"See real hula" was some of the best advice my mother got for her first Hawaii vacation. Following that advice was easier than I could have guessed.
The suggestion came from the Hawaii-based flight crew on her trip to the islands. They didn't have specific recommendations, but suggested that she find hula as danced by local residents rather than seeing only the more staged (and athletic) Hawaiian luau performances.
We already had a fairly full agenda planned for her week here, but before I had the chance to investigate further, she happened upon a hula demonstration on the beach outside her Waikiki hotel. She, and other passers by, stopped to watch the free performance and listen to explanations tailored for visitors with an interest in learning more about Hawaii's beloved hula.
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Last evening, I had a similar experience. En route to an appointment, I saw people gathered in chairs and standing along the Waikiki Beach Walk, watching a hula performance. It was beautiful – everyone was smiling, both performers and audience members. One young visitor was copying the dancers, moving closer and closer to joining them until her mother noticed and brought her back to the spectator area. This Sunday evening performance is part of a series that includes Hawaiian musical groups.
There are also opportunities to learn a few hula movements, with free lessons for adults and children. Many of these performances and cultural lessons are available in Waikiki because that is where most hotels are located on Oahu. If you visit one of the neighbor islands, ask about similar opportunities at your hotel or local visitor's bureau. They are designed for visitors, at convenient locations and times, and usually free of charge.
Sharing a love of hula truly is a priceless Hawaii experience.
Posted by Cindy Scheopner Follow me on Twitter @Scheopner
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
October 25th, 2010
Forget Hollywood movies or vacation luaus, you haven’t seen hula until you’ve seen this week’s competitive performances in Hawaii – and now you can, in HD! The annual Merrie Monarch Festival is underway and televised coverage begins Thursday, this year in high definition. For those of you outside Hawaii, the HD coverage is also streamed online. Organizers say the festival is the most-watched, longest-running local TV program in Hawaii, broadcast since 1981.
The festival has been called the Olympics of hula, which suits the combined individual performances and team standings. It also hints at the rigorous preparation the dancers undergo. They train and practice year-round for this competition. I was awed by the athleticism of the dances, especially the men’s competition. I was also mesmerized by the undulating waves of hula when performed by groups – that aspect of the art is completely missing from most stage performances.
This year, the festival is missing two of its long-time organizers. Both George Na‘ope and Dottie Thompson died recently, as did well-known performer Rae Fonseca. There are sure to be tributes to their memory and contributions to the spirit of hula. The goal of the Merrie Monarch Festival is to perpetuate and promote the traditional culture of the Hawaiian people. Proceeds are used to support educational outreach through workshops, seminars and symposia.
The festival includes more than the hula competition. If you take a Hawaii vacation and attend in person, you can take in crafts fairs, an art show, music concerts, and a parade. It is a week-long celebration of all things hula on the Big Island of Hawaii, always held the week after Easter. Tickets go on sale for each year’s competition in December. This year, they were sold out by February. If you’d like to attend the event, detailed procedures for obtaining a ticket are available on the festival’s website. The 2011 dates are April 24-30. Tune in to the televised event this week and start making plans to experience this unique celebration of hula in person.
HD broadcast link:
http://www.k5thehometeam.com/Global/story.asp?S=12119261
Posted by Cindy Scheopner Follow me on Twitter @Scheopner
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
April 6th, 2010
Nothing is more widely recognized as Hawaiian than hula, and yet its true significance is often unseen. The roots of hula are deep in the history, culture and religion of Hawaii as it existed before sustained contact with other nations. Each movement of the hands or feet unites with the chant of the melody to tell an ancient story.
My first clue that it is more than an entertaining dance was to see people of all ages engaged in hula: very young children through grey-haired matrons, women and men alike. At that point, I thought it might be more like a folk dance, similar to square dancing on the mainland. You learn the moves as a child and can enjoy them for the rest of your life.
However, hula is celebrated as more than a custom. In pre-contact Hawaii, it was linked with worship. Specific movements not only tell a story, but are also linked with practitioners and schools as an oral transmission of culture. The way that hula was taught from master to student was interrupted in the 1800s when so many Hawaiians died of disease. Now preserving hula is a way of reaching back to its origins and carrying forward not only the practice but the understanding of its role in society.
Certainly, there are performances of hula that are more like a Las Vegas show than a worship service. I think now the comparison I would draw is with gospel music. Not every performance of a gospel song is a prayer, but its roots are firmly in faith whether sung in a church or on a concert stage. You needn’t be a Christian to understand that the song is a plea from petitioner to a very personal deity. If you look closely, hula also tells a story that unites individual, family and nature in aloha.
Posted by Cindy Scheopner Follow me on Twitter @Scheopner
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
February 23rd, 2010
Forty-six years ago the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce launched what has since become the world’s premier forum for people of all ages to display their skills and knowledge of the art of ancient and modern hula.
The annual Merrie Monarch Festival inthe town of Hilo on the Big Island has created a renaissance of the Hawaiian culture that is being passed on from generation to generation. The week-long festival includes art exhibits, craft fairs, demonstrations, performances, a parade that emphasizes the cultures of Hawaii, and a three-day hula competition that has received worldwide recognition for its historic and cultural significance. If you plan to be vacationing on the Big Island (or anywhere in Hawaii for that matter), and if you think you’d enjoy authentic hula performed beautifully by dedicated dancers, you should try to work the festival into your plans. The week dedicated to the festival is Sunday, April 12, 2009 through Saturday, April 18, 2009.
It’s a really big deal. In preparation for the Merrie Monarch Festival, hula studios and instructors in Hawaii and on the U.S. Mainland hold classes, workshops and seminars all year long to teach the art of hula, the meaning of Hawaiian chants and songs, the Hawaiian language, the making of Hawaiian clothing and crafts, and the history of the Hawaiian people.
Proceeds from the festival support educational scholarships, workshops, seminars, symposiums and the continuation of the festival.
The weeklong festivities begin with a Ho‘olaule‘a (music festival) on Coconut Island on Easter Sunday and continue all week with free noonday entertainment at the Hawaii Naniloa Resort and the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel on Banyan Drive. On Wednesday, there is a free exhibition night at the Edith Kanaka`ole Tennis Stadium that begins at 6:00 p.m. Thursday is the solo Miss Aloha Hula Competition, Friday and Saturday feature the group Kahiko (ancient) and ‘Auana (modern) hula competitions. There are arts and craft fairs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at several locations and the big Merrie Monarch parade winds through downtown Hilo beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Except for the hula competition, the events are free.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Related blog posts:
In Hawaii Hula is part of the Experience
Aloha Festivals Hard to miss on your Hawaii Vacation
History of the Merie Monarch Fesitival
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Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
February 18th, 2009
When you visit Hawaii, you’ll have ample opportunities to learn how to hula. If you already have learned the traditional dance, this is a good time to be here and indulge your interest.
The annual Invitational Hula Festival was held November 6-8 at the Waikiki Shell. Hula artists from 16 countries have assembled to celebrate everything natural in Hawaiian culture: costume, language, music and dance. Performances, although judged by 21 of hula’s most prestigious keepers of the art, remains a continuous cultural education and spiritual discipline.
Then, on November 13-15, the17th the annual World International Waikiki Hula Conference took place which is a rare opportunity to come to Hawaii to learn, share and experience the hula firsthand, with a variety of respected hula masters, many of whom do not travel outside Hawaii to teach. This all will all take place again next year, so you can give it a try on your Hawaiian Vacation.
Hula, while unique to the Hawaiian Islands, is taught worldwide in schools called halau. Hula is a very complex art form, and there are many hand motions used to signify aspects of nature, such as the basic Hula and Coconut Tree motions, or the basic leg steps such as the Kaholo, Ka’o, and Ami. If you’d like to take up the dance – or at least investigate its intricacies – go to www.mele.com and click on Halau Hula Listings.
If you’d like to attend either of the foregoing events, pick an agent from our Web site or call 1-800-843-8771.
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
December 23rd, 2008
