Hula
Please post your comments and suggestions for this article.
Comment by Leah on November 1st, 2014 at 3:12 pm
I was born and raised in Hawai’i, and took hula for five years and studied ancient Hawai’i traditions throughout middle school. You seem to have mixed up your information with what Hula is. Hula is strictly Hawaiian, it does not belong to any other culture or nation. There are only two types of hula which are Kahiko and Auana. There is no contemporary hula, what you have been naming as contemporary hula is Tahitian dancing called ‘Ote’a Otamu, or just Otamu, which is very different from hula. At no time in Hawaiian history did hula dancers ever make and wear elaborate and tall headdresses, that tradition is native to Tahiti not Hawai’i. And you have listed a Maori dance (it looks like a Haka) as hula Auana. The tradition of tattooing or drawing in black on one’s face is native to the Maori culture of New Zealand, not Hawai’i. The first part of your article is accurate but some of your pictures are not. Any dancer wearing tall headdresses and skirts that go out past their hips at a significant distance is not dancing hula but a Tahitian number, and any face painting or tattooing is most likely Maori and not Hawaiian. I would suggest looking up performances of the Merrie Monarch Festival of Hula Kahiko and Hula Auana and you will see a difference specifically to the dress but also the particular rhythm of the dances. And maybe find Hawaiian textbooks that are specifically about Hawai’i so that you can experience hula which is beautiful and the other dances of Polynesia. The many island regions of Polynesia are very different in their traditions and cultures and I think it would be helpful for those trying to learn this information that it be accurate. I hope this was helpful in helping you to work out these certain details in your article.
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on November 2nd, 2014 at 6:50 pm
Thank you, Leah, for your feedback. Your points are well taken and very helpful in correcting the confusion in the article. The text (and images) will be reviewed and revised appropriately. Thank you again for taking the time to help make NWE a valuable information resource.
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