were taught at special hula schools - halau hula. Hula is a religious dance, and the training in these schools was strict. Students followed elaborate rules of conduct (kapu) and had to obey their teacher (kumu). Certain foods were forbidden and no sex was allowed. Some halau were located in temples.

During the 19th century, the hula almost disappeared. The missionaries considered it vile and too sensuous. King David Kalakaua actually saved the dance, when he formed his own troupe and encouraged the dancers to learn hula in the late 1800's.

Today's halau hula is similar to that of the past. One of the best Hawaii hula schools still can be found at Kee, near Haena on Kauai's north shore.