Today was the Spirit of Aloha Celebration at the church I've started going here called New Hope. It was a celebration of worship hula at the church. I've never seen a real hula dance before coming to Hawaii. Since I've arrived, I've learnt that hula still thrives today eventhough they were originally solemn and sacred prayers. Hula dancing competitions are held throughout the year and is represented by teams from states all over the USA! It's a skill prized and appreciated as an extension of the Hawaiian culture in both the newer as well as the traditional story telling styles. I'm really beginning to enjoy watching it, especially the traditional story telling style with chants and gourd thumping called hula kahiko. It's is less melodic but hypnotizing to watch and listen to. Today, I had the privilege to see hula being used to worship God through the singing and dancing. The dancers were made of all kinds of people - chinese, japanese, korean, hawaiian, etc. So cool to watch! Click on this link here to see the freeform dance at timecode 20:25. The traditional hula kahiko is at 55:15.
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