Hula The Heartbeat of Hawaii

Hula The Heartbeat of Hawaii

Coming to Hawaii The dancers are excited to begin. They have joined a hula school and have danced for many months. Soon, they hear the beat of a drum. Their hula teacher starts to chant in Hawaiian. Now the dancers move together. Their legs sway in rhythm, and their arms move in smooth gestures. At times, they chant along, adding their voices to the story. They are doing hula, a special kind of dance created by their ancestors. They are keeping hula alive today.

Hawaii was known to have been settled by Polynesian people around 1200 ce. They came 2, 600 miles (4, 184 km) from the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific Ocean. For most of Hawaii's history, its people did not have a written language. Instead, storytellers told tales with chants and songs. Music and dance added rhythm and drama to these stories. This helped Hawaiians understand important events in their history. Hawaii is the only U. S. state that is made up entirely of islands. Each of Hawaii's eight main islands was created by at least one volcano. Some ancient Hawaiian stories told about the volcanoes that created the islands that are now Hawaii.

Ancient Hula In ancient Hawaii, storytellers spoke of their ancestors. They told tales about love, war, and Hawaiian gods. They made up songs for important events. Dancers chanted along and danced, often using gestures that helped bring the stories to life. Together, these artists created ancient hula, or hula kahiko (HOO-lah kah-HEE-koh).

Hula Evolves Some modern experts believe that this special dance style started as simple swaying and chanting along with storytellers. In modern hula, most steps are done with knees slightly bent. This lets dancers sway their hips easily. The hips and feet keep the rhythm. The upper body stays straight, appearing to float above the swaying hips. Over time, dancers began to use their arms to make gestures. These gestures described the words in the songs or chants. The dancers' feelings showed on their faces. Hula teachers taught their students that “ the eyes follow the hands. " That way, the dancers became storytellers, too!

In both ancient and modern hula, every part of the body dances. Hula dancers chant and also create other sounds that become part of the act. They jump, stomp, and slap the ground. These gestures add sound and rhythm to the dance.