Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are two other aspects that have not exactly been touched on yet:
1) Hula is quite competitive, between dancers and between halau (and/or commercial groups that often produce shows for hotels). The various kumu and hula schools compete on a regular basis, casually and in formal dance-offs. Thus, an individual dancer's getting into one halau (or show) versus the other is quite competitive, as is a dancer's position onstage, etc. So people who participate in the commercial luau are not just thrown together -- there's a lot of practice and a lot of competition among them, and they are proud of their skills and talent.
2) I am assuming that when the OP says "native Hawaiians" he/she means people who are ethnically Hawaiian, as opposed to having been born in Hawaii. I don't want to turn this into a race and ethnicity matter because there are plenty of threads here where one can read about that, but any time we see hula at a commercial luau or at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center or at a town event or even a private wedding, the halau are composed of Hawaiian citizens of many ethnic backgrounds: Hawaiian, Tongan, Tahitian, and many other islanders, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, caucasians and mixes of all of them. That's just how Hawaii is. After you've been here for a while, you can distinguish between the proper, flowing forms of traditional Hawaiian hula, but crowds (and locals) like the shaky-shaky workout of Tahitian. One luau can't teach you everything, so they typically show a spectrum of dance styles to present a pageant-type story and to make for a good evening's entertainment.
If you're looking for "authenticity," as other posters have mentioned, best to go to one of the many local hula competitions or halau presentations -- many are free -- or to the Merrie Monarch to see just how intense hula can be.
Enjoy and learn.
Last edited by whynot?; 11-29-2009 at 01:34 PM..
Reason: clarification
Actually a lot of the hula dancers you see out here are just doing a job, and a job that they love, you will see a lot of them of all different ethnicities, infact you will see only a hand full of pure Hawaiians out there since it is a dying breed. I read earlier that someone said if you ask a hula dancer about americans they would be insulted, that is totally wrong, even though Hawaii got over run by America, in was the best thing that ever happened to us, you will have a lot of Hawaiian sovereignty activist that will tel you other wise but then again you will have a lot of Hawaiians that will say it was a good thing, imagine if we got over run by another country, things would be totally different, having hula shows is a good thing, and the people of hawaii love it, its the culture, its the people its part of Aloha, just me 2 cents
I think your heart is in the right place, but just a word of caution - We should all be careful about assuming that people are embarrassed by the same things. I mean no disrespect, nor do I mean to pick on you. But I think someone would think it a bit strange if a person came up to them and apologized for them having to dance in a hula show.
Would you apologize to a waiter for having to serve you? Or for a busboy for having to clear your table? Do you apologize to the housekeeping people who clean your hotel room? Or the fast food clerk? (By the way, MOST of the jobs here are service related, so you would spend your whole day apologizing instead of enjoying.)
No, of course not. The people you feel embarrased for are doing their jobs, and hopefully taking pride in doing it well. An apology would show more about the apologist's own bias, as to what is demeaning, rather than something the worker thought of themselves or their work.
Do you know what I mean? Apologizing says that you think their job is crappy and demeaning. But chances are they don't think it is. And now you've shown your thoughts not only about their job, but maybe they interpret that as what you think of them for doing that job. That can hurt someone, or wipe the smiles off their faces, or even make them angry.
I think the very best thing anyone can do is to tell someone they are doing a great job. Point out something specific that you noticed and appreciated. Tell them what it meant to you. You don't have to agree that the job itself is something you would do, or think worthwhile to even exist. But at least acknowledge that the person is doing that work in a fantastic way.
And by the way, people here smile A LOT. The smiles are sometimes plastered on (it's a show), but often they are smiling because the audience is looking at them with admiration and smiles and it just feels good to do a job well.
Plus they are young and beautiful and employed and they live in Hawaii. They SHOULD be smiling!
If anyone is looking for a more authentic hula, check the papers for smaller, more local events. Blessings, craft fairs, church bazaars, even at the mall they sometimes have performances.
Boy, I cant seem to say anything without putting my foot in my mouth.
They did do a fantastic job, and as I said, I still left knowing what Hawaiian culture was "supposed" to be. Of course I know better than to run up and apologize and I know exactly what that implies.
My embarassment was more related to being among ranks of mainlander "haole" tourists that DID consider it "real" culture. I felt whoever was in charge of creating that particular experience actually MOCKED hawaiian culture with plastic skirts, coconut bra's & teriyaki chicken as the earlier poster with the half hawaiian husband stated... and I'm NOT even hawaiian.
So please dont misunderstand that I am somehow trying to belittle those that participate in these events because I will say it again. I love the hawaiian culture, and I love the dancers no matter what they wear... I appreciate them on a pretty deep level AND I can see through the watered down nature as I stated in the original post. BUT I think that some real hawaiians ought to be in charge of how THEY want to present their own culture, instead of being ruled by an annoying touristy game show host type announcer.
. I read earlier that someone said if you ask a hula dancer about americans they would be insulted, that is totally wrong, even though Hawaii got over run by America, in was the best thing that ever happened to us, you will have a lot of Hawaiian sovereignty activist that will tel you other wise but then again you will have a lot of Hawaiians that will say it was a good thing, imagine if we got over run by another country, things would be totally different, having hula shows is a good thing, and the people of hawaii love it, its the culture, its the people its part of Aloha, just me 2 cents
If you are referring to my post, the point was that THEY ARE AMERICANS. HAWAIIANS ARE AMERICANS. Statement of fact. End of story. To refer to Americans as another or different bunch of people other than Hawaiians is insulting.
If you are referring to my post, the point was that THEY ARE AMERICANS. HAWAIIANS ARE AMERICANS. Statement of fact. End of story. To refer to Americans as another or different bunch of people other than Hawaiians is insulting.
I didnt mean to start this type of debate...
I think I could have worded it better by using the word mainlanders, non-locals, or tourist... but I was specifically trying to distinguish between a native polynesian based culture vs. western culture. I banged out the post kinda quick and wasnt as politically correct as I should have been. I do think though that tigahsharks post was a good one that gives me some new perspective to consider that I hadnt thought of before.
I also understand now that to separate Hawaiians as somehow not American is insulting, but by now everyone should know that wasnt my intent. I had a hard time figuring out how to distinguish the real natives vs. those that moved from the US Mainland with no cultural ties.
I have learned a lot from the thread in general and appreciate all the reactions and responses! Everything I was asking or commenting was in an honest effort to understand and not segregate, belittle or cause tensions... I hope you can all understand that much.
I think part of the problem is the word "native," which -- if you will allow me to parse rather finely -- only literally means to be born somewhere. Depending upon how one reads your OP, it could refer to either people (of any ethnicity) who are born here or people who consider themselves of ethnic Hawaiian descent. These may seem like minor semantic distinctions, but they are serious issues over here, sometimes with legal status implications.
Unfortunately, the "American" reference only kicks everything up a notch. We are a proud, sensitive lot and we wear our hearts on our sleeves sometimes.
I think we've all seen cheesy, embarrassing "cultural" displays (in Hawai'i and other places as well). Even wanting learn to distinguish between and appreciate other cultures is a sign of intellect and respect and aloha.
If you are referring to my post, the point was that THEY ARE AMERICANS. HAWAIIANS ARE AMERICANS. Statement of fact. End of story. To refer to Americans as another or different bunch of people other than Hawaiians is insulting.
Hey man why you so angry, but as you say "to refer to Americans as another or different bunch of people other then Hawaiians is insulting" isn't necessarily true, try tell that to the Hawaiians that want sovereignty, again this is YOUR opinion or what YOU think, which is not true at all, that is what i was trying to say, i know Hawaiians are Americans we are the 50th state! this is just a thread, relax alittle, I am
Just correcting your misinterpretation is all. Not angry in the least.
All i was doing was reading your 1 liner response in the beginning of this topic, if you read it again it has no definition of what you just said in your explanation but ok ill take your word. maybe to clean up confusion you should of explained more better then a 1 liner that would get anyone confused. aloha from one Hawaiian
Last edited by Tigahshark808; 11-29-2009 at 05:48 PM..
Luaus are fun. Merrie Monarch Festival is awesome, moving and beautiful. Just watch a bunch of footage from last years festival on you tube and you'll see. Here's a link to last Year's Miss Aloha winner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNEPKQF029M
I plan on being there in the audience 2010 - anyone want to join me? : )
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
