Dance the Hawaiian Hula

Hawaii is very famous around the globe for its hula dance. When people daydream about the Hawaiian Islands, there is no doubt that their minds would also drift towards this renowned dance. Tourists could also learn how to do the hula, particularly during luaus. The hula is a form of dance that is accompanied either by a song or a chant. It was the Polynesians, which are acknowledged as the original Hawaiian settlers, who developed the hula in the islands. The song or chant that goes with the hula is called the mele and what the hula dancers actually do is to dramatize or interpret the mele.

  There are various styles of the hula dance, but they are usually split into just two broad groups, which are kahiko and auana. Kahiko is what the locals call the ancient hula, which was performed prior to Hawaii’s encounters with the West. The kahiko is tied in with chants as well as some traditional instruments. The hula kahiko is presented these days by dancing gracefully to Hawaii’s historical chants. Plenty of hula kahiko are exemplified by the dancers’ traditional costumes, by their solemn looks, as well as by showing respect for their religious roots.

  Auana is the hula dance that evolved during the both the 19th and 20th centuries, when Hawaii is already under the Western influence. This type of hula is accompanied with a song in addition to musical instruments influenced by the West like the double bass, the ukulele and of course, the guitar. The contemporary hula came up from the modification of ancient hula dance and mele that were tweaked using Western influences. The main influences of this modern hula were musical harmony as well as the Christian value of morality. Nevertheless, the hula auana continues to convey or comment on a particular story, but these stories may contain some events that happened since the 1800s. A different matter that changed is the costumes of the lady dancers became less revealing.

 But nowadays, it seems that two more hula categories are materializing, namely monarchy and ai kahiko. The monarchy style contains the hula dances that were created and choreographed back in the 19th century. The ai kahiko form, that when translated means “in the ancient style,” are the hula dances written during both the 20th and 21st centuries that stick to the stylistic methods of the kahiko form.

 The hula is taught in dance schools that are called the hālau. The hula teacher is called the kumu hula and kumu, when translated, stands for the source of knowledge. The hula dance is a complicated and challenging art form. There are countless hand motions that are used in order to represent several facets of nature. Some examples of this are the basic Hula as well as the Coconut Tree motions, or a few basic leg movements like the Ami, Kaholo and Ka'o.

  There also exist other exotic dances that originate from the other Polynesian islands like Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and New Zealand or Aotearoa. But then, the hula dance is still unique to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands and no other dance form could ever come close to its exquisiteness. Kauai wedding specialist