What makes a hula girl? Someone who dances it? A woman dancing their whole life? A Hawaiian girl? Or someone who has a love for the dance? This post I'll discuss the history and vocabulary in relation to hula dancing... as you can tell, I've decided to connect more to the Island detail in "What's Hot in the ISLANDS." This way you readers can get more of a taste of actual local, Hawaiian music.
History:
Ancient hula, as performed before Western encounters with Hawaiʻi, is called Kahiko. Kahiko is accompanied by a chant and traditional instruments. There are many ancient Hawaiian legends that explain how hula was created. One story is that Pele asked Laka to amuse her because Pele was bored. So right away Laka got up and began to move gracefully, acting out silently events they both knew. Pele enjoyed this and was fascinated thus Hula was born.
Another story is when Pele, the goddess of fire was trying to find a home for herself running away from her sister Namakaokaha'i (the goddess of the oceans) when she finally found an island where she couldn't be touched by the waves. There at chain of craters on the island of Hawai'i she danced the first dance of hula signifying that she finally won. King Kalakaua was the first to allow females to dance hula in public; before him, women were supposed to dance in secret with no one watching. King Kalakaua opened a new life to these women and they can now show their dance and talent with the world.
Vocabulary:
Here's your vocabulary lesson for the week on Hawaiian and Hawaiian music history. :)
Kumu= Teacher
Wahine= Woman
Kahiko= Ancient hula
Mele= chant/song
Halau= school where hula is taught (more of a small group than a school)
Kaikua`ana= brother
Kaikuahine= sister
We may not recognize, accept, or aknowledge it. but we're all hula girls at heart.
'Till next week, my hula kaikuahines and kaikua'anas,
musicbytori
