Hula is considered to be the traditional dance of Hawaii. The roots of the dance penetrate deep into the ancient times when the native people of the Hawaiian Islands honored the goddess Laka by executing special figures and movements. Nowadays Hula dancing has taken on special significance being a form of entertainment. With the help of Hula dancing people who practice it express their feelings and meanings trough specific movements. Many people attribute to this dance one more function. In their opinion Hula dancing unites the universe spirit with the nature. The dancing contains a story, thus people who perform it can share it with the audience. In order to be successful while telling the story the dancers have to combine facial expression accurately with the fine and clearcut movements of arms, hips, fingers, knees and feet. Every single movement signifies nature and its manifestations. The following instructions and basic steps which are listed below will be very helpful for those people who wish to master the Hula dancing.
The first step has to do with fingers, wrists, hands and arms.
First the person should extend the right arm and hand to the right. Then one has to bow the elbow and to place the palms down. Fingers touch each other. In such position the person puts the left hand on the hip. Then the next complex of movements comes:
1 The dancer raises the wrist gradually bringing up fingers. The wrist has to be lowered.
2 The same movement of fingers and wrist is repeated. The only distinction concerns the forearms and hand. They are moved to the chest.
3 The second step is performed by the person. Further the forearm and hand are moved to the center of the chest. The person should not touch the body.
4 The right hand is placed on the hip, while doing it the fingers have to look down. The same movements are repeated but this time with the left hand, fingers, arm and wrist.
In the second step feet and knees are sprung into action.
The person keeps the usual position. His/her feet are placed about four inches apart. Further the knees are bended and heels have to be raised an inch off the floor. On count 1 the person places the right foot at a short distance of eight or nine inches. On count 2 the left foot is placed to the side of the right one. On count 3 and 4 the same movements are repeated concerning the right and left feet. The following complex of movements is the same, but now the person has to switch over to the left foot instead of the right one.
While dancing the Hula one has to pay a great attention to the hip’s movements. This is the third step. The movements should be smooth and gentle. On counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 the dancer sways his/her hip to the right and then to the left. The correct performance of these movements makes the Hula dancing very graceful.
When all three steps are mastered the dancer brings them all together by carrying out the movements in turns.
