By Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman, (RA); e-PRO, Century 21 Liberty Homes, Mililani, HI 96789
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Captain Cook's arrival in Hawaii in 1779 signified a change in the Hawaiian culture with Western Civilization comingling with the settlers of the Hawaiian Islands. Before his arrival the Hawaiian people had been dancing the Hula for centuries and it debatable whether the men actually danced more than the women!
In the story about Hawaiian Legends - Nightmarchers, Menehune, and the Tiki Gods I mentioned the four main gods. Now we embark on the one of the other goddessses. The goddess of Hula was "Laka" and invites all of us to dance upon the earth in her teachings of sacred sound and light and inspires us with poetry of life experiences.
There are no specific dates and origine for the Hula although it is thought to have originated from Tahiti, the ancient civilization of Mu and some say it was home grown. Bottom line is that for both ancient and modern Hawaii this dance of Hula link the Hawaiian people with the universe and is the essence of life itself. Performed with grace and movement, it will bring out your own emotions to be displayed in front of all.
Some history of the HULA is as follows:
King Kalakaua's famous words, "The hula is the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people" took it's place in history and hula is now known and danced globally. We have the Merrie Monarch Festival every year. This festival is a non profit organization to promote, protect the Art of HULA through education. The graceful hula is something that is practiced for many years and not something learned overnight!
The following video show of the Hawaiian Wedding Song is the song my parents celebrated their anniversaries with. Throughout the islands this song has been quite popular for years and performed with the hula to show the emotion in such a heartfelt song.
Please enjoy this video! (and watch the graceful movements down to her fingers performing the hula)
Hawaiian Wedding Song
~ King - Hoffman - Manning
This is the moment
I' ve waited for.
I can hear my heart singing.
Soon bells will be ringing.
This is the moment
Of sweet Aloha.
I will love you longer than forever.
Promise me that you will leave me never.
Here and now, dear,
All my love I vow dear.
Promise me that you will leave me never.
I will love you longer than forever.
Now that we are one,
Clouds won't hide the sun.
Blue skies of Hawaii smile
On this, our wedding day.
I do love you
With all my heart.
There is one thing for certain. The dances and chants of hula contain a power and beauty filling both dancer and audience with Alllloooooooooha!
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Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocating to Hawaii, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents. Website: www.hawaiihomesmarket.com
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A Hawaii Real Estate, Hawaii Relocations, Hawaii VA Home Transaction Specialist. More passionate posts throughout this blog for Hawaii Real Estate and Relocations Info. Listening to YOUR needs first.
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When I was wayyyyyy younger...and not that good either!
Sally, this is so cool.. thank you for posting.
Mathew....I hope you all are listening to the song and watching the hula! The gracefulness is what's cool!
Sally--Do you WooHoo when you hula?
Never mind...Great post as always! You live in a wonderful state and I love that you are sharing all of this information! :)
Sally - love the history in this post, and what a wonderful video - love it! Great post and thanks for sharing all this!!
Ann
Teri: I would WooHoo if I could Hula like these ladies! Haha....
Ann: I keep learning more about the history part as well! You're very welcome!
Man, I wish we had cool stuff to post about. I don't think people would like to read about line dancing. :)
Hula is awesome and I am glad you brought it to everyones attention. Most people have probably heard of it but nobody knows much about its history (until now). I have been blessed to be a part of Tonyas Hawaiian Ohana where they have numerous get togethers. Hula and music are always a part of it. I really enjoy the impromptu hula where one uncle gets out his ukelele, the other uncle gets out his guitar and they start jamming. Then one of the aunties gets up and starts dancing hula. What a great and enjoyable way to spend the night. Aloha!
Sally,
That was amazing! Such beauty and grace, I feel like I take a mini vacation everytime I visit your blog! :)
BTW, Stephanie, would love to read a post about line dancing! ;)
Steph: Hey, do a history thing on line dancing too! Of course we'd love to hear about it! Do you dance that two step thingy too?
David: And the Haole boy you are you get up and start jamming with them...haha! You have so much to write about David...you could be gearing towards the whole community as well! You may not be all old and stuff like me but Tonya is from here and can give you a lot of insight to contribute as well!
Suzanne: Yup...I hope everyone is watching like you did....wonder and grace (and wish I could do that)...I told Steph that!
Another great and informational post! I had a friend when I was younger whose Dad was in the Navy and she had just moved from Hawaii. She'd taken a lot of Hula lessons when she was there and tried desperately to teach me... no dice.
Christina: Yeah...My mom "forced" me to take lessons....I was more interested in boyfriends...haha. I just put up the words for the Hawaiian Wedding Song.
Sally, Hawaii has never been high on my list of places I wanted to visit - that is until you found ActiveRain - you have sparked my interest- keep it up
Sally~
I come over to visit you in HA every day via virtual magic... I know I will find a new perspective as soon as I arrive. Today was no exception. Here you are, a real estate professional I can count on to deliver views of your neighborhood and its history in context ...whoooHoo!
No hula for me...but still would watch it. Go watch the Brady Bunch!
Sally - I love that you put the words to the Hawaiian Wedding Song up there.....beautiful words, and like janeAnne said, I vacation virtually in your area every time I visit one of your local posts......thank you for sharing all that you do. I've been to Hawaii twice, and if I should go again, I will have a newfound perspective on many things, thanks to you.
Aloha,
Ann
Nice wedding song...
Sally, as usual, a wonderful post. LOVE the video, and the song brings back memories. Didn't Elvis sing that song? Congrats on your featured post in Localism!
Thesa: I'm so glad I am relaying to all the beauty, excitement of wonder in our islands! Thanks Thesa!
janeAnne: WooHoo! I love writing this! Do you realize that when I write these and go back in time etc. I really get deep rooted emotions going through it? Yup! That's what it's all about isn't it?
Neal: You should see the male form of hula....beautiful ...but "manly". They would do the hula with deep drums beating and ukulele's playing etc. Unreal.
Ann: The show had some Hawaiian words so thought I would put the words. And I'm glad everyne can take a "vacation" here and have some info for when/if they are able to make it here!
Jeff: It's really beautiful with the hula...did you watch it?
Teri: Elvis did do the song but he was not the first....and it was not his song. He was a "hunk" back in the day and though he had one on You Tube I chose a more traditional show.
Cheryl: I'm glad our history and lore interest you!
Sally-Tonya is very knowledgeable with the Hawaiian Heritage, customs and lifestyle. It really helps me to get along well because when someone says or does something, I can ask her the meaning. Me jamming??? I wish! I am determined to learn to play the uke one of these days! Aloha and have a great Flag Day.
David: I can play the ukulele but was never graceful enough to continue with hula. I instead played softball, football and ran track...haha!
I loved the video. What beauty and grace. Thanks for sharing this Sally.
I just ate an entire box of macadamia nut chocolates!!! Thanks.
BB: Isn't it though? Such graceful motions to express the words. (I was such a tomboy and loved knock down and drag down sports....wo (not woo) is me) Yeah, we get fat here.
Woo Hoo Sally...
Keep this up and I will have to ask you to send me a grass skirt. Don't worry. I'll pay for it myself.
Munching on Nuts here. Had a great cup of coffee this morning :)
TLW...ROAR!
TLW: Okay..you guys are sliding in hints and stuff...just wait until Christmas...I;m gonna have a blast! That you can video..haha! shhh...
Wow, really awesome! It's great to find out about other customs and cultures through AR!!!
How fun to learn! My husband is from Hawaii .... I can impress him with my new found knowledge when he gets home! Thanks!!!
Chris: Thanks for dropping by....a wealth of info all over the place!
Deirdre: WooHoo! Now you can dance the hula for him!
Sally, that song was beautiful and the dancing was awesome. You made me want to take a vacation right now! Wondeful post.
Woo Hoo - Thank you for sharing the stroy of the hula with us. And, the video was absolutely lovely. I recently went to a ribbon cutting for a new business and there was a spiritual dancer there. She offered a blessing on the place of business. It was really a lovely ceremony. Is that a common practice in the istlands?
Christy: Glad you liked it!
Marlene: The hula dancing is so tender and graceful. It is a common practice to bless any new business, moving into or building a home, new groundbreaking and whatever. It paves the way for positive growth!
Another great post from Hawaii. Thanks for sharing. Your posts are always fun to read.
Bob/Carol: Thanks so much for always seeing what's up with Hawaii and WooHoo Sally!
I used to be a pretty good Hula dancer. I finally gave up drinking. For some reason my dancing now stinks.
Randy: You only do disco anyway, so that most likely looked kinda weird with graceful hawaiian music....haha.
Several years ago at a Prudential Summit conference in Honolulu we heard Dr. Paul Pearsall, author of "Toxic Stress" speak. When he finished, he had a troupe performing Hula - one with adults and one with children. It was so moving most of us were in tears.
The Finns have their Lakka (note the extra k) which is a Cloudberry Liquer produced in the north of Finland. I haven't found anything similar, but it sure is delicious. Unfortunately, I don't get back to Finland very often - only the once.
Sharon: The hula part and had you in tears I understand...Lakka? Don't understand.