What are the the caracteristics of hula dancing?

Question

It's for a school assignment and i really want to do hula dancing

any help would be great

thanks

Answer 1

shaking your hips! and telling a story with your arms and movement.

Answer 2

There's Tahitian or Polynesian Hula, and there's Hawai'ian Hula.

People who are not really don't know about it often mistaken Tahitian as Hawai'ian Hula. Hawaiian Hula is more expressive in terms of story telling and it's "very grounded" - knees are bent so, it's lower to the ground than Tahitian:

Here are other characteristics:

Listen to the mele. Poetry or texts, called mele, accompany the music in a hula dance. Mele contains cultural information like prayers, love songs or name chants. The type of mele used in a hula dance helps determine the style of hula. Modern hula often translates the Hawaiian language into English.

Watch hand and arm gestures. These are choreographed to help you interpret the mele. The dancers specific gestures to represent the different elements in life like wind, fire and water. The gestures may also represent plants, animals or events like war.

Notice the foot motifs, which are the stepping pattern of the hula. Motifs include stepping side to side, circulating the hips, stepping forward and back and stepping in place. The foot motifs correspond to patterns in the rhythm and generally change to reflect changes in the mele like a narrative juncture or pause between verses.

Here's a site on Hula:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huFf0uZGK...

Here's a site on Tahitian (not Hawai'ian Hula):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC19Z1PUn...

Notice the comparison to the music and chant used.