2008 Woodie Awards
The Hawaiian Nation's Dance Sensation, Hula
Lisa Eisenhauer
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Life & Times
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Vickie Knobbe says she fell in love with hula while visiting Hawaii. The quiet and soothing dance style intrigued her so much that she joined a couple of friends for a course at a local community college.
After her second session, Knobbe admitted, "It's harder than it looks." As classmate Martha Muehlenfeld, 82, put it: "It's more than just making a grass skirt sway.
Staying with the flow of the moves and keeping in sync with the other dancers requires not only physical exertion, but also balance, concentration and coordination.
Knobbe also was surprised to discover that once hula moves are perfected and choreographed, they become a sort of language of their own. "I didn't know about that part," said Knobbe, 52.
Instructor Dori Neumeier says she's heard that before. Students come to her classes looking for a workout and end up getting an education on Hawaiian traditions as well.
"Although this is an exercise class, it's also an exercise in culture," Neumeier says.
As she leads students through basic hula moves, Neumeier tells them that when set to Hawaiian music, those same steps, hip sways and hand gestures tell tales about love, about waterfalls, about monarchies.
The key is bringing the moves together with precision and grace and understanding what each tiny part is meant to convey. "That's what hula is," says Neumeier. "It's a feeling. It's an expression."
Neumeier's student Ernie Joy knew that when he signed up. A native of Hawaii, Joy says he was well aware of the traditional and spiritual underpinnings of the dance form from his childhood. But he'd gotten away from hula when he moved to the mainland and took up less tradition-bound hobbies, such as baseball and golf.
It was his non-Hawaiian wife, Dawn, who saw the community college course and suggested it might be a cultural connection for her, her husband and his two daughters.
Joy, 49, is glad his wife reconnected him with hula. "For me, it's something to perpetuate my Hawaiian culture."
After her second session, Knobbe admitted, "It's harder than it looks." As classmate Martha Muehlenfeld, 82, put it: "It's more than just making a grass skirt sway.
Staying with the flow of the moves and keeping in sync with the other dancers requires not only physical exertion, but also balance, concentration and coordination.
Knobbe also was surprised to discover that once hula moves are perfected and choreographed, they become a sort of language of their own. "I didn't know about that part," said Knobbe, 52.
Instructor Dori Neumeier says she's heard that before. Students come to her classes looking for a workout and end up getting an education on Hawaiian traditions as well.
"Although this is an exercise class, it's also an exercise in culture," Neumeier says.
As she leads students through basic hula moves, Neumeier tells them that when set to Hawaiian music, those same steps, hip sways and hand gestures tell tales about love, about waterfalls, about monarchies.
The key is bringing the moves together with precision and grace and understanding what each tiny part is meant to convey. "That's what hula is," says Neumeier. "It's a feeling. It's an expression."
Neumeier's student Ernie Joy knew that when he signed up. A native of Hawaii, Joy says he was well aware of the traditional and spiritual underpinnings of the dance form from his childhood. But he'd gotten away from hula when he moved to the mainland and took up less tradition-bound hobbies, such as baseball and golf.
It was his non-Hawaiian wife, Dawn, who saw the community college course and suggested it might be a cultural connection for her, her husband and his two daughters.
Joy, 49, is glad his wife reconnected him with hula. "For me, it's something to perpetuate my Hawaiian culture."