Hula Historical Perspectives

This book obviously has humble orgins. Much of it is in a typeface resembling typewritten pages, and it is a compilation of papers written by various authors. However its historical perspective on the initial explorers description of hula, the rites of the halau hula (hula school) and in particular the historical activities of hula on the island of Kaua`i is invaluable to the student of Hawaiian culture and hula. I read it and immediately started buying the other books referenced in it.

This wonderful book gives a complete historical perspective of the Hawaiian dance form known as the hula. The Hawaiians had no writing - their history was entirely oral. So for the history of the Hula prior to the arrival of Europeans in Hawai`i, we are entirely reliant on descriptions of the first European visitors to Hawai`i and on some early accounts written by Hawaiians who learned to write. Source material is scarce. When the missionaries arrived, they were, of course, shocked by the lascivious hula movements, and quickly made it illegal (in public). Fortunately for the hula and for all of us, King Kalakaua (1874-1891) loved the hula and was responsible for a revival that continues today. The annual hula festival on the Big Island - THE MERRY MONARCH FESTIVAL - honors his devotion to this art form. This book covers all of that, plus lots of information on the Hula Heiau (temple) on Kaua`i that is still heavily used today. You have to have this book if you are interested in hula at all.