*L. a Living dance is a 1st Generation dance that is still performed in the country of origin (or immigrant communities) as part of a social event like a wedding where others can participate (not for an audience) by people who learned the dance informally (from friends and relatives by observation and imitation, not in a classroom situation). For more information, click here and here
- Introduction to Hula
- In the Beginning…..Ancient Hawai’i
- Oli (chant)
- mele pule (prayer),
- hula kuahu (ritual dance),
- kūʻauhau (cosmogeny), koʻihonua (genealogy),
- Other types of oli include;
- Oli (chant without dance), vs Mele (chant with dance)
- Hālau Hula
- Hula Kahiko
- Instruments used in hula kahiko
- Hula ʻAuana
- Clothing
- Monarchs, Merrie Monarch & Merrie Monarch Festival
- Hawaiian monarchs – 1795 – 1893 – a natural extension of the Aliʻi.
- The Merrie Monarch Festival
- Hula and Gender
- Hula in Everyday Life
- Conclusion
Introduction to Hula
Hula is THE dance and cultural icon of Hawai’i. Hula was integral to Hawaiians before the white man “discovered” the islands. Hula is not just swaying hips, it’s history, genealogy, sacred worship, celebration of family and love of the land. The intricacies of Hula are passed down from generation to generation as one passes on family heirlooms – at the appropriate time, to the appropriate person, and are not shown to just anybody. The hula seen by the casual visitor is merely the tip of a hula culture formed by oceans and volcanoes that extend far back in time and deep into core of the earth.
In the Beginning…..Ancient Hawai’i
The Hawaiian Islands are VERY remote – among the last places on earth to be populated by humans. The first to settle there were Polynesians who arrived via sailing canoes, possibly in two waves; Marquesas Islanders circa 300- 900 CE, then Tahitians in the 1200’s.
Ancient* Hawaiʻi was a caste society evolved from other Polynesians. In The overthrow of the kapu system in Hawaii, Stephenie Seto Levin describes the main classes:
- Aliʻi. This class consisted of the high and lesser chiefs of the realms. They governed with divine power called mana. Hula performed as entertainment for chiefs were anxious affairs. High chiefs typically traveled from one place to another within their domains. Each locality had to house, feed, and amuse the chief and his or her entourage. Hula performances were a form of fealty, and often of flattery to the chief. During the performances the males would start off and the females would come later to close the show. Most kahiko performances would begin with an opening dance, kaʻi, and end with a closing dance, hoʻi, to state the presence of the hula. There were hula celebrating his lineage, his name, and even his genitals (hula maʻi). Sacred hula, celebrating Hawaiian gods, were also danced. All these performances must be completed without error (which would be both unlucky and disrespectful). Visiting chiefs from other domains would also be honored with hula performances. (This courtesy was later extended to important Western visitors.)
- Kahuna. Priests who conducted religious ceremonies, at the heiau and elsewhere. Professionals included master carpenters and boatbuilders, chanters, dancers, genealogists, physicians and healers.
- Makaʻāinana. Commoners that farmed, fished, and exercised the simpler crafts. They labored not only for themselves and their families, but to support the chiefs and kahuna. Hula performed for spontaneous daily amusement or family feasts were attended with no particular ceremony.
- Kauwā. A broad and degrading term referring to servants, slaves, and outcasts. Marriage between higher castes and the kauwā was strictly forbidden. The kauwā worked for the chiefs and males were often used as human sacrifices via drowning at the luakini heiau. (Lawbreakers of other castes and defeated political opponents were also sometimes used as human sacrifices.)
*Hawaiians use the word “ancient” to refer to Hawaiian culture and society in the time before the “discovery” by the White Man (Captain Cook in 1778) changed everything – a span of roughly 500 years.
Oli (chant)
Oli is the fundamental structure of hula, the uniquely Hawaiian dance form. Without oli, there is no hula. Hawaiians had no written language, so history, customs, creation myths, beliefs, genealogies, legends, had to be passed from generation to generation orally by chants; oli in Hawaiian. To make oli easier to remember, and thus to ensure accuracy, the composer of an oli had to follow certain conventions.
From Wikipedia: The ʻŌlelo Noʻeau (Hawaiian saying or proverb), “‘O ‘oe ka luaʻahi o kāu mele,” translates loosely as “You bear both the good and the bad consequences of the poetry you compose” The idea behind this saying originates from the ancient Hawaiian belief that language possessed mana, or “power derived from a spiritual source” particularly when delivered through oli (chant). Therefore, skillful manipulation of language by haku mele (composers) and chanters was of utmost reverence and importance. Oli was an integral component of ancient Hawaiian society, and arose in nearly every social, political and economic aspect of life.
Traditional chant types are extremely varied in context and technical components, and cover a broad range of specific functions. Among them (in vague descending order of sacredness) exist
mele pule (prayer),
hula kuahu (ritual dance),
kūʻauhau (cosmogeny), koʻihonua (genealogy),
https://www.gohawaii.com/hawaiian-culture/music/hawaii-chant This site displays an oli “Ea Mai Hawaiinuiakea”, with English translation, that speaks of the genealogy of the Hawaiian Islands themselves and includes references to the divine origins of early chiefs and kings. To hear the chant spoken click the speaker button, upper right corner.
Other types of oli include;
hānau (birth), inoa (name), maʻi (procreation/genital), kanikau (lamentation), hei (game), hoʻoipoipo (love), and kāhea (expression/call out).
Oli (chant without dance), vs Mele (chant with dance)
An important distinction between oli, hula, and mele is as follows: mele can hold many different meanings, and is often translated to mean simply, song. However, in a more broad sense, mele can be taken to mean poetry or linguistic composition. Hula (chant with dance) and oli (chant without dance) are two general styles in which mele can be used/performed. Generally, “all mele may be performed as oli (chant without dance), but only certain types such as name chants, sex chants, love chants, and chants dedicated to the [‘aumakua] gods of hula (ritual dance), may be performed as hula (chant with dance).”
Hawaiian language contains 43 different words to describe voice quality; the technique and particularity of chanting styles is crucial to understanding their function. The combination of general style (with or without dance) and the context of the performance determines what vocal style a chant will use. Kepakepa, kāwele, olioli, ho‘āeae, ho‘ouēuē, and ‘aiha‘a are examples of styles differentiated by vocal technique. Kepakepa sounds like rapid speech and is often spoken in long phrases. Olioli is a style many would liken to song, as it is melodic in nature and includes sustained pitches, often with ‘i‘i, or vibrato of the voice that holds vowel tones at the ends of lines.
Oli is universally considered as the most typical type of indigenous music that is not constructed onto meters. In fact, the artistic expression of oli varies according to the circumstances where the performance is conducted, which is also the reason why there are five different articulatory vocal techniques were developed in oli repertoire. These five styles are:
- kepakepa: A conversational patter that is expected to be performed swiftly, where the syllables are usually too short to allow pitches to be identified.
- kawele: Comparing with the kepakepa, syllables are sustained a bit longer in kawele, but yet to be easily identified in pitches. It tends to be a more suitable form for recitation and declamation among Olis.
- olioli: It is regarded as the most commonly used kind of oli, which the sustained pitch monotone carries the poetic form in a more vocally-embellished way.
- ho‘āeae: It uses sustained pitches more often and there can be multiple pitches following fundamental configuration throughout the musical context.
- ho‘ouweuwe: it is exclusively applied as the laments in funeral.
So hula is not a dance like kolo or syrto – not a pattern to do with your body while moving to music. Hula does not have a structure independent of the oli it illustrates. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form. Without an underlying oli, there is no hula.
Hālau Hula
Hālau is the Hawaiian word for an organization that teaches hula. The term comes from hālau, literally, “long house, as for canoes or hula instruction”; “meeting house”. Hula is far more than learning dance steps, and a hālau’s responsibilities include inculcating traditional Hawaiian culture and values, developing the proper spirit in the dancers, learning multiple meanings to Hawaiian words and phrases, understanding the role of plants and animals and their uses and mythic meanings; in short, transmitting Hawaiian culture from generation to generation.
The leader of a hālau is called the kumu. The position is more akin to an elder or a guild leader or a buddhist master than a hired teacher. A kumu must be chosen by another kumu under which he or she served a long apprenticeship, and only if the elder kumu deems the apprentice ready, will the title of kumu be applied. It is up to the new kumu to recruit students, who will then be identified as members of the hālau containing the new kumu’s name, and whose reputations as dancers are based on the kumu’s opinion. There are no formal exams. The quality of a hālau is the collective quality of the kumu’s students.
Wikipedia: In hālau hula (hula schools) asking permission to enter the space in order to partake in the knowledge of the kumu (teacher) is a key component to being a student. Many hālau use a variation of “Kūnihi,” [4] an oli kāhea, most typically done in an olioli style. Students often stand outside the entrance and chant repeatedly until the kumu decides to grant them permission to enter, and uses a different chant in response. This is an example of how oli is integrated into modern day cultural practices, within the context of hula training.
Hula Kahiko
Ancient hula, as performed before Western nations’ encounters with Hawaiʻi, is called kahiko. It is accompanied by oli and traditional (mostly rhythm) instruments. Many hula kahiko are considered to be religious performances, as they are dedicated to, or honoring, a Hawaiian goddess or god. As was true of ceremonies at the heiau, the platform temple, even a minor error was considered to invalidate the performance. It might even be a presage of bad luck or have dire consequences. Dancers who were learning to do such hula necessarily made many mistakes. Hence they were ritually secluded and put under the protection of the goddess Laka during the learning period. Ceremonies marked the successful learning of the hula and the emergence from seclusion. Hula was originally an exclusively male activity.
There are two main positions of a hula dance: either sitting (noho dance) or standing (luna dance). Some dances utilize both forms.
Instruments used in hula kahiko
Other instruments: Kālaʻau—rhythm sticks https://omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/2679 The dog’s-tooth anklets sometimes worn by male dancers could also be considered instruments, as they underlined the sounds of stamping feet.
Hula ʻAuana
Hula, as it evolved under Western influence in the 19th and 20th centuries, is called ʻauana (a word that means “to wander” or “drift”). It is accompanied by song and Western-influenced musical instruments such as the guitar, the ʻukulele, and the double bass.
Mele are often descriptions of favored locations. Here’s Akaka Falls on the Big Island (Hawai’i)
Here’s the mele Akaka Falls. Music for hula ‘auana often features male falsetto voicing.
Hula ‘auana vary tremendously in style and execution
Clothing
Monarchs, Merrie Monarch & Merrie Monarch Festival
Hawaiian monarchs – 1795 – 1893 – a natural extension of the Aliʻi.
The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian: Ke Aupūni o Hawai‘i), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island of Hawaiʻi, conquered the independent islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi and unified them under one government. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined the Hawaiian Kingdom voluntarily. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua. Wikipedia
As soon as Hawaii was ‘discovered’ in 1778 by British Captain James Cook, competition began among rival naval powers, including the British, Americans, Japanese, and even Russians for effective control of its strategic location. All claimed to respect the Kingdom as a sovereign nation, but wanted influence over its natural resources, economy, and social structure.
Kamehameha the Great had used his relationship with Western powers to build the wealth and armaments necessary to conquer the other islands. However the benefits brought by outsiders were soon outweighed by dangers, as the triple scourges of diseases, capitalists, and missionaries combined to destroy a once-thriving Hawaiian culture and identity.
After Kamehameha’s death in 1819, his favorite wife (of several) Kaʻahumanu was striving to assert her power (and women’s powers in general) by breaking kapus (taboos) that decreed women could not eat with men, and could not eat some foods that men could eat. In her power struggle with Kahuna‘s, who believed the gods would not communicate with a woman, and therefore a woman could not rule, she came to believe the Christian God would talk directly to her. She converted to Christianity, and broke several kapu’s that should have resulted in her death. When she didn’t die (her 22-year-old adopted step-son Liholiho, King Kamehameha II, refused to kill her) the power of kapus was broken.
She convinced the king’s advisors that she should be co-ruler with Kamehameha II, who died 5 years later, then with Kamehameha III, who was only 12 at the time. In 1830 missionaries convinced her to outlaw ‘pagan’ hula.
The Americans had the most to gain by controlling Hawaii. Having just taken California from Mexico in an 1848 war, and simultaneously being flooded with newcomers seeking their fortunes in the 1848 California Gold Rush, their new Western seacoast territory needed provisions – mostly food. The land between the Mississippi and California was mostly hostile Indian territory, there was no railroad, no Panama Canal, shipping was around South America’s treacherous Cape Horn. Food grown and shipped from Hawaii was the shortest source.
American entrepreneurs began growing sugar in plantations in 1835. Within thirty years plantations operated on the four main islands. Sugar completely altered Hawaii’s economy. American influence in Hawaiian government began with U.S. plantation owners demanding a say in Kingdom politics, driven by missionary religion and sugar economics. Pressure from these plantation owners was felt by the King and chiefs as demands for land tenure. Previously, private land ownership did not exist. Stewardship of the land was the responsibility of the King and a few managers. In 1840, Kamehameha III was persuaded by a coalition of American businessmen and missionaries to convert Hawaii into a constitutional monarchy. He agreed, with the best of intentions, thinking it would guarantee native Hawaiians access to their land.
One of my favorite Woodie Guthrie lines: “some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with fountain a pen”. In the case of Americans on Hawaiians, they used both. Over time Americans gained control of the legislature, enacting laws that helped disenfranchise Hawaiians and legalize foreign landownership. They enabled the kings to live a lifestyle beyond their means, making them indebted and thus beholden to business interests. When monarchs refused to yield to American demands, they resorted to force, first in 1887, (the Bayonet Constitution); then in 1893 staging a coup d’etat, imprisoning at gunpoint in her home, Queen Liliʻuokalani for two years until she abdicated. In 1896 when Hawaii was ‘officially’ under US control, one of the new government’s first acts was to ban the speaking of Hawaiian in Hawaiian schools. The ban was not rescinded until 1978.
By the time Kalākaua became king in 1874, these processes were well under way. Kalākaua was a jolly soul who enjoyed being king, enjoyed a good party, enjoyed spending, and loved his people – hence his unofficial title “The Merrie Monarch“. He also was serious about taking back some power from foreigners. Kalākaua was “a patron of the arts, especially music and dance,” and is credited with reviving many endangered native Hawaiian traditions such as mythology, medicine, and chant. He was also a strong supporter of hula. At his delayed Coronation in 1883, he hosted a lavish 2-week celebration on the Palace grounds, featuring hula every night; thus ending Kaʻahumanu‘s 53-year ban.
The Merrie Monarch Festival
“The Merrie Monarch Festival is a week-long cultural festival that takes place annually in Hilo, Hawaii during the week after Easter……Many hālau hula (schools), including some from the U.S. mainland and some international performers, attend the festival each year to participate in exhibitions and competitions. The festival has received worldwide attention and is considered the most prestigious of all hula contests.
The competitive hula events end the week, and occur on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; they are televised and live-streamed online by KHII-TV…..Proceeds from the festival support educational scholarships, workshops, seminars, symposiums and the continuation of the event itself.”
So states Wikipedia‘s rather dry intro to their Merrie Monarch article, which doesn’t begin to convey the Festival’s importance to Hawaiians. The Festival has been dubbed “The Olympics of Hula”, and it’s true in terms of fierce competition across multiple categories. However a more apt comparison would be to Olympic figure skating, where winners are determined by a panel of judges making decisions based on aesthetics as well as execution of figures, or to Olympic synchronized swimming, where the position and timing of all are critical to success.
As of 2023, Competition categories include
Kahiko (ancient): Kane (men) and Wahine (women). Ranked awards to top five halau’s. ʻAuana (modern): Kane (men) and Wahine (women). Ranked awards to top five halau’s. Miss Aloha Hula: Ranked awards to the top five wahines representing halau’s.
Hula and Gender
Hula in Everyday Life
I recently attended an event on the island of Kaua’i that epitomizes for me the importance of hula in the everyday lives of Hawaiians. For 40 years Kaua’i has hosted an event called EKK – E Kanikapila Kakou (Let’s Strike Up the Music).
Held on Monday evenings from mid-January through March each year, the three-hour event features a “talk story/sing-along” format and performances by stars in the local music industry. The aim is to re-create the atmosphere of an informal backyard gathering – the kind that was popular before TV provided more sophisticated entertainment.
In addition to performers teaching ukulele chords to a mele, and the translations and correct pronunciations of Hawaiian lyrics, the performers are encouraged to share personal stories and talk about the mele’s background, including what inspired it’s composition and if there is any history or kaona (hidden meanings) behind them.
Often, attendees rise from their seats to dance to their favorite songs or are invited on stage to sing and play music with the artists.
An event I attended on Februray 26, 2023, was billed as ‘”all hula”. The first half consisted of performances by four local halau’s.
Carol Yotsuda, the event organizer for most of EKK’s existence, later wrote a report of the evening festivities. As I don’t have access to films (if there are any) of that evening, I’ve added YouTubes of similar events in other times and places in Hawai’i.
Carol wrote: The second half of the evening was a full-on free-for-all celebration of favorite hula mele that everyone loves to dance. Everyone was itching for this! The “Hula Juke-Box” made up of Maka Herrod, Lady Ipo, Anuhea Herrod and Maluhia Castillo collectively belted out the songs as hula dancers emerged out of the audience to dance to their favorite hula. It was quite thrilling to watch!
As the musicians launched into the lively Ka Uluwehi o Ke Kai about the plants of the sea – the delicious līpoa of Lāʻie, the kohu found in Keokaha and the delicious līpalu — written by Hawaii Island’s Edith Kanaka’ole, dancers surrounded the stage. It was amazing all the different ways in which the dancers interpreted picking seaweed in the ocean. This is the hula not to miss!
As the musicians started Dennis Kamakahi’s popular song about the waterfall on Molokaʻi, Wahine ʻIlikea, eight joyful dancers rushed to the stage. They looked beautiful; they felt beautiful; the audience could enjoy the beauty of the waterfall as described in the lyrics of the song.
Another popular Dennis Kamakahi song made popular by the Brothers Cazimero and danced by Leina’ala Heine, Pua Hone, was composed by Dennis as a proposal to his wife Robin. Popular in the seventies, it still holds its own as one of the hula mele loved by dancers.
Kipu Kai, is an island favorite with lyrics by Mary Kawena Pukui about her visit to the magical hideaway home of Jack Waterhouse behind Mount Hā’upu and music by Maddy Lam. Dancers from the audience were joined by nine dancers from Leihi’ilani’s hula hālau; they raced to the stage dressed in light chartreuse hula skirts topped with green printed bodice and arm sleeves topped off with feathered green neck lei and lei po’o made of fragrant green laua’e leaves. Color me green with envy; they looked stunning and danced exquisitely.
Request for Holoholo Ka’a came from Billy Swain; he bravely stepped up to the stage and gave his very macho-style hula as Lady Ipo belted out the song. Billy hiked up his pants which was finding its way down with his brisk hula moves. Billy’s Mom Dora Swain used to dance this hula at the former Kaua’i Sands Hotel.
Billy put in another request for Papalina Lahilahi, definitely one of the hula favorites as everyone raced to the stage. Lady Ipo shared, “At every lūʻau and every party and every Hawaiian show, Papalina Lahilahi will be played and by the time you reach sixty years old, you would have danced that hula to at least 40 different singers. You can even put it on your resume.” In short, this is a MUST song for hula dancers.
Lady Ipo loved when Kumu Hula Uncle Joe Kahalelio sang Pō La’ila’i about a walk in the full moonlight with your honey. She wanted to dance this hula so she asked upright bass player to take over the vocals . . . that was the big surprise of the night as Anuhea Herrod, who has been playing the upright bass for many years, sang this song in her pure clear voice. Why has she not been singing all these years? What a beautiful voice! This is a major find, girl; you can no longer hide behind that upright bass. Joining Maka and Lady Ipo on stage was Kumu Hula Beverly Kauanui, Sabra Kauka, Mahina Baliaris and others.
Every hula dancer, male or female, should know Aloha Kaua’i; it appears so as Lady Ipo started singing the familiar tune in her Bluesy style; over 75 dancers popped up in every available space to “surround hula” the entire ballroom. Leihi’ilani and Puamohala danced from the stage while everyone else just stood up from their seats and joined in the hula. Happiness was oozing out of everyone’s pores as they danced with such joy!
No matter where you come from, everybody will see Nāwiliwili as they land on Kaua’i by plane, by boat, by cruise ship, by canoe, by barge, by helicopter, etc. To acknowledge this famous entrance stretching from Ninini to Mount Hā’upu, the singers sang Nāwiliwili composed by George Manoa Huddy II. Blaine Sasaki, Sabra Kauka, Tom Bovee, Andy Hamano, hālau dancers strumming on ipu heke and others expressed their love for the welcoming embrace of Nāwiliwili.
Puamohala thanked the Mālie Foundation and GIAC for keeping this inclusive E Kanikapila Kakou going for all these years. She talked about the importance of keeping the precious Royal Coconut Coast corridor alive and thriving and asked her haumāna in stylish hula dresses to join her in dancing Waipouli, Robbie’s favorite song, about this special place on Kaua’i.
The EKK audience really know the ropes about how to bring a most enjoyable evening to a proper close as they stood up, joined hands and sang Hawai’i Aloha with joyful smiles on their faces… What a night!
Conclusion
Like every other aspect of Hawaiian life, hula has gone through profound changes in the roughly 245 years since the arrival of Captain Cook. From the celebrations and justifications of a caste-based collection of tribal chiefdoms, to the underground preservation of a minority culture oppressed by occupiers, to the transformation of that culture into a tourist commodity benefiting the oppressors, and finally to the instrument and centerpiece of a cultural resurgence, hula has survived and thrived. Today it is more varied, more vibrant, and stronger than ever.
Folkdance Footnotes 