Hula is more than a dance, it's the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people, says Nalani Taylor of Kauai. And if you've ever longed to feel that beat, now is your chance.
Taylor – dancer, choreographer in residence at the Yulman Theatre this month –is hosting several hula workshops that are open to the campus community. They will be held on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 6:30 on Oct. 19 and 26 in the Arts Building Dance Studio.
Taylor also will lead a lei-making workshop on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Yulman. She will work with a range of materials, including leaves, shells and bark.
“Hula is a very spiritual dance that embraces the whole culture of a race of people that is slowly fading, and we want to keep it alive,” said Taylor. “It's a wonderful, beautiful culture that embraces the aloha, a sense of true respect for people and their surroundings.”
The workshops will feature traditional hula, or kahiko; the more contemporary auwana; and the hapa haole, a glitzy, tourist-oriented form. No experience is necessary.
“As long as you've got hips, hands and heart, you can do the hula,” Taylor said.
The campus hula hoopla is part of a larger, exciting theater event, a Hawaiian-themed production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” Shakespeare's famous work about the trials and tribulations of love.
The play, directed by Lloyd Waiwaiole, costumer for performing arts, will be performed Nov. 1-5 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets go on sale at the Yulman box office on Monday, Oct. 17, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Look for more on Midsummer in future issues of the Chronicle.