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Nov. 10th, 2003 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
la_belle_laide'Kay, more about the Hula workshop. Let's see, where to start? First of all, the seminar was arranged by these folks, who are a really excellent halau and Polynesian troupe as well. The woman in the middle of this photo here is Auntie Luana, and she and her husband Frank and her entire family were really nice to us. This is her granddaughter Bridget who scampered around everywhere, sometimes doing the Hula onstage in a little pa'u skirt and lei, generally being cute and making my ovaries ache. There was also these two little girls in the halau, and the eldest, seven year old Kiara, did flawless advanced Hula. She went up onstage the last day and did an 'auana to a Makaha Sons song so sweetly that I sat there crying my fool head off. When she was done, everyone cheered like wild. And just as it suddenly gets quiet (because everyone else had seen Luana pick up the microphone,) I, shouting above what had been the applause, tell my two friends, "Someone had better get me pregnant!" O_O Then, you know, everyone looks at me and you hear the crickets chirping and all.
Kumu Hula Auntie Olana taught this one, and she really is as sweet, gentle and sincere as everyone says she is. Her awesome daughter Shelsea taught chant class Friday, and it was a very energized class. Takes patience to learn a chant (and I don't really fully know any chants perfectly, and never will, but it's still cool to try,) but even more patience to teach one. Chanting is something people study all their lives; you don't just learn it in one night, so it can be frustrating for the teachers and the students. But Shelsea handled it in a really fun and relaxed way.
The next day, Saturday, Auntie taught us a kahiko hula, which I totally did not expect--I'd thought the whole thing was going to be 'auana--but I was so thrilled. Kahiko's the real deal, and is always my favorite to learn and perform. (If only more people felt that same way. *sigh!*) I love a really scrumptious, juicy 'auana, but I get so damned sick of people expecting things like "Hukilau," "Little Grass Shack," "Little Brown Gal," and these grass skirt cheeseball lu'au numbers and then constantly getting them! This just perpetuates the image of the Hula dancer with the grass skirt and coconut bra, waving her hands around and shaking her hips. Ugh. I mean, there's a place for that, (hello, I do own a cellophane grass skirt and I do dance one number in it,) and I do like a lot of those songs, but I'd rather that people had a clearer idea of what Hula really is. It's not easy or frivolous. I hate it when people think that it is. Do one grass skirt or cheesy or Hollywood or hapa haole number per show, says I, but keep it to mostly kahiko and the seriously beautiful 'auanas.
/rant
Anyway. So after class we had some time to kill before dinner and ho'ike, so Melissa, Ali and I went to the pool. Everyone else had a baithing suit, but in the chaos of leaving, no one told me that the hotel had a pool. So, undaunted, I swam in my (thick, black, everything-to-the-imagination) tank top and black lycra underwear. They totally passed as a bathing suit, so much so that Camille, seeing me in it, commented, "Hey, nice bathing suit! Did you just buy that today?" ^_^ Then we went into the hot tub and it made me dizzy and nauseous as it always does after ten minutes, so I bailed for the hotel room to shower and get ready. As I was leaving the spa, all overheated, tired, wearing my pareu as a dress, with my hair in a goofyass top knot, this ancient guy (he had to be pushing ninety) was going in. He stopped in front of me, looked me totally up, down, then up again, and said, "Beautiful. Wow..." as if he had never seen a girl in his life. Well, I don't know if he was just talking about the pareu (it's red with the three circle "Mickey Mouse glyph" all over it,) or me, but it was still sort of nice to hear, even though he could have been my great grandfather. Because I don't hear that often, I'll take that comment with a smile from anyone.
Dinner was really nice, then it was time to get ready for the Ho'ike. We were performing the song "A Million Moons" by Loyal Garner. It's not my favorite Hula, but the song is really nice, for one that's in English. (Everyone but Luana's group did 'auana. Damn, but I wish we'd done a kahiko.) Anyway, over the phone one day, Claudine had accidentally called it "A Million Mules," so this was like our running gag. If you can picture a million mules over Hawai'i, then maybe you, too, can see the humor. ;) But the song was significant that night, because as some of you might know, it was the night of the lunar eclipse. I hadn't known about it until it was nearly totality, but Luana and Frank actually postponed the show so that we could all go outside and watch the eclipse for a while. It was cold, so try to picture about thirty Hula dancers in various Hula costumes outside of this hotel, staring up at the moon. We got a few comments, such as, "Are you all dressed like that for the eclipse?" "Why are you wearing ferns?" and, "Aren't you cold?!" (Duh.) (Actually, Claudine got a really hilarious comment. Some guy had seen her in her 'auana gown with a lei of thick, white shells, like dove tail only bigger, and said, "You look really nice! But why are you wearing that necklace of garlic?" She told him that we were having a vampire slayer convention.)
Anyway, the ho'ike mostly went well, save for the fact that there was some sort of bar mitzvah going on right outside of the ballroom we were in, and they had a DJ, and it was really loud. We heard them over our own show music--not just our troupe, but everyone. But aside from that, we did well, and we got some nice comments from people after the show, but we were by no means the best ones there. I think Luana's group had that honor this time. Pretty much everyone that went on was better than we were, by their choices of mele, Hula and their execution. There was this really cute couple who had met years ago at a workshop, and who'd gotten married two years ago; they did a really cool Hula together. There was Judy's group from VA, who are usually very good and this show was no exception, and there was Kaipo, one of Luana's kane dancers, who did this fabulous Hula to a mele by Kahauanu Lake Trio. He looked, I swear to you, like James Woods, and he flirted with everyone in the audience and was a total pleasure to watch. Love Kaipo forever. ^_^
(Of note: two years ago at a ho'ike, I'd have to say that we were the best performers, when we did A Kona Hema, a Hula chanted by and choreographed by Kumu Sonny Ching, and Sonny chanted it live for us that night. Sonny is easily the most exacting Kumu I've ever had the honor of learning from, and after the show, both he and his alaka'i, Lopaka, approached us to tell us that we had done well. Lopaka even said, "You ladies were fabulous." O_O And this, I think, is something that none of us who danced that night will ever forget. On a totally unrelated and frivolous note, I'd also like to point out that Lopaka is so adorable it should be illegal, and Sonny is gorgeous, like a young Marlon Brando. Ooh, and look! Lopaka, some girl, Sonny, and Keali'i Reichel!)
Sunday, we had to get up obscenely early because class started at 8 AM, and there were five of us who needed to get ready. In Sunday's class, we did learn two juicy 'auanas. The only problem with one of them was that Kumu Olana taught a Hula to the mele "Aloha No Kalakaua," and I (as well as a few others,) already knew a Hula to that song--because Sonny taught one a few seminars ago! Yikes. Both Hulas are really awesome, but I felt just a little adulterous learning a different one to the same song. If there is any one Hula that I practice religiously, it's Sonny's "Aloha No Kalakaua", as that's one of my favorite songs. I kept getting confused about which version I was doing. After that one, we learned a Hula to "Lei Pikake", which is a new favorite of mine.
Then it was time to leave, and as usual there's the exchange of "Aloha" and "a hui hou!" and hugs and kisses and phone numbers and emails, and the promise to keep in touch, or talk story at the next seminar...which is next week. :D
Now I get to add Olana to my collection of Kumu Hula that I've learned from: Sonny Ching, Chinky Mahoe, Keali'i Reichel, (*melts*) and ku'u hoaloha i ka poli, Moon Kauakahi. [/sappiness] Not a long list by any means, but really great teachers.
And that's about it! Will probably have much more Hula babble next week. ^_^
Kumu Hula Auntie Olana taught this one, and she really is as sweet, gentle and sincere as everyone says she is. Her awesome daughter Shelsea taught chant class Friday, and it was a very energized class. Takes patience to learn a chant (and I don't really fully know any chants perfectly, and never will, but it's still cool to try,) but even more patience to teach one. Chanting is something people study all their lives; you don't just learn it in one night, so it can be frustrating for the teachers and the students. But Shelsea handled it in a really fun and relaxed way.
The next day, Saturday, Auntie taught us a kahiko hula, which I totally did not expect--I'd thought the whole thing was going to be 'auana--but I was so thrilled. Kahiko's the real deal, and is always my favorite to learn and perform. (If only more people felt that same way. *sigh!*) I love a really scrumptious, juicy 'auana, but I get so damned sick of people expecting things like "Hukilau," "Little Grass Shack," "Little Brown Gal," and these grass skirt cheeseball lu'au numbers and then constantly getting them! This just perpetuates the image of the Hula dancer with the grass skirt and coconut bra, waving her hands around and shaking her hips. Ugh. I mean, there's a place for that, (hello, I do own a cellophane grass skirt and I do dance one number in it,) and I do like a lot of those songs, but I'd rather that people had a clearer idea of what Hula really is. It's not easy or frivolous. I hate it when people think that it is. Do one grass skirt or cheesy or Hollywood or hapa haole number per show, says I, but keep it to mostly kahiko and the seriously beautiful 'auanas.
/rant
Anyway. So after class we had some time to kill before dinner and ho'ike, so Melissa, Ali and I went to the pool. Everyone else had a baithing suit, but in the chaos of leaving, no one told me that the hotel had a pool. So, undaunted, I swam in my (thick, black, everything-to-the-imagination) tank top and black lycra underwear. They totally passed as a bathing suit, so much so that Camille, seeing me in it, commented, "Hey, nice bathing suit! Did you just buy that today?" ^_^ Then we went into the hot tub and it made me dizzy and nauseous as it always does after ten minutes, so I bailed for the hotel room to shower and get ready. As I was leaving the spa, all overheated, tired, wearing my pareu as a dress, with my hair in a goofyass top knot, this ancient guy (he had to be pushing ninety) was going in. He stopped in front of me, looked me totally up, down, then up again, and said, "Beautiful. Wow..." as if he had never seen a girl in his life. Well, I don't know if he was just talking about the pareu (it's red with the three circle "Mickey Mouse glyph" all over it,) or me, but it was still sort of nice to hear, even though he could have been my great grandfather. Because I don't hear that often, I'll take that comment with a smile from anyone.
Dinner was really nice, then it was time to get ready for the Ho'ike. We were performing the song "A Million Moons" by Loyal Garner. It's not my favorite Hula, but the song is really nice, for one that's in English. (Everyone but Luana's group did 'auana. Damn, but I wish we'd done a kahiko.) Anyway, over the phone one day, Claudine had accidentally called it "A Million Mules," so this was like our running gag. If you can picture a million mules over Hawai'i, then maybe you, too, can see the humor. ;) But the song was significant that night, because as some of you might know, it was the night of the lunar eclipse. I hadn't known about it until it was nearly totality, but Luana and Frank actually postponed the show so that we could all go outside and watch the eclipse for a while. It was cold, so try to picture about thirty Hula dancers in various Hula costumes outside of this hotel, staring up at the moon. We got a few comments, such as, "Are you all dressed like that for the eclipse?" "Why are you wearing ferns?" and, "Aren't you cold?!" (Duh.) (Actually, Claudine got a really hilarious comment. Some guy had seen her in her 'auana gown with a lei of thick, white shells, like dove tail only bigger, and said, "You look really nice! But why are you wearing that necklace of garlic?" She told him that we were having a vampire slayer convention.)
Anyway, the ho'ike mostly went well, save for the fact that there was some sort of bar mitzvah going on right outside of the ballroom we were in, and they had a DJ, and it was really loud. We heard them over our own show music--not just our troupe, but everyone. But aside from that, we did well, and we got some nice comments from people after the show, but we were by no means the best ones there. I think Luana's group had that honor this time. Pretty much everyone that went on was better than we were, by their choices of mele, Hula and their execution. There was this really cute couple who had met years ago at a workshop, and who'd gotten married two years ago; they did a really cool Hula together. There was Judy's group from VA, who are usually very good and this show was no exception, and there was Kaipo, one of Luana's kane dancers, who did this fabulous Hula to a mele by Kahauanu Lake Trio. He looked, I swear to you, like James Woods, and he flirted with everyone in the audience and was a total pleasure to watch. Love Kaipo forever. ^_^
(Of note: two years ago at a ho'ike, I'd have to say that we were the best performers, when we did A Kona Hema, a Hula chanted by and choreographed by Kumu Sonny Ching, and Sonny chanted it live for us that night. Sonny is easily the most exacting Kumu I've ever had the honor of learning from, and after the show, both he and his alaka'i, Lopaka, approached us to tell us that we had done well. Lopaka even said, "You ladies were fabulous." O_O And this, I think, is something that none of us who danced that night will ever forget. On a totally unrelated and frivolous note, I'd also like to point out that Lopaka is so adorable it should be illegal, and Sonny is gorgeous, like a young Marlon Brando. Ooh, and look! Lopaka, some girl, Sonny, and Keali'i Reichel!)
Sunday, we had to get up obscenely early because class started at 8 AM, and there were five of us who needed to get ready. In Sunday's class, we did learn two juicy 'auanas. The only problem with one of them was that Kumu Olana taught a Hula to the mele "Aloha No Kalakaua," and I (as well as a few others,) already knew a Hula to that song--because Sonny taught one a few seminars ago! Yikes. Both Hulas are really awesome, but I felt just a little adulterous learning a different one to the same song. If there is any one Hula that I practice religiously, it's Sonny's "Aloha No Kalakaua", as that's one of my favorite songs. I kept getting confused about which version I was doing. After that one, we learned a Hula to "Lei Pikake", which is a new favorite of mine.
Then it was time to leave, and as usual there's the exchange of "Aloha" and "a hui hou!" and hugs and kisses and phone numbers and emails, and the promise to keep in touch, or talk story at the next seminar...which is next week. :D
Now I get to add Olana to my collection of Kumu Hula that I've learned from: Sonny Ching, Chinky Mahoe, Keali'i Reichel, (*melts*) and ku'u hoaloha i ka poli, Moon Kauakahi. [/sappiness] Not a long list by any means, but really great teachers.
And that's about it! Will probably have much more Hula babble next week. ^_^
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-11 04:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-11 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-11 08:49 pm (UTC)Tongan fire dances are pretty cool, too. Or is that Tahitian? You should go to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the main island someday.