History of Hula

Hula is synonymous with Hawaii. Most images of the islands includes the grass skirt and ukelele. Here is the history of the dance and how it came to be so important.

Here is the history of the dance and how it came to be so important to Hawaiian culture. Hula is a dance accompanied by a chant or song. It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The chant or song is called a mele. The hula motions tell the story of the mele. Hawaiian history was oral history. In the absence of a written language, this was the only available method of ensuring accuracy. Chants told the stories of creation, mythology, royalty, and other significant events and people.

Hula dancing is a 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.

Costumes play an important role in the hula. Women traditionally wear skirts or dresses known as mu'u mu'u. Men may wear long or short pants, skirts, or a malo (a cloth wrapped under and around the crotch).

Mele

The mele is the song or chant that accompanies the hula. The hula encompasses a wide variety of styles, from the sacred to the frivolous. Many hula were created to praise the chiefs and performed in their honor, or for their entertainment, and many were for religious purposes. There are over 300 hula on record.

There are two different forms of hula, the hula kahiko and the hula 'auana. The kahiko is the traditional form of the dance, created before Western influence. Ai kahiko is Hawaiian for "in the ancient style", which are songs written in the 20th and 21st century that have been written to imitate the traditional style. The main difference between kahiko and 'auana is the instrumentation.

Hula Kahiko

Hula kahiko does not use Western instruments like the guitar or ukelele. Instead, it uses instruments like the ipu, which is a single gourd drum, the pu'ili, split bamboo sticks and the kala'au, or rhythm sticks.

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