Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXIII, Number 52, 26 ʻApelila 1939 — The History Of The Hula Dance [ARTICLE]

The History Of The Hula Dance

(Kroni Hawaiian Tonrfas Annual) Tlie hula"stood for very mueh to the aDcient Hawaīinn; it was to him in plaoe of our <:oneert hall an*J ]ecture ī'mni). our opera and theater. aud tlnis be(:azne one of his ihief iueans of sooial eujoyment. Besides this. it kept the eoimmmal innigination in living toucli with the nation's leicendary past. The liula had songs proper to itself, but it found a mine of inexliaustible wealth in the epics and wouderm.vtlis that eelel>rated the dolngS of the volcano goddess Pele an<i her eonipeei'ā. Thus in tlie cantillatioiis of the old-tiiue hula \ve find a ready made anthology that in- . olmles every species of coi»position in the whole range of Huwaiian r>ōetry.

The most telling record of a peoplo's intimate life is the record wliieh it uncon<ciously makes in its songs. The record whieh. the Hawaiian peoi>le have left ot ihemselves is fuli and spwiflc. When, therefore. we aslc what emotions stirred the old time nawaiian as he iipproached tlie great thenies of life and death, his iutitude toward nature, we sliai! find our answer in the ,songs aiul prayers and recitations of the liula. The hula, it is true, has heen unfortunate'in the mode and manne. of'its introduction to us moderus. An iiistituti<>n of divine, that is, religious, origin, the hula in modern times lias wandered so far that foreign and eritu-nl esteem has eome to associate it with the riotous and j>assionate ebullitions of Polynesian king-<. Whatever indelicacy iittaches in modorn times to some of the gesrurcs and contortions of the luila dancers, the old uiiie hula songs in large measure were untaintod wit.h grossness. If one co.ues to tlie study of the hula and its songs in the sp?rit.of a <-tnsorio\iS moralist lie will find v fcpthi".g for him ; if as a pure ethno. lcgjst. he will take pl.easure in point- , ing out tlie physi<-al resemblance of th,e Hawaiian dance to the lanyourous graoe of tlie nautch girls, of the gejshfl, an<l other oriental <]ancers. But if lie comes as a stu<3ent aiul !<»ver of human n;;ture. haek of the sensuous in the eiii«tional language of the songs h< will ttiid himself entering the p!a,vground of the humnn rnre. The hula was a religious service. in whieh poetry. niusic, pnntojnine. iind the dan« e lent themyelvoK, under tlie forms'of dramatic art, to the refreshiiicnt of men's minds. Tts view of life was idyllic, and it gave itse!f to the celebration of those iu.Ythic!il times when men and women \vere as gods. As to subject »t«tter, its warj> was spun largely 1 from the bowe!s of the old time iuythology imo cords tlirough whieh i!it* rai-e niainutined vital connect iou with īts niysterious past. Interwoven with these. form!ng the v/oof, were rhrea<ls of a thousand hues find of many fahrics, representing the imaginations of the I>oet, the specul:itfons of the philoso"Hher. the aspirjitions of niany a thirsty soul. as well as the ravin{js aiid lliune-colored pictures' of the seusuaUst, tlie «uit»orings and ln<a»tations of tlse kahunn, the rnyßi»'!'ic> and pai'aphenialla of Po!ynesian niyt!iology, the annal? of the Hi(iion's h!stor> -the materi«l, Jn f4H't. whieh in «nother natlon and un<l e r tli(Tenmt circuui.stiinces w ouid have gon<> to the making of its poetry, It> dr:ima, its ojH>ra, tts literature.

Tho Rn»f)t nn<l «niall, stl]>o irior i)ixl iitforU.tr, whom th<" uiui j»rai'titionors of t?U' luila worsldjipod ait<T K<ivyj:ht t<! vroro nmn,v; t»ut tln* nrtdiloss Laku wo* <nii> t<> wlmm tli<\\ I<>oko<l as tho ].iiiroii, s)tr wiw Unown ass t!ic Va<t !. flii' u-nwii-lumw» art !»n«l it. nni' «>f thp privyors Is l>e»oyght i.i taiio ]>itssos-si»n) of t!io w«r»lilp* 1«t, io hiui it» all liH j>artft «u<t ftu'ultU'> vi>it'o, hau\R f«?t, ;iiitl ilii' wlinlo Jhml,\. I«a.ka to j lum* hwvi 11 frioiul. but uoi, a roln-! iivc of tiio mnuorons Tolo f;nully. ! īii :tn»-it'i)t tun«>s 4lio hula to «] I«rj£*' 4 oxtoul a vTonturv of ro ] jiil kuium'H. Tlto ehioi'?! t'»ok UlO iuiiUtii\ r ii» il)o |trouii>t'ton of tlio Imh»1!1«''s un<l <>f tlio ltuln. Wo mu>t tl»oujrii, tiiut Uto liulm wa« «i ihUtg. i iii\ of .Uiinn®' $uil chlpflsli ■ ro,Jilou. i"-, ls Jnt«l miotli«r aut.l iuotmiir »!<lo lßut wi!th hti)R, i }i inihN liml to tho V!ngV lt| fu iln- oourl \wiv' ?!'< b.4f«U ;\tul (I{Osh< rVIH H> -t'f *- lim».' ill VI lttii»|. 5UOil»0 r:«>v \voro »»t«>roil tTso tu,yltiol<>gl<«A, n*nitiiM>N prov«-rMal vtNdoni. »Ti(l p.\otry thr»t, l,j v»k»U#Ji. v\j»« tlto *t«ff fr\tjto u!»htt wa* -vm Ih* „f (V ! i.l :

The court of t)ie alii was a vortex tTiiit dre\v in nor only the bards nnd men of lore, lmt the gay and ' las!iional)le route of pleasure seekers, the young men and women of | shapely form and graeious presence, j Uie flower and piek o£ Hawaii's ] youth. From these were selected i the ones to take part in the hula. i

"~The performers of the hula were divided into two c!asses, the olapa —apile ones, and the ho'o-paa — steadfast onevS. Tlie young men an<l women were a?sīgned to the part of the olapa, while the older ones took the other part, handling the chants and heavier instruments of rh.vthin. The dancers were drilled b.v the kumu (hula master). The eostume of the hula dancer was mneh the same for hotli sexes, its cliief article a simple short skirt nl>out the waist (tlie pa-u). Pntting on the hnla costume was a ceremOny nccompanted l)y chants. Ftrst 'oime the an"klets of whale teeth, l.one, Kliell work, ?fher stu!Ts and \vhat not.

The short skirt, pa-n, was t.he most important pieee of attire worn hy the Hawaiian feniale. As an arman,v sfages of evolution beyond ticle of daily wear it represented tiie primitive fig leaf, r>elng fabricated from a great varie\-jf of materials furnrshed by ff!e garden of nature. In 4ts simplest ternis It was a mere fringe of vegetable fibtrs. When used as the full dress costume of a dancing girl on ceremonlous -occaslon, lt took on more i ibc>rate forms atid %vas freqMeiHly of tapa, a fabric the flnest of whieh wou!<l not liave shanied t!ie wardrobe of an empress.

In t!ie costuming of the hula girl the saine variety obtained a'S In the dress of a woniān of rank. Sometlmes it would be on!y a close set fringe <>f ril)bons stripped froni t!ie bark of the hau, the ti ieaf or banana «ber, or a fine rush, strung upon a thong to encircle the watst. In its most elabomte and formal style the pa-u cons!sted of a strip of fine tapa several yards lohg and of widt!i to reach nearly to the knees, Ttiere was a wreath to crown the ■l>ea<i and another for the neek and tsiioul<lers. It wj.i3 not the custom in olden times to overwhelm the l>ody witli floral dec*orations, nor was every flower that blows acceptahle as au <>ffering. Tlie gods were jeaiouā aud niee in tiieir tastes, pleased onl,v witli llowers indigenous to the soil—the iiiiua, tU,e le the maile, ete.

<.ieslure is u voiceless speech, a !>horUian<l dramatic picture. The liawaiians were adept in this $ort oi' art. Haiui uud foot, faee and eye, all worked in such harmouy tiiat ihe uiau sjn)ke, not aloue with iris vocal or»ans, hut all <»Ter from liea<i lo foot, every pan adding Its emphasis to the utterance. 'i'lie han<is of the liula danoer are ever goiug out iu ge.sture r hor body swaying and pivottng ite«elf In at(itudes of expression. ller whole physique is a livtng and moving pielure of feeUng, $eutiuient and paseion. The art of gesture was one ol ihe uio«t imi)ortaut branches taught by the hula master. Not only are there mii»etic and imltative gesi ures; bur als<> symbolie. gesiures U»at ea» be catalogued alinoBt <krtiuitelji' into a language of niotlon —JStuhamel li. Kntem>tiV "l'nwPil, «eu i.iterature of Hawaii."