FAST-paced, high-stress Washington is about as far from a languid tropical paradise as you can get, especially when the sky can still be winter gray. But that doesn't mean you have to postpone the luau. Hula classes -- both ancient (kahiko) and modern (auana) -- are offered at dance studios, rec centers and instructors' homes throughout the region. The classes are a means of learning Hawaii's native dance form, as well as elements of the state's language, history and music.
While the popular image of hula dancers is sinuous, lei-wearing Hawaiian women with grass skirts and coconut bras, beginner through advanced classes in the District and the suburbs are filled with men, women and children of all shapes and sizes.
Hula dance instructor Gina Hartman takes her class through the steps at the DC Dance Collective in the District.
(Lauren Victoria Burke For The Washington Post)
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The 15 hula students -- two of them men -- in a recent evening class at the DC Dance Collective studio in Northwest Washington range in age from about 10 to 50. Some wear jeans and T-shirts, others shorts and tank tops, and a few pull on traditional hula practice skirts, called pa'u (pronounced PAH-ooh) skirts, over pants.
Instructor Gina Hartman introduces basic hula steps as Hawaiian music plays in the background. They include the 'Oniu, a hip sway in a figure eight, and the 'Ami, in which the hips move in a half-circle to the opposite side, then straight across the back to the starting point in a "D" shape. Hartman explains that the dance's arm and hand movements are meant to depict natural phenomena, such as mahina (moon), pali (cliff) and ua (rain). "Always have your knees bent," she reminds her students, "think of water because that's what hula is all about. You want to flow."
Hawaiians have been nature worshipers for many generations, says Donna Godfrey, a hula instructor at Dancer: The Unusual Store in Clinton. It follows that much of the islands' music and dance revels in the natural world -- in a song called "Ke Ao Nani" ("The Beautiful World"), for example, the arm motions describe heaven, earth, the sea, mountains, forests, flowers, fish and birds. The dance form is also an important means of storytelling, she says. "It was performed to be a visual aid to the history lessons that were passed down orally from generation to generation."
Even today, in Hawaii and elsewhere, hula dancers of all abilities "are telling a story through their hands, hips and feet -- it's like sign language," says Kanoe Davis, a hula instructor at the Halau O 'Aulani Native Hawaiian School for Culture, Arts, History & Language in Arlington. Knowing the song and the story it tells is the key to dancing it. "If you have no idea what the song means, your hula will never express what the composer of the story meant when he wrote it," she says. Consider "Akaka Falls," a song about a waterfall on the big island of Hawaii. To do the dance correctly, Davis explains, one should know that the song involves a boy and girl who lived in different villages, fell in love and used the falls as a trysting place.
In addition to enriching students' understanding of Hawaii's culture, hula provides a good workout. That was evident at a recent hour-long hula class at Kings Park Elementary School in Springfield, where participants (all female) ranged in age from 9 to their mid-forties and in ability from beginner to advanced. Wearing pa'u skirts in a variety of bright colors and patterns, they moved their arms and hips continually -- and seemed ready for water breaks -- as they repeatedly practiced "He Mele No Lilo." The song, which tells the story of the 19th-century Hawaiian king who revived hula, was featured in Disney's animated feature "Lilo & Stitch."
Cherry Nutting, the instructor, says there has been an upsurge of interest in her hula classes in the past couple of years, a phenomenon she attributes largely to the hula's exposure in "Lilo & Stitch." "I used to have to scrounge around for students," she says. "Now I have to turn some away." More recently, hula performances at the Smithsonian's new National Museum of the American Indian have spurred local interest in the genre, Davis says.
Though the number of hula classes offered in the area remains far below those for dance forms like ballet, jazz, hip-hop or even belly dance, hula has something to offer that the others don't: A slice of Hawaiian life in metropolitan Washington.
Hula classes are offered at venues throughout the region. Some provide opportunities to perform in shows and at other events, such as the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival. The cost per class is typically $10 to $15.
To find classes, check your county's recreation department and adult education offerings, or search the Web site www.mele.com under "Halau Hula" (hula schools) for national and local class information. For additional resources on Hawaiian dance, history, culture and events, see the Hawaii State Society of Washington, D.C., Web site at www.hawaiistatesociety.org.
Contact information for classes mentioned in this article appear below; all are currently in session, with new classes beginning in the spring:
DC DANCE COLLECTIVE -- 4908 Wisconsin Ave. NW. www.dcdancecollective.com. 202-362-7244.
KINGS PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 5400 Harrow Way, Springfield. For class information, check the Fairfax County Park Authority Web site at www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/rec/classes (under "Dance") or contact Cherry Nutting through Ke Anuenue Punahele, a Fairfax-based Hawaiian dance group. www.luv2hula.com. 703-978-6673.
DANCER: THE UNUSUAL STORE -- 8010 Old Branch Ave., Clinton. www.dancermd.com. 301-856-2144.
HALAU O 'AULANI NATIVE HAWAIIAN SCHOOL FOR CULTURE, ARTS, HISTORY & LANGUAGE -- 4309 Holmehurst Way W., Bowie. (Classes take place in Arlington under the auspices of the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division.) www.halauoaulani.org. 301-919-7905.
