Hula (The) Dancer As Actor: Characterization, Visualization, and Emotion

Author:
Colleen Lanki

A contemporary performance of hula combines dance and chant or song to tell stories, recount
histories and provide entertainment for its audience. As part of this performance, the hula dancer
uses rhythmic lower body movements, mimetic or depictive hand gestures and facial expression,
with there being a clear link between the text being chanted or sung and the dancers actions
(Cook 33). With these combined elements it seems that the hula dancer is more than just a body
moving in space, but that he or she incorporates many tools in his or her performance. Is the hula
dancer simply a dancer, a storyteller, or, in some sense, an actor in the performance?
For the purposes of this paper, I break down the work of an actor into three parts: characterization,
visualization, and emotion. "Characterization" means the actor plays, embodies or enacts an actual
human or non-human entity: a god, an animal, or a tree for example. The act of "visualization"
entails that the actor imagines seeing something that is not really there. For an actor, visualization
often includes not only sight, but taste, smell, sound and touch, so that a particular place, object,
or even person can be re-created in the actor's mind through memory and imagination in order to
allow the audience to experience, on some level, the same image. "Emotion" has two locations:
the emotions felt by the actor him or herself, and the emotions evoked in the audience by the
actor's performance. It is not necessary that an actor actually feel an emotion in order to create an
emotional response in others, but there is very often a link between what the actor is actually
feeling and what is transmitted to the audience.
In this paper I investigate how a hula dancer uses characterization, visualization and emotion in
performance by asking the questions: Is the dancer portraying or embodying a character at any
point in the dance? Is the dancer using visualization to recreate or experience what the dance is
describing? Is the dancer experiencing any kind of emotion? What do I, as an audience member,
feel while watching the dance? I look at five different performances of five different hula, all
accessible to me as video recordings (with two being dances I also saw as live performances):
"Kaullua" danced by kumu hula Mpuana de Silva, "Hole Waimea" danced by Iolani Luahine, "The
Kalaupapa Dog Hula" from the Molokai tradition of kumu hula John Kaimikaua, "Poliahu" danced
by Annie Lokomaikai Lipscomb, and "Pii Ana Aama" choreographed by kumu hula Michael Pili
Pang. Each of these performances is done by a solo female dancer, and none of them are danced
as part of a competition. The dances are all quite different in nature and style, yet in each, the
dancer either seems to become or embody a particular character, or there appears to be
visualization used in the movement of the dance. In addition to viewing the dances themselves, if
possible, I conducted interviews with the dancers or kumu hula involved with these selected hula.
Also included in this paper are thoughts and opinions from other dancers and kumu gathered from
lecture-demonstrations I attended at the University of Hawaii, or from videos and published

works. I look in particular at the facial expressions and the eyes of the hula dancer she performs as
well as at the expressive level of the hand gestures and lower body movements, which seem to be
affected by the emotions evoked in a dance or by the character portrayed. I do not attempt to
provide an historical overview of hula or of any expressive aspects of hula. The paper is not a
comprehensive comparison of different schools or teachers of hula, or of their methods for
performing or teaching facial or physical expression. I will look at individual dancers and teachers
and try to isolate the expressive factors in their performances that place the hula dancer in the
realm of the actor in their use of characterization, visualization, and emotion.
I am an outsider to the world of hula, so my analysis is informed by my work as a professional
western-trained actor, director and acting instructor, as well as my years of training in n and nihon
buy (Japanese classical theatre and dance). My work and study in both so-called "realistic" acting
methods and in stylized acting/movement techniques gives me a broad definition of what and
actor is and does.
Because of my outsider status, and in order to keep the ideas and information in this paper
accessible to a reader who knows little about hula, I have tried to keep the use of Hawaiian
language terms to a minimum. When I use the word hula I mean the indigenous dance of Hawaii
in all its manifestations from ancient to contemporary. Mele are the words or poetry of a song or
chant. A kumu hula is a master teacher of the hula who has "graduated" in an niki ceremony and
has been given permission to teach from his or her kumu hula, and a hlau is a school, in this
paper referring specifically to a hula school. For the categories hula auana and hula kahiko, I use
the definitions set out by the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival which make musical accompaniment
the central determining factor: a hula kahiko is a hula danced to traditional Hawaiian percussion
instruments and chant, while a hula auana is a dance accompanied by melodic instruments and
song. I use the word "dancer" for one who dances the hula, and "chanter" for an individual who
chants the mele and plays either the ipu heke (double gourd percussion instrument) or pahu(wood
and skin drum) during a hula kahiko, and the term "singer" or "musician" for those who play
instruments and sing the mele during a hula auana. One other term that I use in this paper
is kaona, which is the underlying meaning or nuance in a mele. As I have very little practical
experience with hula, I have tried to avoid any technical terms for movement motifs, using instead
a poetic description focusing on what is experienced by the audience. The spelling of all Hawaiian
words is from Mary Kawena Pkui and Samuel H. Elbert's Hawaiian Dictionary. The spelling of the
names of the kumu and dancers comes from either personal communication or various print
sources, particularly the book Nn i n Loea Hula. I apologize for any errors.
"Kaullua"
My first impressions as I watched "Kaullua," as danced by Mpuana de Silva in the 1980s
educational video Ka Hula Kahiko: Ka Mele Hawaii: Hawaiian Musical Traditions was one of a
powerful sense of honoring and of the dancer having a strength of purpose. I could not perceive
any obvious characterization, but Mpuana de Silva's eyes were clearly focused at all times and she
seemed to be visualizing various things at specific points in the dance. "Kaullua" is a hula kahiko

danced to the pahu, and in the video, Mpuana de Silva refers to it as one of three special, sacred
dances she will teach only to selected students. This is a dance that has a lineage, meaning the
choreography has been passed down to Mpuana de Silva by her kumu Maiki Aiu Lake, and to her
through generations of kumu hula.
The mele of "Kaullua" is very unclear or indirect in its meaning (Emerson 106 and Kaeppler 192).
Emerson's translation tells of a woman named Kaullua who is proud and cold, yet fascinating and
charming to her lovers, and is compared to the summit of Waialeale on Kauai (Emerson 105). Yet
for Kaeppler, this mele is more about ritual images revolving around rain, breath, life, altars, sacred
houses, and prosperity (Kaeppler 202). The lower body motifs are rhythmic and basic, mostly a
repeated extend-tap-return step, and the upper body movements are straightforward in that they
do not curve, circle or swoop much in the transitions from position to position, but are smooth and
simple in their execution. The dancer (Mpuana de Silva) has a facial expression that is generally
calm and her eyes are clearly focused either on the hands or at something beyond the hands.
Changes in expression are subtle, but present, and she appears to be not thinking about "the
performance" but about the present moment and the meaning of the dance.
In a personal interview Mpuana de Silva is clear that in "Kaullua" she is not playing a character,
and in fact very strongly feels that in the way she was taught, the dancer never actually plays a
character, but is storyteller. She emphasized that in her tradition, the dancer has a responsibility to
remain aware of him or herself and of the audience so he or she can present the dance and mele
as taught without embellishment. Rather than "getting lost in the character" or "acting out the
action" a dancer is telling about what is happening. "We don't own the dances," she said, "they are
gifts from our teachers...we are continuing the stories."
This is not to say that there isn't visualization or emotion going on in the dance. A deep
understanding of the mele, the text, is critical to Mpuana de Silva's performance as a chanter or
dancer, and an integral part of her teaching. When asked what she was visualizing while dancing
"Kaullua" she replied that the first thing she saw in her mind was her kumu, Maiki Aiu Lake, and
that she felt a deep responsibility to making sure that she honored the dance and her teacher. She
went on to say that this vision of her kumu and of her husband and partner, Khei de Silva, was
something that was almost a given, as connections to these two people are with her in everything
she does. The second thing she saw, or visualized, was the text - which she emphasized was not a
given. As a dancer or a chanter, Mpuana de Silva says she always goes back and rereads the text
so she can experience a direct understanding of the Hawaiian words. It is this deep understanding,
which includes the kaona, or underlying hidden meanings, that is expressed through the facial
expression and the subtleties of the gestures. Mpuana de Silva does not actually teach "facial
expression" but says this comes through an understanding of the text. In a published interview
Khei de Silva speaks about the dancers in their hlau learning the Hawaiian language, "It's
interesting now how many of the students don't need to be told to smile because they understand
so well what they are doing they don't need the prompt" (Hartwell 49). Mpuana de Silva always
teaches by using the words of the mele. She gives an example of a gesture in a particular hula
where the dancers raise their arms at a point in the mele that says kiekie (in the clouds, Mpuana

de Silva's translation). Rather than counting out loud "1-2-3 - up" to get them to do this action, she
would say "In the clouds! Not just your hands, your whole body must be kiekie!" I believe that this
whole body involvement in expression takes the hula to a different place than merely mimetic
gesture and facial expression. Through the visualization of the text by both the chanter and the
dancers, the whole body relives and evokes the story, and hopefully takes the audience along.
Speaking about a performance at the Merrie Monarch Festival, Khei de Silva is quoted as saying,
"Once you get the choreography down then the real challenge occurs. Can they dance it with the
right amount of spirit and expression that can transform the stadium ... and silence the audience
and put them someplace else?" (Hartwell 54).
In dancing "Kaullua" Mpuana de Silva describes her main emotions as "the sacredness of the
chant and the strength that comes with it" and emphasizes two main images in the chant: cold and
warmth, which are in the actual description of the place Waialeale, but also show how one must
at times "be both be cold in order to hold your position of strength, yet also be human." Mpuana
de Silva also felt that she would dance "Kaullua" better today as she has now been to the actual
location it describes and has truly felt the warmth of the sun and the sudden chill of the rain there.
This sensorial experience of the place, she claims, has given her "a whole new level of
understanding."
"Hole Waimea"
In Iolani Luahine's version of "Hole Waimea" as documented in the video recording Hoolaulea,
one can see the use of facial expression and visualization at a unique and remarkable level. Iolani
Luahine is perhaps one of the most amazing examples of expression at work in the hula, and she is
as much an actor as a dancer in her performances, which makes her inclusion in this study quite
important. Although she passed away in 1978, making an interview impossible, there are
numerous published quotes describing her hula performances and of various individuals'
responses to them. "She was a great actress. A great performer. She could evoke moods in a single
dance running from catatonic minimalization of movement to the violent gestures of a high manic
state. She was a dancer of genius" (Holt 1).
"Hole Waimea" is a hula kahiko accompanied by the ipu. On a literal level the mele is tale of
warriors stripping the bark off trees to make spears, but it contains a great number of
"euphemisms and double-entendre" (Emerson 69) alluding to lovemaking. Iolani Luahine's
performance of this hula contains a variety of lower body motifs and she travels though the space,
changing the location of her body with each section of the dance. There are a great variety of arm
and hand gestures, some mimetically showing spear-throwing or gathering bark, others apparently
indicating places or even feelings. Iolani Luahine's face is in constant motion. In the first part of
the dance her facial expression is fairly minimal, although the eyes are always focused in the
direction of the hands and she appears to be visualizing what the mele describes: the wind, trees
and spears. But soon her eyebrows begin to lift while she smiles slightly, giving us the impression
of some shared joke or intention, and illustrating very clearly the use of fun and humor in
expressing the kaona of the text. Particularly in the middle of the dance, where the mele speaks of

love and of a particular lover or sweetheart (Emerson 69 and Pkui, Mahea homepage), Iolani's
face is alive and completely animated. She looks at her hands as they make small circles in front of
her, smiles in enjoyment, then as the hands raise above her head, her smile grows bigger and she
lifts her eyebrows knowingly, and seems to almost flutter her eyelashes. Even without full
knowledge of the lyrics, there is a sense that she is describing some sensual act that is a great deal
of fun. This is not overt or overdone in any way, but clearly comes from Iolani Luahine's
understanding of the text and the kaona - the "double-entendre." The enjoyment for both dancer
and audience is in the sharing of the real meaning behind the words. In this case, as in mele
mai (genital or procreation chants) the kaona is not just an underlying meaning, but also the
source of fun and humor. It is the soul of the poetry, and comes not with demonstration or large
dramatics, but "with the lift of an eyebrow" (Keaulana, Lecture-Demo).
Iolani Luahine has been described as truly embodying a character when she performed. Lois
Taylor, a writer for the Honolulu Star Bulletin writes on seeing her dance: "Iolani didn't appear to
be a 16 year old girl in a flirtatious mood with her lover, she was a sixteen year old girl. It can't be
explained. From the provocative gleam in her eye to the swing of her hips and the eager little steps
as she approached ... she was a young but not inexperienced girl. The dance ended, she shook out
her grey hair and was again a middle-aged woman" (Haar 63, emphasis mine). It seems as though
all parts of her body took on a character and expressed an emotion or mood, and at times perhaps
this embodiment of a character went as far as losing the self. "When Iolani danced she was the
dance. When she chanted she was the chant. 'What are you thinking when you perform?' I asked
Iolani Luahine ... "I don't know," said Iolani, "I am not there" (Haar 5).
Perhaps Iolani Luahine's performances show less about the dance and more about personal style
and the flexibility within hula for interpretation. This interpretation comes less in the actual
movements of the dance, than of the expressive levels of those movements, and is shown
particularly in the face and eyes. She had a very specific style and was possibly a better actor than
a technically correct dancer (Pang, Interview). However it was her ability to understand the text
and embody it that made her famous. She appeared to connect completely with either the
character or the situation of each dance, and through this connection take her audience with her
into the world or story of the mele.
"The Kalaupapa Dog Hula"
"The Kalaupapa Dog Hula" documented on the video recording Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture,
comes from the Molokai tradition of kumu hula John Kaimikaua. The dance is a hula kahiko and
accompanied by a pahu. In both the video and in a personal interview John Kaimikaua describes
this hula as a ceremonial dance that is not generally performed for a public audience but is one
that is meant to honor the dog god Pokikumanumanu and describe how he protected the people
of Kalaupapa by warning fishermen of danger by howling and by turning his body into a thick fog in
order to confuse attackers coming by water.

The movements of this hula are completely unlike any other. The dancer's body is bent over, with
her fingers bent as if her hands are paws, and although the hands never touch the ground, when
she moves her arms extend with the legs (i.e.: when the right foot steps, the right hand extends)
depicting a dog walking on four legs. There are mimetic actions where the dancer's entire body
appears to become the dog tearing something apart, howling, panting, and snarling. With each of
these actions the dancer's face is completely engaged with teeth bared and eyes appearing to see
what is being searched for or attacked. From the point of view of an observer the dancer is clearly
embodying the character of a dog, and the driving energy of the chant and the ferocity of the
actions and expressions draw you in with feelings of wonder and excitement.
In a personal interview John Kaimikaua confirmed that these were indeed mimetic actions of a
dog. When asked if the dancer played or portrayed a dog he responded, "She becomes the dog,"
and emphasized that it was both becoming the god Pokikumanumanu and becoming another dog
to honor Pokikumanumanu. John Kaimikaua, emphasized the deep spiritual and ancestral
connections in hula saying that every gesture has a meaning and that the dances call for a
connection to the place and the kpuna (ancestors, elders) attached to the dance. For all animal
dances, the purpose is worship and the dancer is in communication with the gods and the
ancestors.
In the interview, a question was raised about whether the mele was being chanted from the point
of view of the dog or in the third person tellingabout the dog. As this mele is sacred and can only
be passed on under special conditions, neither the Hawaiian text nor translation is available, but
John Kaimikaua confirmed that the mele is telling the story in the third person. He spoke both of
the words being the foundation of the dance and of the chant merely describing the dance while
the movement is the core of this hula. I believe this apparent contradiction speaks of the fluidity
between embodiment and storytelling. If the dancer is both the god Pokikumanumanu and a dog
honoring Pokikumanumanu, then the relationship between chant and dance can also work in both
ways.
John Kaimikaua does not literally teach facial gestures. He first teaches the mele and
the moolelo (story of the mele); he then teaches the movements of the dance. He tries to impart
the feeling and meaning on the dancer but this is really entirely up to the dancer him or herself. Yet
he emphasizes the importance of visualization "You have to see what you're dancing about. You
have to see it. If you don't see it in front of you, your face won't show it" (Kaimikaua, Interview).
What the dancer actually feels, sees or experiences while dancing is an individual matter. He said
that when he asked this particular dancer what she visualized when performing "The Kalaupapa
Dog Hula," she replied that she was outside her body watching herself dance. This seemingly outof-body experience points to a level of enactment that goes beyond embodiment to a place where
the dancer is almost "channeling" a character. The emphasis on the ceremonial and spiritual
nature of this hula seems to lead the dancer to this almost mystical form of connection with the
images evoked, rather than encouraging empathy or emotion.
"Poliahu"

In "Poliahu" as performed by Annie Lokomaikai Lipscomb at the University of Hawaii in

November 2003, one can really see the emotions of the dancer come to life. The dance is a hula
auana choreographed in 1994 by kumu hula Ray Fonseca to a contemporary composition using an
arrangement of guitars, piano and vocal harmonies. The story of the mele is of the snow goddess
Poliahu expressing her love for chief Aiwohikupua. The English translation of the lyrics are in the
first person, telling the story from Poliahu's point of view, expressing her loneliness at being
separated from her love and her memories of his presence. As a non-Hawaiian speaking audience
member who originally had no idea what the dance was about, when I first saw "Poliahu" I felt
emotions of sadness and longing. I knew from the sound of the music, the movements of the
dance and the expressiveness of the dancer that the story was about a woman who had lost
someone she loved very much. Annie Lipscomb's performance of this dance was charged with
emotions of love and loss, and even now watching it on a video recording, makes me cry.
The movements of this hula are flowing and soft, and the arms seem to swirl gently from gesture
to gesture. There are a number of times in the dance where the arms extend forward, and the
dancer appears to be reaching for something moving away from her or just out of her grasp. The
dance at times uses levels of the body, with one movement taking the dancer to her knees and
covering her face with her hands as if weeping. Even the lower body motifs are quite fluid rather
than solidly rhythmic, with the dancer rolling through the foot as she lifts it. The entire body seems
to be caressing the air around it and there is a constant flow of expression on the dancer's face. As
"Poliahu" begins, the dancer appears almost joyful, smiling gently at what I perceive to be
memories of love, interspersed with moments of sadness and fear at the loss. The emotion and
meaning of this dance are expressed in both the facial expression and the phrasing and flow of the
movements.
When asked whether or not she feels as if she is actually playing the character of the snow goddess
Poliahu during this hula, Annie Lipscomb said yes, she does - but is not sure if anyone else who
dances it feels the same way. This taking on of the character seems to be a very personal choice
and not one that she has been specifically taught. She went on to say that the facial expression
itself is not something she "learned" but that in any hula facial expression comes from an
understanding of the text and empathy with the emotions and images in the dance. She
emphasized that this feeling of playing of a character is not the same in every dance, and gave an
example of a hula about the goddess Pele: "I don't think, 'I am her" but rather 'see this is how she
would move.'"
The concepts of empathy and observation seem to play a large part in the way Annie Lipscomb
approaches a dance as a performer. When she danced "Poliahu" as a teenager, other members of
her hlau would ask her how she could obviously understand the dance so well even though she
was far too young to have experienced such heartbreak. She says that she believes she found the
understanding through empathy with, and observation of her kumu, as he was going through a
period of personal loss when he was teaching her the dance. She says she could see his response
to the mele and imagined herself in his position.

Annie Lipscomb also spoke about experience and visualization being important to hula, and
emphasized the connection between the two. Although she feels visualization is always being used
in any hula, the ideal situation when dancing about a particular place, is to actually go to there and
experience it and that this "learning through experience" gives inspiration. As she recounted a
particular hula that she had performed, comparing her experience of dancing it before and after
visiting the place the hula describes, she said, "Once you've tried to recreate it with your body, and
see it again when it's not there..." and smiled as she could feel the place in her body again. This
idea of recreation and remembering what one has smelled, heard, seen or felt rather than simply
imagining it is what makes the difference.
"Pii Ana Aama"
Kumu hula Michael Pili Pang's choreography of "Pii Ana Aama" (Climbing are Aama Crabs), as
performed at the University of Hawaii in April 2003 cannot be defined as either kahiko or auana.
It uses a traditional mele, and the dance is done to a solo chanted voice, but in creating the hula,
Michael Pang was not as concerned with using movements that were necessarily from a hula
vocabulary as he was with creating the character who is the focus of this chant and with telling her
story (Pang, Interview). Other versions of the hula muumuu exist, but Michael Pang created this
particular dance in the year 2000.
This hula is of a very specific type called a hula muumuu or "dance of the maimed spirit" (Pang's
translation) which speaks of a young woman named Manamanaiakaluea who is a disembodied
spirit with no arms or legs. In the story she is playing in the tide pools when she is visited by the
goddess Hiiaka, who gives her a gift of a hala (pandanus) lei. Eventually, Hiiaka not only brings this
spirit back to its body (and therefore back to life) but restores her arms and legs. The mele is from
Manamanaiakaluea's point of view, telling the story through her eyes.
In Michael Pang's choreography, the first element the audience receives is the chant, while the
dancer is on her knees bent over so that her head is on the floor in front of her. As the chant
progresses, she emerges by raising her body, and we see Manamanaiakaluea playing in the tide
pools as the dancer begins a series of torso sways and circles. Her arms are folded in from the
elbows, allowing for gestures only of the upper arm. The restrictions of playing a character with
such specific physical limitations mean that the torso, neck and head become extremely
expressive, with the dancer pulsing and swaying in complete connection to the phrasing of the
chant. For much of the dance Manamanaiakaluea is trying to get the hala lei around her neck from
where it lays on the ground in front of her. She tries to nudge it with her head, move it with her
elbows and she finally succeeds by picking it up with her teeth and flipping it over her head. Once
the lei is around her neck, we see Manamanaiakaluea being healed. The dancer's arms gently
extend one at a time, her hands reaching out and her face expressing joy and wonder. She
stretches out to reach into the sky, then begins to leave the stage in a kneeling walk movement
where she never actually stands up but moves forward extending the leg to step onto the foot then
the knee. As an observer I absolutely empathize with this character and experience feelings of
frustration and longing in her struggle to get the lei over her head. There is a distinct feeling of

relief and happiness when she succeeds and then one of happiness and wonder as she discovers
her arms and legs. The expressiveness and emotion of this hula comes from the phrasing of the
movements linked to the chant.
The very distinct physicality in this hula is necessitated by the character, rather than it being an
expressive choice on the part of the choreographer or dancer. This, in conjunction with the fact
that the mele is written in the first person from Manamanaiakaluea's point of view means that in
this hula the dancer is very definitely playing or embodying this character. Michael Pang said that a
hula muumuu was one of few hula where the dancer does in fact play a character, and in creating
his choreography he emphasized character exploration. He was able to work very closely with the
dancer to evoke the right mood and emotional life for the piece. He spoke of working with an
investigation of movements to discover the expressive capabilities of a body that had no arms or
legs, then made it very personal asking the dancer to imagine what she would do or how she
would feel in this situation.
When he teaches, Michael Pang describes how he teaches expression in the gestures. He gives an
example of teaching a group of children an arm gesture meaning to embrace or love, and telling
them to think about holding a teddy bear or hugging their grandma. He also emphasized the
importance of a dancer not just "looking into space" but really knowing what they are looking at. It
is critical that a dancer first understand the mele, and then the kaona, and let this show in their
movements and face. A dancer can get to this level of expression by using whatever images work
for them; for instance if a dancer needs to express a feeling of sensual attraction or excitement in
the kaona, while the text and gesture indicates a flower, then perhaps for a group of young
women, thinking about the image of an attractive young man will get the desired effect. As a
teacher, he offers these images to his students to help them fully understand the meanings of and
behind the words. He also spoke of his kumu, Maiki Aiu Lake and her emphasis on focus and
intention with the movements, and on how gesture was connected to the dancers entire being:
"The movement wasn't just an arm gesture, it was a whole body gesture. From head to toe you say
'This is my flower.'"
In a lecture-demonstration at the University of Hawaii in March 2004, kumu hula Winona Beamer
and Maile Loo Beamer spoke specifically about the hula muumuu as being a hula of great
emotion and character embodiment. Maile Loo Beamer spoke of Moana Beamer's performances
of a hula muumuu where she becomes so involved with the despair and longing of the character
she is dancing that she cries real tears and cannot let go of the emotions even after she has
finished dancing. "It's not fake. The pain she feels while dancing is real...She [Moana Beamer] is a
dancer very connected to her emotions."
Conclusions
From my observations of these five hula and from the ideas and opinions of these few hula
practitioners, it is clear that the hula dancer does at times use characterization, visualization and
emotion when they perform. Although a study of only five dances and a few interviews is hardly

conclusive, it appears that the use of these three "actorly" elements is a personal choice on the
part of the dancer and that the choice of which elements are used and to what level differ from
hlau to hlau. In terms of characterization, there are some specific hula such as animal dances
and the hula muumuu where the dancer does portray a specific character, while there are others,
like hula about the goddess Pele where certain dancers feel as if they are playing Pele and others
who feel as though they are dancing about Pele (Beamer, Lecture-Demo and Lipscomb, Interview).
There are also hula that are obviously telling "about" a famous place, person or event. Points to
look at are whether the mele is written in the first or third person, and also whether the
movements of the dance indicate seeing an action being done or whether the dancer him or
herself performs the action. I believe that a dancer can shift between being "inside the story" as a
character, and "outside the story" as a storyteller. When Iolani Luahine dances "Hole Waimea" at
moments she appears to play a warrior as she sees the forest and gathers bark, yet she is clearly
not "in character" when she recognizes the sexual double meaning of the mele and shares the
kaona with the audience. Some dancers use characterization at times, but not at others. When
asked whether they ever portray a character in hula, both Winona Beamer and Maile Loo Beamer
replied yes immediately (Beamer, Lecture-Demo), yet in a later interview Maile Loo said, "You still
have to embody something when you're dancing. Not to take on a character, but, for example, you
are trying to capture the spirit of a place, or the spirit of a person. You relate it, but you're not
trying to move the way that person moves when you are dancing about them. But you are trying to
convey the spirit of that person. So there is a connection in that you are still acting, but it's not you
becoming someone" (M.L. Beamer, Interview). Whether a dancer feels a particular "emotion"
during a dance, and how deeply they feel that emotion is also very personal. I think that Winona
Beamer sums it up beautifully when she said, "It's your own business how much empathy you put
into your expression" (Winona Beamer, Lecture-Demo). What seems to be important is the
individual dancer's level of understanding, which changes with age and experience. Empathy
seems to be key and some of the methods described for achieving this (Michael Pang's methods of
teaching by offering personal parallel images, and Annie Lipscomb's way of accessing
understanding for "Poliahu") echo method acting techniques like the "Magic If" where an actor
asks a series of "If I was in this situation..." questions in order to understand a character, or a "key
and transfer" exercise where an actor imagines something personal in place of the reality in order
to evoke an emotional response (for example imagining someone you love in place of the other
actor who you may not really be in love with). There are differences of course, but the similarities
between these methods used by hula practitioners and western actors is striking. In hula it appears
that is always some level of visualization. Even in a tourist focused how-to-hula book, visualization
is emphasized: "A good dancer visualizes what she describes - the mountains are cool and high, the
flowers fresh and fragrant - when she knows her story, her hula can be enjoyed by all" (Murray ix).
The dancer "sees" what they are dancing, sees the mountain or the tree or the lover, and that this
visualization of the images described in the mele allows the audience to see them too. There
seems to be, in every dancer or kumu interviewed, an emphasis on sensorial learning and sensory
recall. It appears to be a necessity that a dancer has experienced the sights and sounds and smells
of the location she or he is dancing, and if they truly understand in a visceral way, the expression in
the face and the body are richer. ""It's not just a mountain; if you're dancing about it, it's a

beautiful mountain. It has admiration and it has pride. All those beautiful things are in your body
and your expression" (W.Beamer, Lecture-Demo).
For any hula, what seems to be important in all hlau and to all dancers is the importance of truly
understanding the mele and transmitting the meaning of the text. Whether a dancer does this by
imagining she "becomes" a beautiful princess for LiliuE or whether she visualizes seeing a
beautiful princess doesn't matter because the result is the same: the emotions created by the
characterization or visualization will generate an emotional response in the dancer which will put
energy and intent into the gestures and movements, and allow for subtle changes in facial
expression that will in turn transmit the feelings and meanings to the audience. It is all about
"taking it all in, making it your own, and then putting it back out in a meaningful way" (Maile Loo
Beamer - Lecture-Demo).
Colleen Lanki, 2004

The essay above was written by Colleen Lanki as a final paper for the UH Mnoa graduate level
course Dance 655 as taught by Judy Van Zile and Victoria Holt Takamine in the spring semester of
2004. It is published here with the author's generous consent; she retains all rights to this essay
and no part of it may be used or reproduced without her written permission.
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