The stereotype of hula dancing is a bunch of slim young women in grass skirts and bikini tops gracefully waving their arms and swaying their hips. Let’s just say there’s a little more to it than that.
(Warning, image stabilization processing does strange things to dance footage sometimes. I found the dance easy to follow in these, but having the background swim occasionally was disconcerting.)
Yep, that’s definitely not what I’m used to seeing. In case you’re curious, women also perform this stronger, more muscular form of hulu.
Stephanie Zvan is one of the hosts for the Minnesota Atheists' radio show and podcast, Atheists Talk. She serves on the board of Secular Woman. She speaks on science and skepticism in a number of venues, including science fiction and fantasy conventions.
Stephanie has been called a science blogger and a sex blogger, but if it means she has to choose just one thing to be or blog about, she's decided she's never going to grow up. In addition to science and sex and the science of sex, you'll find quite a bit of politics here, some economics, a regular short fiction feature, and the occasional bit of concentrated weird.
Oh, and arguments. She sometimes indulges in those as well. But I'm sure everything will be just fine. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
I went to Hawai’i a couple of years ago for a meeting, and took a few days for a mini vacation. I was absolutely determined not to get sucked into the tourist trap stuff — and hula was #1 on my list. My only thought of it was “schlock stuff designed for mainlanders”.
And then I had to buy a hat to replace the one I lost on the plane. As luck would have it, the mall I ran into had a weekly hula performance by a group of girls (under 18). Holy cow, was I wrong about hula. Not only were these girls tremendous athletes, their commitment to the art form as a part of their cultural heritage was evident as well. And the musicians accompanying them were amazing. And this was an all-volunteer corps. Wow.
Learned a lesson that day, and it wasn’t about hula.
Second video is borken. First is really interesting though.
I went to Hawai’i a couple of years ago for a meeting, and took a few days for a mini vacation. I was absolutely determined not to get sucked into the tourist trap stuff — and hula was #1 on my list. My only thought of it was “schlock stuff designed for mainlanders”.
And then I had to buy a hat to replace the one I lost on the plane. As luck would have it, the mall I ran into had a weekly hula performance by a group of girls (under 18). Holy cow, was I wrong about hula. Not only were these girls tremendous athletes, their commitment to the art form as a part of their cultural heritage was evident as well. And the musicians accompanying them were amazing. And this was an all-volunteer corps. Wow.
Learned a lesson that day, and it wasn’t about hula.
Thanks, Kelseigh. I replaced the second video.
@2: We had a similar experience with a hula performance at the mall. Very impressive.
I’m tired just from watching those videos. The performers put everything they’ve got out there on the stage.
Impressive! You know, I bet a bunch of highlanders could rock that – and vice-versa.