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Search - The Art of Hula

The Art of Hula
Author: Allan Seiden

Well-respected Hawai'i Author Allan Seiden expertly chronicles the history, traditions and beauty of the ancient art of hula. Rare historical images and vibrant full-color photography accompany the informative text. The Hawaiian worldview was given tangible form in the hula. More than just a dance, hula combines aesthetic choreography and epic ... more »poetry of chants, or mele, that are rooted in Hawaiian consciousness. Some mele were never danced, but were presented by a chanter, or mea oli. Mele for the hula were the foundation of the dance, and it was never performed without the poetic narrative of the chant, which was the essence of the hula. In ways, it is a form of worship, for hula, or dance, as the word translated from the Hawaiian, paid homage to the gods with elaborate tales of their exploits. Other hula honored the alii, or chiefs, whose genealogies were the subject of long mele that linked them to the gods. Hula also served as a popular entertainment, danced for the pleasure of appreciative audiences with themes of natural beauty, passion and other deeply-felt emotions. No matter what the subject, the hula was danced with spirituality, an ever-present part of the experience for both dancers and audience. It was not pirituality in an other-worldly or moralizing sense, but as a means of expressing awe, appreciation and homage. As a symbol f the islands' aboriginal culture, its gods and spiritual beliefs, the hula was not kindly looked upon by the missionaries who settled in Hawai'i starting in the 1820s. The dismantling of the old order after the death of Kamehameha I affected the hula along with it, at least until the reign of Kin Kalakaua, who restored it to a position of honor during the 17 years of his reign. By then much had been lost to time and the decimation of the Native Hawaiian population during the nineteenth century. Yet enough survived in the repertoire of kumu hula, or hula masters, who transmitted what they had learned from generation to generation. In so doing, they saved an impressive cultural accomplishment from what seemed likely extinction. Instead, the hula survived, ultimately flourishing, not as a cultural relic, but as a catalyst in the revival of Hawaiian culture that continues to this day, when the halau hula, or troupes, number in the hundreds and include devotees not only in Hawai'i, but in places around the world. Their efforts have given new life to hula, assuring it a role in a cultural renaissance that honors the past yet looks toward the future.

ISBN-13: 9780896103856
ISBN-10: 0896103854
Publication Date: 11/1999
Pages: 120
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Island Heritage Publishing
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

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