on stage
Hula old and new: what's behind the show
The company bills its evening as moving through hula both ancient and contemporary. Here's what that distinction actually means.
Reserve Nā Lei Aloha ↗Two hula traditions
| Style | Roughly |
|---|---|
| Hula kahiko | Chant-led, composed before Western contact, bare feet |
| Hula ʻauana | Guitar and ukulele, 19th-20th century, freer costuming |
Two broad styles
Hula generally falls into hula kahiko, the older chant-accompanied style predating sustained Western contact, and hula ʻauana, the guitar-and-ukulele style that developed through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Mele carries the history
Both styles are built on mele — chanted or sung poetry that functioned as Hawaiʻi's oral history before it was written down, believed to carry real spiritual weight in its own right.
Instruments, old and new
Kahiko leans on ipu gourd drums, the pahu sharkskin drum, bamboo puʻili sticks and ʻiliʻili stone castanets; ʻauana brought in steel guitar, ukulele and bass.
A dance that was once banned
Missionaries pushed to suppress public hula performance from the 1830s; it found a royal champion again under King Kalākaua in the later 1800s, and a wider renaissance followed in the 1970s.
What this show does with it
The operator describes its own evening as spanning hula both ancient and contemporary, built specifically around lei traditions rather than a general variety bill.
Why it's worth knowing before you watch
Recognising the difference between a chant-led kahiko piece and a guitar-backed ʻauana number turns the show from a pleasant blur into something you can actually follow.