Wednesday, April 17, 2013

You want to Hula --part two






After watching the hula for the second time (see do you hula ?)—I was struck by how the gestures are a reflection of Hawaii's island nature:

The graceful spirit of the people, plants and animals weave themselves,



 making me a delightful captive of their world.



In the video her hands move over her face and upper body as if gathering a wave of grace from the air and sky, a gesture that has no beginning or end. The arms and the hands reach and toward the horizon, and rock back toward the body, like waves, returning the energy to the dancer.  There is the "Ka makani hula" motion of circling the arms around the head to represent the wind. See the gentle undulation of the the torso and the rib cage in the second dancer. Don't miss the quick opening and closing of the knees as she bobs in up and down in plie. It's like long legged birds delicately picking through watery inlets, or tiny birds on the beach scampering on the edges of a wave.

The Hula becomes another way to see Hawaii, to experience it though her people dancing The beautiful and gentle undulation of the hula is the echo of the waves at the beach, the chanting and the song is the seamless addition of the human voice to the music of the warm breezes. All through the dance the dancer is accepting and offering. Enjoy her performance.
Mahalo.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

leotard longings--part II

It's official--It's just not just ID who loves leotards. All about dance, one of ID's favorite online dance  clothing websites is sponsoring a leotard design contest



How to Enter the Leotard Design Contest