How to hula dance for beginners
Learn How to Hula Dance! | How to Hula Dance for Kids
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Famous for its sandy beaches and warm weather, Hawaii is a tropical paradise. Part of what makes Hawaii so special is its rich island culture. Hawaiians have their own traditions, language, and even their own dance form called Hula. Hula is a graceful art form that is danced to the words of a song (mele) or chant (oli). Ancient Hawaiians danced Hula to tell stories about their history and to celebrate the beauty of nature. But you don’t need palm trees to enjoy Hawaiian culture. Get ready to move your feet, swing your hips, and learn to dance the Hula with Little Passports! With a these easy-to-learn dance moves, you and your little ones can bring the beauty of the islands right to your doorstep.
Step-by-Step Hula
Move your feet!
Stand facing forward with your feet hip-width apart and bend your knees. Step 8 inches to the right. Bring your left foot to meet your right foot, keeping your left foot slightly off the floor, and tap the ground once with the ball of your left foot to complete the move. Repeat, taking another step the right, bringing your feet together, and tapping the ground with the ball of your left foot. Now go back the way you came! Step to the left, bring your right foot to meet your left and tap the ground with the ball of your right foot. Repeat this move to the left again. That’s it! Continue to practice stepping two times to the right and then two times to the left until you feel comfortable with the footwork.
Did you know? Hula is almost always danced barefoot.
Did you know? Traditional Hawaiian instruments that accompanied Hula dances were made of shells, rocks, and even teeth!
Now add your hips!
Keeping the same pattern–two steps right and two steps left–try adding some hip movements.
During the Hula, your hips should keep a gentle rocking or swaying motion–similar to the ocean waves! When you step to the right, lower your right foot toe-to-heel and lift your left hip up. As you bring your feet together, switch so that your right hip is up. Before your next step, sway your hips side-to-side. Repeat the same motion as you take your second step to the right. Remember to sway your hips side to side before each step. Now try this motion to the left: left foot toe-heel, right hip up, feet together, left hip up, rock hips side to side. Repeat. Make sure to keep your knees bent and hips loose as you continue to step and sway!
Complete the move with arm motions!
Extend your arms out to the side at shoulder level. Bend your left arm so your hand is in front of the left side of your chest and your palm is facing down. Your right arm should stay extended, with your elbow slightly bent and fingers together. As you take your steps to the right, move your arms in a gentle, wave-like motion.
Before your first step to the left, switch your arms so that the left arm is extended and the right arm is bent in front of the right side of your chest. As you take your steps to the left, continue to move your arms in a wave-like motion. As you move, keep your body relaxed and your shoulders still. Remember to switch arms every time you switch directions.
Did you know?
Hand and arm motions can be used to represent emotions or aspects of nature.
Add your own flair!
Once you’ve mastered this basic Hula dance, feel free to add some more moves from the list below to spice it up! Remember to use your face and eyes to tell the story of the song you are dancing to.
Ami: With hands on your hips, rotate your hips in a circular motion.
Ka`apuni: Keeping your hips moving in a circular motion like the Ami, pivot around the left foot and step slowly with the right foot around the left foot to complete a full turn.
Rising Sun Hand Movement: Start with your hands together at knee level.
In a sweeping motion, move the arms outward and upward until they are above your head and fingertips nearly touch. Form the shape of sun with your arms extended over your head with your palms turned upward and your fingertips touching.
Uwehe: Standing with feet hip-width apart, step in place with your right foot. Keeping knees bent, lift both heels up off the ground in a popping motion, and then place them back down. Now step in place with your left foot. Do the popping motion again.
Hela: Starting with your feet together, point your right foot forward. Return feet together. Point the left foot forward. Bring your feet back together.
Love Hand Movement: With your palms facing your body, cross your hands in a X-shape on your chest to show embracing love.
Don’t forget to smile and have fun!
Learn How to Hula Dance! from Little Passports on Vimeo.
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Hula dancing is a beautiful and graceful form of dance.
Hula combines foot movement along with meaningful hand movements that tell a story. Hula dancing is easy to learn, is good exercise, and is a fun activity for a Luau or Hawaiian theme wedding. There are many hula dances that have very simple steps which can be easily learned and have people dancing hula in one lesson. A popular easy to learn hula dance will be shared in below on this page that can have you hula dancing by the end of today!
There are several different styles of hula danced by Polynesian cultures like Hawaiian, Tahitian, Fijian, and Maori. In the Hawaiian hula dance style there are two types, hula kahiko and hula 'auana.
Hula Kahiko
In ancient Hawaiian times there were no written books of daily life and special events however, the Hawaiians have created hula dances and chants as ways to document events going as far back as to their first inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands 0-500ad. Hula kahiko is the traditional ancient Hawaiian style of hula which also includes chanting and percussion instruments like uli uli, puili, drums and ipu gourd drums.
The kahiko style of hula focuses on the hula practiced by ancient Hawaiians which was how they communicated with and honored the Hawaiian Gods by sharing stories about Hawaiian life, history and culture. Students are taught how to make their own instruments and their own outfits for performances. Some hula schools require their students to learn and speak Hawaiian.
Hawaiian Hula Performers in 1890
When Western missionaries arrived in the Hawaiian Islands hula was seen as indecent and immoral. In 1830 missionaries convinced Queen Ka'ahumanu to outlaw hula for the good of the Hawaiian people. Hula along with the speaking of the Hawaiian language were banned in the Hawaiian Islands. Many of the chiefs and people of Hawaii did not agree with the ban and hula and the Hawaiian language was practiced in secret.
Hula dancers at King Kalakaua's 49th Birthday Celebration at Iolani Palace
November 16, 1886
In 1851 public hula performances became regulated and a heavy fee was paid to obtain a license for each performance.
Throughout the 1860s secret hula schools continued to teach and the number of students grew. The Hawaiian King David Kalakaua openly supported hula dancing before he became King in 1836. He is credited for preserving hula kahiko and bringing back native Hawaiian dance during his reign as King having spectacular performances of hula at his coronation in 1883 and at his 49th birthday celebration in 1886.
Hula 'Auana
Hula 'auana is the modern style of Hawaiian hula dance which emerged after Western contact and is often associated with slack key guitar, ukulele, and upbeat Hawaiian music. The 'auana style incorporates the traditional hand signals, steps, and percussion instruments with a more show business flare to the presentation than the kahiko style and costumes can be much more flashy. The focus with hula 'auana is more on entertainment through hula story telling rather than communicating and honoring the Hawaiian Gods.
Both styles of native Hawaiian hula dance are excellent forms of exercise.
Hula dancing is also a fun activity when having a Luau or Hawaiian themed celebration and below are three tips on how to add hula dancing to your festivities:1) Learn an easy hula dance and dance it at your celebration to entertain your guests!
2) Learn an easy hula dance and teach your guests how to hula dance!
3) Hire an experienced hula dancer to perform and/or teach a hula lesson at your celebration.
It is fun to learn to dance the hula at a Luau!
Hula dancing is popular all over the world, some people refer to this style of dancing as Hawaiian hula hula. No matter what you call it or where you are in the World, you can usually find organized groups of hula dancers, known as Hula Halau, that can be hired for hula dance lessons or to perform at a celebration. To find one, google "hula halau" + your location in the world, such as "hula halau san diego". Then contact them to find out information on how you can take lessons, join the group to perform, find out where they will be performing live, or hire them as performers or to teach hula dancing at your Hawaii theme celebration!
The hula dancers are wearing skirts made from fresh ti leaves
Now it is time to learn how to hula dance!
Hula dancing is a fun Luau activity for kids and adults.
Below are easy Hawaiian hula dance steps:
'Ami Right - rotate hips counterclockwise, one rotation for each count.
'Ami Left - rotate hips clockwise. Bent knees make the 'ami easier.
Hela: Point right foot forward, bring back, then point left foot forward, then bring back. For video instruction of Helai click here!
Huli: Rotate around while swaying the hips.
Kaholo: A kaholo is more of a sliding step, rather than lifting the foot as you move. It is used to step side to side, front to back, and diagonally.
For video instruction of Kaholo click here!
Ka'o: Sway hips by shifting weight to the right side and lift left heel. Then shift weight to the left side and lift right heel. For video instruction of Ka'o click here!
Lele: Step right, then left, either forward or back.
The hula dancers are doing the hela hula dance move
Below are easy Hawaiian hula hand movements:
Love Hand Movement: Hands cross at chest to show embracing love.
Ocean Hand Movement: hands gently beat up and down showing the rhythm of the waves.
Rainbow Hand Movement: palms of the hands meet at the left... right hand lifts and shapes an arching rainbow.
Rising Sun Hand Movement: start at the knees, both hands part and rise above the head to shape the sun.
Singing or Story Telling Hand Movement: hand gracefully gesturing at mouth for song.
Swaying Palms Hand Movement: left arm becomes the land, right arm and fingers sway showing a waving palm.
Swirling Winds Hand Movement: left hand forward while right hand circles twice over head.
Tide roll Hand Movement: hands continually roll over each other to show the rolling sea.
These boy and girl hula dancers are wearing pa'u skirts and lava lava
LEARN THE
TINY BUBBLES HULA DANCE
This instructional video teaches an easy hula dance routine to the song Tiny Bubbles by Don Ho.
You can learn this hula dance in one session!
There is a great resource of hula instructional videos on YouTube.
Below are a few links to continue your hula training:
What to Wear While Hula Dancing
Skirts allow for freedom of movement while dancing the hula and are worn by women, men, girls, and boys. For tops men and boys typically wear a tshirt when practicing and go topless when performing. Women typically wear a sports bra, spaghetti strap top, tshirt or tank top when practicing and for performing may wear a coconut bra, bikini top, sequined bra, or tube top. Fresh lei or silk lei accessories be worn on the head, neck, ankles and wrists.
Hula dancers dance barefoot. Types of skirts worn by hula dancers include:
Pareu, Lava Lava or Sarong- a long piece of cloth wrapped around the body and tucked into the waist
Grass Skirt- made from natural or synthetic raffia. Natural is tan in color and can be dyed green or a rainbow of colors.
Ti Leaf Skirt- fresh or synthetic ti leaves are fashioned into a skirt along the stem end of the leaf.
Pa'u Skirt- a modern hula dance skirt made with colorful Hawaiian printed fabric and an elastic waist. They are worn short like a mini skirt or long which covers the dancers legs to mid shin.
The hula girls are wearing ti leaf hula skirts and have a set of uli uli hula implements
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Hot Hula Fitness is a new modern form of hula which incorporates traditional hula movements and performs them to upbeat Polynesian and contemporary music providing a vigorous fun low impact aerobic workout! The Hot Hula fitness style of hula isolates the larger muscle groups, increasing strength and definition to the core with specific emphasis on the abs, glutes, quads and arms.
If you are having a Hawaiian themed celebration, include hula dancing! Teach your guests a few moves or hire a hula expert to come and teach you and your guests a hula lesson. Your guests will have a fun memorable experience and learn something that is very sacred in the Hawaiian culture for a true authentic Luau experience!
Photos of people who AlohaFriends.com helped to bring hula to their Hawaiian theme celebration!
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Hawaiian hula dance Online publication "Elements of Dance"
And outside the homeland, the dance can be seen quite often.
The peculiar spiritual practice of the Polynesians appealed even to the conservative Japanese: in some dance schools in the Land of the Rising Sun, up to 5,000 students study hula.
The formation of the dance took place over several centuries, and today there are several versions of it: the Polynesian hula kahiko proper and the modern hula auana formed under the influence of Europeans, and it is the second version that is popular. As for kahiko, since ancient times this dance has been more solemn than entertaining. It was dedicated to the goddess Laka, and also performed at ceremonies honoring the leaders. They treated him with full responsibility: the slightest mistake during the dance was interpreted as a bad sign.
Hula is associated with ancient legends about local gods and heroes: according to one of them, the author of the dance was the aforementioned Laka, while in another it is about the mighty hero Hiiaka, who, with the help of this dance, tried to calm his angry sister Pele, the patroness of volcanoes.
According to another version, the creator of the hula was Pele herself, who first performed it on the top of the crater.
The people, who for a long time did not have a written language, created their chronicle through movements, and the hula dance is a story in which every gesture has a meaning. Connected with nature and dependent on its whims, since ancient times, the Hawaiians have sought to appease their gods, glorifying the spirits that patronize the mountains, the ocean, and the earth.
To Europeans who arrived in Polynesia at the end of the 19th century, hula seemed to be an overly frank pagan dance, and therefore fell under the ban. The Christian missionaries must have been shocked to see the practically naked dancers dressed only in grass skirts. However, having undergone censorship, the dance did not disappear without a trace - it simply entered a new phase of development. This is how auana arose, a variant of hula, which today is considered almost a local landmark and attracts tourists from all over the world.
And girls adorned with flowers and making leisurely wave-like movements with their arms and hips can be seen in every creation of the Hollywood Dream Factory, if we are talking about Hawaii.
But the essence of the dance has not changed, and it is still based on the idea of unity with nature, despite the fact that even the musical instruments that accompany it are of Western origin: electric guitar, bass guitar, ukulele (Hawaiian variety guitars). Initially, kahiko hula instruments were bamboo sticks, volcanic stones, gourd, coconut and fish skin drums. Traditionally, the hula is sung to the accompaniment of singing, but the text of the song can change, and it can tell about the events of ancient times, as well as about the incidents of our time.
In the West, hula is considered a dance of women, but it has long been performed by men, whose traditional attire was loincloths, complemented by bracelets and necklaces. A distinctive feature of the male version was more abrupt movements, demonstrating the strength and courage of the dancer.
It is interesting that so far the dance teachers are men.
There is no consensus on how to dance hula: there are a number of movements that can be performed in any combination, depending on what the song is about. Knowing the meaning of the text, the dancer creates an image, choosing the necessary “building materials” from movements and gestures.
In addition to being beautiful, graceful and exotic, hula also has a beneficial effect on the body, as it promotes relaxation, helps to find spiritual harmony, restores balance and simply allows you to enjoy life at any age - and, by the way, the Hawaiians themselves most revere the elderly dancers who managed to keep a young heart.
Hawaiian Hula Dance: Aloha Studio
In the first part of Lesson 4, I told you something that any beginner hula dancer will hear, wherever they practice, in the first month of classes.
However, the fact that these rules are only basic, that is, the most basic, "for beginners" - alas, even many hula teachers rarely know here.
Although, say, for beginners on the ice and for future Olympians, the position of the body as a whole, the posture and the technique of the well-coordinated work of the hands, legs, body and head of the skater are completely clear that they are voiced differently.
Different levels of difficulty.
The same - in hula.
Beginners are given the basics of technique so that they begin to confidently stand on the Hawaiian ... er ... "ice", roll simple elements and simple "dances".
But as soon as you decide to go to the next level of skill, increase the speed, power and beauty of elements familiar to you (seemingly!) - that's it. You will not be able to do this, you will not be able to go deeper - until you return to the rules of figure skating and master the correct body position and the technique of well-coordinated work of the legs-body-arms-head - only on a completely different, professional level.
Believe the former skater :)).
Why don't we know that there is "some special posture" in the hula technique (not to mention special feet, knees and much more)? Don't know. Although the correct position of the hula dancer's body even has its own Hawaiian name - ai' ha'a.
I myself was looking for such material purposefully - and found it. And, having mastered it literally on my body, I know for sure: dancing "with full immersion" in the hula technique is much more difficult.
But much more interesting.
It's like playing a simple nice piece "on your body" - and some complex multifaceted jazz.
...Worth the title of a chapter in the hula book "Kumu hula:roots and branches":
"Hawaiian dance technique:
feet, ankles, knees, hips, torso, shoulders, arms and face"
that is, the best hula dancers in the world), one can see:
- that the work of the legs and hips in hula is as difficult as in Irish dancing,
- that the posture of the hula auana soloists is regal, as in classical ballroom dancing,
- that handwork technique can only be compared with classical Indian dances,
- well, the work of the face can only be compared with the technique of the Stanislavsky acting school .
..
It is not surprising that I have a lot to say and show on this issue: after all, the background of the dancer's body position in Hawaiian dances has not only a physical aspect (the beauty of dance movements), but also a philosophical and energetic one. And the Hawaiian philosophy and how they perceive themselves and the world around them in a holistic and valuable way is what attracts me to them the most :)))
WHAT IS IN ADVANCED LESSON 4:
- part 1: hula feet, knees and hips (28min),
- part 2: hula dancer posture (torso, tailbone to shoulders - 23 min.),
- part 3: shoulders (13 min),
- part 4: face (23 min)
- articles "Why it is important to keep your mouth open in hula " and "Some mistakes of body position in hula, or what can and should not hurt during classes",
- Three chapters hula books "Kumu hula:roots and branches"
- Hawaiian Dance Movement Techniques: Feet, Ankles, Knees, Hips, Torso, Shoulders, Arms and Face,
- "The most important aspects of the hula dancer",
- "4 main secrets, or 4 axes of magic charm of the hula dance".
The videos also include video materials I have collected from one Hawaiian kumu hula and one Japanese teacher.
The total duration of the video lesson is 90 minutes.
To be honest, I myself was amazed at how much material I collected and worked out BEYOND the basic rules of hula (!)...
HOW TO BUY this lesson:
Just click "Transfer", choose the payment method convenient for you (via Yandex wallet / by bank card), complete the purchase - and the link to the lesson will open automatically:
You can also pay directly to the card (Elena Vladimirovna W.:
Sberbank 54695550038157837
Alfabank 42612633522520
In this case, write me after payment,
Which course you boughtand where you transferred the money and I will also immediately send the link.
My e-mail: shandrikova@gmail.
