Merrie Monarch 6 April 2013 : Caspar Institute

Modern Hula

The third night of the Merrie Monarch presents Hula 'Auana. Compared to Hula Kahiko, the traditional, pre-contact form, this is the post-contact, Christian-missionary influenced form. Where Kahiko is story-telling, 'Auana is for pageantry and entertainment.

Guess which one I like better.

As I work now on posting this, I am struck by how beautiful the women are. The men, too ... but this doesn't strike me as strongly. This is partly because I love women, but it's also because this form, 'Auana, is meant to showcase the women. For the men, it's an amusement. And the difference can be seen in the photographs. But I note that I took 200+ pictures of the Kahiko, and about 50 of the 'Auana.

The music is also very different. For Kahiko, the musicians are on stage with the dancers, and the thumping ipu, booming pahu, and the full-throated chanting carry me deep into the heart of the dance. For 'Auana, 'ukulele, guitar, and string bass accompany songs that might just as well be sung in a cocktail lounge, even if they are all sung in Hawaiian.

Three things to note: the hair! In the top image, the shoes!
And in both, the fact that this dancing is not for Hawaiians only.

So, what about the kane? Yes, they dance, but they take this 'Ahuana business much less seriously. The first group -- no picture -- came from a halau in Carson, California, and for their 'Ahuana, the showed up in matching baggies, the swim suits favored by surfers. Here we have two groups that danced with great aloha, and also great good humor.

You know what, brah? I see now, without the discomfort of sitting on hard bleachers packed too close to fussy matrons and their precious daughters (wit' da plastic flowers in da hair) the beauty and the joy here. Maybe the dancers meditate before, and pro'bly after, they pau fo' da day ... but during those blazing moments on stage, they are outside their bodies, floating on clouds of purest beauty.

What do you do after?

We left early, after a mere 15 groups (14 more to come) having had my fill (at least) of Hawaiian kine lounge music and patriarchally approved too-much clothes unfit for Hawaii in any way, for a local-caught seafood risotto at Pesto Cafe (second visit this trip) ... then home to watch the last of the dancing streamed online. Next year, from Caspar, streaming! Maybe some day, back to Hawaii to watch in comfort with the immediacy and multiple perspectives of the television broadcast.