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Melody Tracy

ENG 101-95

JOHN GOLDFINE

November, 16, 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary

Background

Why?

What I know

Methodology

What I learned

The future

Summary

I chose my topic on hula dancing and how to better connect with hula because I have a hard time showing emotion during my dancing. My teacher tells me all the time that I am a wonderful dancer but I need to show more emotion. While I am dancing my face shows that I am concentrating on the dance and the moves not the meaning behind the dances. With hula you really need to tell a story to your audience with your movements. I wanted to find out more about the history so hopefully it would help me connect more to the dances.

Background

I was involved in dance when I was younger but I didn’t keep up with it because none of my friends were taking class and I didn’t want to be the only one. I did go to gymnastics for a few years and that was probably my favorite and the one I stuck with the longest. I eventually stopped going so I could play sports in school. The last time I took any kind of dance lessons was Jazz and that was when I was in high school. I didn’t enjoy going because we didn’t learn dances it was more just the different steps. I know in order to learn dances you have to know the steps but I got bored quickly and needed something more to keep me interested. After a few months of learning jazz steps I decided not to go any longer. I have always wanted to go back to dancing since it’s something I love to do but I could never find the time or money to go.

Every time I would go into get my hair done my hairdresser would talk about a hula class she was taking. She said it was a lot of fun and they learned different dances so they could perform for people. She had been taking lessons for a few months and really enjoyed it. The more and more I heard her talk about it the more I was interested and thought I should give it a try. She said that the hula group was going to perform at her birthday party so I should go and check it out. I couldn’t make it to her party but my mother ended up going and telling me all about it. She said they had on beautiful outfits for each dance they performed. There was only about 5 ladies dancing and then about 4 little girls.

I finally called the teacher; Marybeth to see when I could come by. She said she has classes on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday so any day would be fine. She holds her classes at her house which I learned was only five minutes away from mine. A friend and I decided to go a week later and try it out. I wanted a time where I could do something for myself and I figured this would be a great opportunity. I have three wonderful kids and a husband at home but sometimes it is nice to do something for your self. I thought this was perfect since the class wasn’t very much money and it wasn’t that far away both of those are important to me since I didn’t want to take away from my family. I figured I deserved a little time away.

Why?

Some people can automatically put emotion behind anything they do on the other hand have a hard time doing that. Some of the woman I dance with you can see on their faces all the emotion they put into it. I wish I knew how they do that. You can look in some of their eyes and just see that they are into the song and all the meaning that is behind it. My issue is that my dancing is passable but to an expert I am cold. My face and body motion during the dances doesn’t show anything. I am to busy trying to think of what comes next that I can’t think of anything else.

What I know

I know that I love to dance but I lack the knowledge to tell a story with my dancing since I don’t know a lot about the meaning of hula. I know that my teacher says that I a beautiful dancer and I learn quickly but I need to get into the music. I’m not sure why hula started I think it had something to do with wanting to tell a story through dancing and performing. During the dances you hear a lot of chanting in the songs I believe it’s letting the audience know what the dance is about. I don’t know what they are saying all the time so it is hard for me to connect with the different dances. It is hard to show the audience the story when I don’t know the whole story a lot of the time. When you are performing you change your outfits according to the song you are doing. For a slow hula dance you usually wear a long dress and for most of the other dances you wear a long full skirt and a top that looks kind of like a tube top but it isn’t fitted.

In hula you have to stay very low basically squatting most of the time you’re dancing, so your legs need to be strong. I think that by doing squats at home that would help with my endurance when it comes to this. Your upper body has to be very still the hard thing about hula is that you have to only move your lower body. Your movements have to be very controlled the entire song. There are many different levels in hula this means your levels vary from standing up straight to sitting on the floor. I don’t have issues with learning the dances because I can continue to practice until I get it right. I guess practice makes perfect.

Methodology

Most of my research was done on the internet by looking up the background of hula. I found a lot of websites about Hawaii and hula and for the most part they all said pretty much the same thing. They all talked about how Hula is the sprit of Hawaii. I got most of my information from two websites Aloha Magazine and Indian Child. They had very similar information but I found them both extremely helpful.

Both websites said that hula is a rich tradition of Hawaii. When hula first started it was viewed as a sacred ritual but it slowly became a form of entertainment. Mele is what is known as poetic text. There are a lot of legends about hula and one of them says that hula originated when the goddess of fire commanded her younger sister to dance. The website also talked about another legend that says her younger sister danced to appease her sister. I found out that most of the hula that is danced today is for pure entertainment but they used to use it as a form of prayer. Overtime the significance of the dances was lost. When the missionaries saw hula they outlawed it as a pagan practice but people still performed it in secret so the art wouldn’t be lost. When the king Kalakaua was elected he was very fun loving and loved to celebrate so during his time as king is when hula started to be the symbol of Hawaii. He said that “hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.”

During the dances we have to do a lot with our arms and hands. I wanted to find out more on the gestures we make during the dances and the meaning behind them. I found out that those gestures carry the most meaning. The movements can represent any part of nature or life; plants, trees, war, wind, fire or water. The hand movements and body language don’t tell the whole story they highlight the important elements.

Another question I had was what does all the chanting mean during the music? When we are dancing we have to chant at the beginning and end of some of the songs. The chanting is called mele which means the poetry of hula. The chants can be a prayer, about chiefs, love songs or songs on praising the land. The different chants in the song can help me is classify the dances.

When doing my research I learned that we use a lot of the traditional instruments. Marybeth has many instruments in her studio but I have personally only used three they are called `uli`uli (feather decorated gourd rattle,) `ili`ili (water worn stone pebbles played like castanets) and the kala`au (sticks). I enjoy using the instruments it does make a little harder since you have another thing to think about but it makes the dance that much more interesting for the audience.

The last thing I was trying to find were excercises I could do to help me become stronger physically as a dancer. I kept hitting dead ends the internet kept directing me to workout videos for hula. Then I asked my teacher and she said as long as you are practicing hula three times a day your legs will become stronger. She said the more you practice the better dancer you will become overall.

I tried to think of another way to help me connect with the dances other then learning about the history so that is when I decided to ask some of the girls I dance with. A few of them said it was a release of stress for them. Dancing helped them forget about ever day stresses. One woman in particular does a wonderful job showing emotion on her face and really telling the story behind the dances. I asked her how she can show so much emotion. She told me that her daughter was very passionate about dance and that she had past away so every time she dances she felt like she was connecting with her. She also said that she has been doing all types of dance for a long time now and it really takes practice seeing as you are learning so much all at once. She told me to free my mind of everything and really listen to the songs and hold onto that feeling and go with it. The more you dance the more you will feel free to lose yourself in the music.

What I learned

I have learned that now I know the history behind hula I am even more fascinated with the art of the dance. I have always wanted to talk to my teacher about the dance but she is always so busy so I never wanted to bother her. I always said I would find out more on my on time but could never find the time to do so. So when I was asked to do and I-Search this topic came to mind.

Even though I really wanted to do this topic it was hard to make it personal. I know that anyone can look up the information that I have in my paper but I truly wanted to know the history behind hula. I felt like it would benefit my dancing and hopefully help me become a better dancer. After finding all this information on how hula started I feel more confident in why people dance hula and that it is more then just a beautiful dance, it is a story.

The Future

I am going to continue dancing hopefully for a very long time. I now have more knowledge on Hawaii and Hula so I feel more confident in my dances. From now on when I go into class I am going to just let lose myself and really try to become what the song is talking about.

I am also going to have my teacher really explain the song and what it is talking about because I think that will really help me tell the story. I am typically pretty quiet in class and tend to go with the flow but from now on I am going to ask more questions so hopefully I will continue to learn more about hula and how I can become a more expressive dancer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Aloha Magazine.” Google.15 October 2007

http://www.alohamagazine.com/en/hula.htm

I used this website a lot I found this one the most helpful when it came to finding out the background. It also talks about the chanting and some of the implements they use. It talks about the different ways hula can be done and the many instruments that are used.

“Hawaiian Language.” Google.15 October 2007

http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/

On this website there was a page with Hawaiian songs on them with the English translation. I’m not sure this will help me with my songs but if I could see if my teacher could translate the words and copy them that might help. I did end up finding this website very helpful because a lot of the words on here weren’t ones that I hear Marybeth saying

Hartley, Bonnie. Personal Interview 10 November 2007

Bonnie has been dancing most of her life but she really went full force after her daughter passed away. She enjoys dancing since her daughter loved it she feels close to her daughter when she dances.

“iefit.” Google.15 Ocober2007

http://www.iefit.com/fitness/toning-videos.htm

I was looking for excercises to help with hula and it brought up many websites showing videos to buy. This one that I chose actually shows a number of videos showing you the basic hula moves along with strengthening your body.

“Indian child.” Google.13 October 2007

http://www.indianchild.com/games/hula-dancing.htm

Another good website even though it doesn’t offer a lot information the information it does offer is very meaningful.

Palmer, Kristy. Personal Interview 6 November 2007

Kristy started hula about 2 years ago and continues to go one day a week. She finds it to be a very nice stress relief from everyday life.

Tracy, Jess. Personal Interview 10 November 2007

Jess has only been dancing for 6 months but enjoys it very much. She wanted a really good workout and thinks hula is a perfect fit for her.