Hula

Aloha!


This morning in my Hawaiian Studies class we learned a little about hula kahiko - the traditional hula dance. It was first performed by men for religious purposes - each movement told a story, may have had a hidden meaning, and was often accompanied by chants. Later on, women started to participate in hula dances. Nowadays the stereotypical image of hula is of a woman wearing a lei, a coconut bra and a grass skirt, strumming her ukelele and dancing with flowing movements on the beach with a palm tree in the background.



When the missionaries arrived in 1820 they banned it for several reasons including its promiscuity. Here is an example - that my kumu showed us - of what a traditional hula dance would have looked and sounded like:

I want one.

Other Pacific art forms we learned about today include traditional clothing or kapa, feathered capes (ahu'ula), leis, and poi pounders. Kumu brought in an example of a poi pounder from the Marquesas. I dare you to image search "Marquesan poi pounder" on Google ;-)

Okay, well that was my morning so far. I've got a Hawaiian Environmental Science class starting in about one minute. Isn't it great that I can blog practically anywhere, now that I have an ultra-portable [at least more-so than my previous] computer?

A hui hou!