Oceania and serve as plot points in a larger narrative the arts inspired by Epeli Hau‘ofa, founder and first rather than being stand-alone traditional dances. Director of the Oceania Centre. Rooted in Oceanian culture but encouraged to create freely without If dance should be reflective of the community fear, ODT is an ambassador for the Pacific, using in which it exists, then Oceania Dance Theatre its soft power to spread goodwill and appreciation exemplifies this maxim exceptionally well. Its diverse of Oceania’s rich cultural traditions and influences. and expansive repertoire is representative of the Indeed, dance in Fiji has been reinvigorated and multicultural milieu in which it exists – the community given a new boost by ODT’s creative and innovative of Fiji as well as the community of the University dance techniques and styles that are rooted in of the South Pacific. More importantly, it promotes Oceanian traditional dances but are free of their and perpetuates a philosophical view of culture and cultural constraints.

Layered Stories of Hula By Vicky Holt Takamine I ka ‘o¯lelo no¯ ke ola, i ka ‘o¯lelo no¯ ka make In the word there is life, in the word there is death

This Hawaiian proverb, cited and translated by I Ka ‘Upena is a name chant for the warriors of Mary Kawena Puku‘i, illustrates the importance of Kamehameha who were known as kı¯pu‘upu‘u. The the word, or text, in Hawaiian culture. Because the chant tells the story of the kı¯pu‘upu‘u wind and rain, Hawaiians of former times did not have a written which is a way to describe the Waimea district on the language, the stories, genealogies, and historical island of Hawai‘i as well as to refer to the warriors, accounts of their people were perpetuated through but without actually naming them. oral traditions. One of these oral traditions was mele, sung or chanted poetry, which became the basis of Several stories related to the goddesses Pele and hula. Mele is such an important component of the Hi‘iaka are embedded in chants that are used today dance of the Hawaiian people that without it there in the protocols of hula. One such story traces is no hula. The stories and chants provide each Pele’s travels from her ancestral homeland in far off generation of hula practitioners with knowledge Kahiki to Hawai‘i. She begins in the northernmost of the past and with rich material that inspires the islands and works her way down the island chain creation of new and original choreography. until she makes her home in Kı¯lauea crater on the island of Hawai‘i. As she travels through the islands Because of the importance of text, hula has been Pele’s constant digging into each of them forms instrumental in preserving and perpetuating Native craters and mountains that create the physical Hawaiian language, art, and cultural practices. Hula characteristics of each island. Her lava flows destroy is the visual expression of the poetry, telling, through forests and establish new lands. Hi‘iakaikapoliopele, movement, the stories of the people’s love for their the youngest sister of the goddess Pele, is the gods, people, and lands. Hawaiians were skillful healer of the Pele clan. Hi‘iaka and her companions poets, weaving several layers of meanings into Pa‘uopalai (skirt of palai ferns) and Wahine‘o¯ ma‘o the texts they created. Hula choreographers could (woman of green) travel back over these lands, choose to depict any of these layers of meaning and healing them with new vegetation of ferns, flowers, often chose to represent the kaona, the meaning and trees. At each stop they ask for permission to that was only alluded to. For example, stories about enter with a greeting chant. These chants continue love rarely mention the name of the person for whom to be used in ha¯ lau hula, or schools of Hawaiian the song is composed. Instead the author might use dance, today. They are known as oli ka¯ hea, a chant a particular flower to refer to a woman and a bird asking for permission to enter the ha¯ lau, or oli to refer to a man. The names of the different kinds komo, the response from the kumu hula, or hula of wind and rain may hint at the island or district master, allowing one to enter the ha¯ lau to begin where a person resides. For example, Hana Waimea learning the hula.

28 The sung or chanted poetry, the mele, can be aspects of hula – pili grass so knowledge would cling divided into two major categories – mele oli and to the students, ulu for growth and inspiration, kukui mele hula. Oli are chanted text with no musical or for knowledge. These plants are the preferred ferns dance accompaniment, and they include prayers, and flowers used to make lei to adorn the dancer. genealogies, stories of creation and birth, and Proper adornments include lei to encircle the neck lamentations. Mele hula are chanted or sung texts and the crown of the head, and wristlets and anklets. used for dance, or hula. There are many different When fully adorned, the dancer also becomes an vocal techniques and styles of chanting but it is altar for the gods of the hula. olioli that most often accompanies the hula. This technique includes the use of ‘i‘i, or vibrato, and Mele hula can be divided into two major categories ha‘i, or vocal breaks. The power of the chanted – hula kahiko, or ancient-style Hawaiian dance, text, the voice, and the intricate vocal techniques and hula ‘auana, or modern-style Hawaiian dance. are believed by many to conjure up the forces of Although often referred to in English simply as nature. Hawaiians believe that a skilled chanter “ancient dance,” while the text and choreography for can communicate with the gods, calling the winds, hula kahiko may be passed on through generations the rains, the ocean waves, and the deities of the of hula practitioners, they may also be created forest. That power, when used to accompany hula, in recent times. It is the style in which they are can motivate the dancers, and together the chant performed that differentiates them from hula ‘auana, and details of this style are sometimes debated by hula masters. Both hula kahiko and hula ‘auana can be performed standing or in a kneeling position. “Stories have been an All hula are accompanied by drummers/chanters for hula kahiko, or instrumentalists/vocalists for essential driver of change hula ‘auana. Often the dancers use hand-held throughout human history.” instruments to accompany themselves in the hula, which may also be manipulated in decorative ways Shane Snow to become an integral part of the dance movements. When performing in a kneeling position the dancers sometimes chant for themselves. Hula kahiko is accompanied by chanting and and dance create what we call a “chicken skin” traditional Hawaiian percussion instruments. The performance. It is the mana, the efficacious power chanter/drummer chants and drums in a seated of the chant and dance in a hula performance, that position on the floor usually behind the dancers in can move audiences. For some hula practitioners the order to observe the dancers while they perform. embodied experience of mana spiritually connects Named lower body movement motifs keep time to them to their ancestors and the world around them. the rhythms of the drumming in hula kahiko or of the Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Puku‘i recalls music in hula ‘auana. The lower body motifs are used that the hula “was much practiced by chiefs and in the same way in both hula kahiko and hula ‘auana, commoners, by old and young . . . standing dances although they may be performed in a different style. for those whose limbs were young and spry and Lower body motifs generally alternate from right to sitting dances for those . . . like the aged and over- left, creating a kind of symmetry in the appearance plump.” In ancient times the formal training of hula of the movement. They change more frequently in was conducted under strict kapu, or prohibitions, a hula ‘auana than in a hula kahiko. In hula kahiko a in a ha¯ lau hula. The term ha¯ lau hula refers to both single lower body motif may be used throughout the the hula troupe and the hall or location where hula is chanted text of an entire dance, with another motif learned. Within the ha¯ lau hula an altar dedicated to used as a dividing motif during the brief rhythmic or Laka, the goddess of hula was erected in the eastern musical interlude separating verses. In hula ‘auana, corner. On the altar, Laka was represented by a block it is not unusual for the lower body motifs to change of ebony wood wrapped in barkcloth dyed yellow every one or two beats with each hand gesture. with turmeric. The altar was decorated with ferns and Hula is performed in a relatively small area. Some greenery representing other gods associated with the footwork is performed in place, with the feet never hula. Some of the plants were placed on the altar for lifting very high off the ground and only extending their believed potency in bringing about important

29 a small distance away from the body’s center line. arm gestures in telling the story, facial expression Traditionally at least one foot maintains contact with often directs the viewer toward them: Kuhi no ka the floor – except for occasional very brief moments lima, hele no ka maka – Where the hands move, when there is a slight lifting of the center of weight, there let the eyes follow is a general rule in hula. dancers do not leap or jump. Because of the story- Although the role of the dancer is primarily that of a telling nature of the dance the dancer generally storyteller, on some occasions, as in animal dances, maintains a frontal orientation, but traveling steps can the dancer will perform as an actor, “becoming,” for move in any direction and take the dancer across the example, a dog or a lizard. performing space. In the basic traveling movement motif, the ka¯ holo, only three steps are taken in a single direction at one time. The hips sway primarily as a result of the lower body movement motifs but “The truest expression of a this action is sometimes exaggerated. While the hips people is in its dance and music. move and sway to the rhythm, the upper torso is held generally erect and steady, occasionally bending Bodies never lie.” or extending to augment the reach of the arms or emphasize the gestures, exemplifying the proverb: Agnes de Mille Pali ke kua, mahina ke alo – Back straight as a cliff, face as bright as the moon. Hand and arm gestures may closely interpret the The dancer communicates with the chanters and text of the song or chant in a literal manner, allude musicians through the ka¯ hea, or call. Similar to a call to the text or kaona, be abstract, or enhance lower and response, one or more dancers call out the title body movements. They are used in the same ways of the chant or song at the beginning of each dance. in both hula kahiko and hula ‘auana, but tend to be The first few words of each verse of the text are more literal in hula ‘auana. Arm gestures may be called out by one or more dancers, and the chanter symmetrical or asymmetrical. Asymmetrical gestures or musicians then respond with the appropriate are often repeated from one side to the other side, verses and the dancers move accordingly. One or creating a kind of movement symmetry much like more dancers then call out again at the end of the that of the lower body motifs. Gestures depicting dance to indicate the individual to whom the dance things in the sky or space above are performed has been dedicated. in a high level, while gestures depicting things on land or in the sea are performed at a middle or low Traditionally, mele oli and all hula kahiko prior to level. Gestures in hula ‘auana tend to be more fluid 1820 were composed and performed in a through- in movement than those of hula kahiko, with the composed manner, that is, from the first line until arms bending and extending and hands and fingers the end with no verses or breaks and no repetition. undulating and curling gracefully. Contemporary This changed with the introduction of Christianity choreographers often illustrate more of the text by to the islands and fluctuating support for hula. In using more gestures in hula ‘auana than in hula the early 1800’s, Christian missionaries followed kahiko, while in hula kahiko more abstract gestures Captain Cook to the “Sandwich Islands” to convert are used than in hula ‘auana. This is possibly a the Polynesian people. After the death of King reflection of the choreographers, performers, and Kamehameha in 1819, his wife, Queen Ka‘ahumanu, audience members who in ancient times were converted to Christianity in 1825. By 1830 Christian fluent in the Hawaiian language. Today, the majority missionaries had convinced Ka‘ahumanu, who had of choreographers, performers, and audience been appointed Kuhina Nui, or Regent, to outlaw members are not fluent in the Hawaiian language the hula. But mele continued to be composed and and choreographers may feel the need or desire to performed in secret and later rulers, such as Prince interpret more of the text in movement in order to Lot (Kamehameha V) supported and engaged in communicate the meaning more accurately. the practice of the hula. In 1856 Prince Lot invited ha¯ lau hula to perform at the wedding reception of his Facial expressions reflect the feelings and emotions younger brother, Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, of the text, but are not used in the highly exaggerated for which he was chastised in the newspapers by way in which they are in dances from some other both Christian converts and the missionaries. Today, cultures. Because of the importance of the hand and the Prince Lot Hula Festival is held annually on the

30 grounds of Moanalua Gardens on the third Saturday ‘auana. Songs were being written in English about of July to celebrate this event and the contributions Hawai‘i for Hollywood movies and Broadway shows. that Prince Lot made to the preservation and These songs are known as hapa haole songs, hapa perpetuation of hula. meaning part or half and haole, foreign or Caucasian. During the first half of the 20th century musicians and Influenced by the first formal group of missionaries hula dancers began to travel to the Continental US to who taught the Hawaiians how to sing choral perform at world fairs and hotels where, from 1920 music in 1820, mele hula and contemporary songs to 1959, hapa haole hula became very popular both are primarily composed in the strophic style, here and abroad. that is, verses or two line couplets. In addition, the missionaries introduced singing with a wider Today, Hawaiian songs and chants continue to variety of pitches. These new influences naturally be written and performed about the world around influenced the dance movements which led to a us by contemporary poets and dancers. They are new category of dance called hula ku‘i, dances that composed for all genres of hula – kahiko, ‘auana, string together (ku‘i) the old and the new. In 1883, ku‘i, and hapa haole. The formal training of hula takes King David Kala¯ kaua declared that the “hula is the place on all islands in ha¯ lau hula under the tutelage language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of kumu hula. Many kumu hula have branches of the Hawaiian people,” and invited troupes of of their schools in the Continental United States, dancers to celebrate his coronation on the grounds Japan, and other countries. Workshops and classes of ‘Iolani Palace. Named for King David Kala¯ kaua, are also taught throughout Hawai‘i at universities known as the Merrie Monarch, the Merrie Monarch and colleges, public, private and charter schools, Hula Festival is the most prestigious and largest community centers, and some hotels. Performances hula festival today. Like his coronation in 1883, it is of hula may be found year round throughout Hawai’i celebrated annually over a three day period in Hilo, at community events, hula festivals and competitions, Hawai‘i the weekend after Easter Sunday. conventions and conferences, in hotels, on the beach at Waikı¯kı¯, at commercial lu¯ ‘au (Hawaiian The introduction of western musical instruments, feasts), and at family gatherings. jazz, big band music, and Hollywood heavily influenced Hawaiian music and dance. In 1879, Kumu hula Maiki Aiu Lake said, “The hula is the Portuguese immigrants brought the braguinha, a art of expressing everything we see, hear, smell, four-string instrument. Manuel Nunes is credited for taste, touch and feel.” Hula continues as it was in re-shaping the braguinha and inventing the ukulele. the past, but has also changed in ways relevant to Both the guitar and the ukulele are the foundation of contemporary times. It is still the heartbeat of the modern Hawaiian music used to accompany hula Hawaiian people.

Philippine Culture Through Its Dance Traditions By Patrick Alcedo

Any Philippine dance repertoire, such as the one By looking briefly at Philippine dances, street Ballet Philippines brings to Hawai‘i for this year’s festivals, and music played at these performances, Festival, should be viewed through the lenses of we can see the complexity and richness of the the plurality of Philippine culture and the porosity cultural identities of Filipinos and their responses to of the country’s borders. These characteristics issues of nationalism and postcoloniality that are have consistently propelled Filipinos to maintain inextricably linked with the country’s deep colonial distinctiveness in a wide array of artistic and public ties with Europe, Latin America, and the United expressions while also striving to be fluid in their States. Although these cultural characteristics and identities. their attendant historical pasts can be divided into three parts, these parts are not mutually exclusive.

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