What is hula?

Originally, hula is dances that express veneration for gods.
Hawaiian didn
’t have letter in old
days, so they expressed and transmitted myth,
legends, songs, and
poems from generation to generation.

There are two types of Hula. One is traditional hula named
Kahiko. Kahiko
is
hula that time to steps to the rhythm of percussions, and it has a
stronger meaning of
religion in its dance than Auana. Another one is modern
hula, called
Auana. You can often see Auana in hula festival or Waikiki.
This dance fit the
Hawaiian music such as ukulele and guitar. Most of songs
of Auana are including
elements of love.
It is said that hula has been more than 1000 years
ago. According to the
legend of Hawaii, the first person that danced hula was a leader of
Tahiti,
whose name is Laa. In old days, Hawaiians believed that there is
a god in
everything. For example, they believed there is a god in sea,
mountain,
sun, and dance. To respect these gods, hula was a way to pray for
these
gods. At this time, it was only men who were allowed to dance
hula. After
missionaries reached to Hawaii in 1920. They prohibited hula, but
in the
late of 19th century, hula was revival by king Kalakaua. After
Hawaii
became American territory, the movie of advertisement Hawaii as a
leisure
place was made in Hollywood. In this movie, Auana was born as a
kind of
entertainment for tourists.

Back