Hula Dance: The Story Behind Hawaii's Dance

Hula is a Hawaiian dance form that tells stories, records history, and honors people, places, and gods. It was never invented for visitors, and it is not decoration. Every hand motion, every step, every expression carries a specific meaning - and the dance is always paired with a chant or song that it gives physical life to. When you understand what you are watching, hula becomes something else entirely.

What hula really is

For centuries before Hawaiian became a written language, hula and chant were how knowledge crossed generations. A single dance might record a royal genealogy, describe a beloved place, praise a chief, or call on a god. That is why hula is a serious practice, learned over years under a kumu hula - a master teacher - in a hālau, a hula school. You do not casually pick it up in a weekend class and walk out having learned hula. You have learned some movements.

Knowing this changes the quality of your attention as a viewer. The gestures are a language. When a dancer's hands ripple like rain, or curve like a rising wave, or open like a flower, they are saying something specific - the same words the chant carries, made visible.

Hula kahiko and hula ʻauana

There are two broad styles. Hula kahiko is the older, ancestral form, danced to chant (oli) and percussion instruments: the ipu (gourd drum), the pahu (sharkskin-covered wooden drum, considered sacred), the pūniu (small coconut knee drum), and the ʻiliʻili (smooth water-worn stones clicked together like castanets). Dancers often wear kapa (traditional bark cloth) or ti leaf skirts, and sometimes lei hulu (feather lei). Hula kahiko tends to be powerful, grounded, and intense, with sharp, deliberate movements and deep stances.

Hula ʻauana is the modern style that developed after Western contact in the 1800s, danced to melodic song (mele) with the ʻukulele, guitar, steel guitar, and upright bass. Costumes are typically long, flowing mu'umu'u or cellophane skirts, often adorned with fresh flower lei. Movements are softer, more flowing, and more familiar to outside audiences. The term "ʻauana" means "to wander" or "drift," reflecting the style's departure from traditional forms.

Both are living traditions. Not one ancient and one current - both. Hālau practice and compete in both today, and a kumu hula will tell you each requires its own years of study and carries its own mana (spiritual power).

The meaning in the motion

In hula, the lower body holds the rhythm steady while the upper body - hands, arms, eyes, face - carries the narrative. The same hand gesture means something different depending on which chant it accompanies: mountain, flower, longing, grief. This is why hula is inseparable from the language and the values it expresses. The saying above, recorded by Mary Kawena Pukui in ʻŌlelo Noʻeau, describes the total commitment a dancer brings - body, voice, and spirit - the moment they step onto the floor.

The Merrie Monarch Festival

The Merrie Monarch Festival, held each spring in Hilo on the Big Island, is the most prestigious hula competition in Hawaii and one of the most watched events in the state. It is named for King David Kalākaua, who championed the revival of hula in the 1880s after missionaries had worked to suppress it. Hālau travel from across the islands and the Pacific to compete, and performances are broadcast statewide. If you are visiting the Big Island in late March or early April, it is one of the most culturally significant events you can attend. Learn more at merriemonarch.com.

Watching hula respectfully

You will likely encounter hula at a luau or a cultural performance. Give it full attention - put the phone down, watch carefully, and applaud with genuine warmth. Do not treat it as a photo backdrop or a party trick. If you want to go deeper, a beginner class with a local teacher is a genuine door into the tradition. Approaching hula as the serious, beautiful art it is fits the spirit of respectful travel and, more importantly, honors the people who have kept it alive.