Hula shares old Hawaii with visitors

A handsome hula dancer raises his hands to the sky, and dozens of tourists raise their smartphones and cameras to capture this rare glimpse of authentic Hawaii in Waikiki.

A young girl in a coconut bra and a plastic hula skirt makes her way to the front of the crowd to get a better look at the Kuhio Beach Hula Show, which this month marks its 20th anniversary.

Aside from the smartphones, not much has changed since 1994 in the way the dancers share their message of aloha with tourists around the globe.

"You can find images of the show and little videos on YouTube, Flickr, and in emails and Facebook," said Marnie Weeks, who produces the Kuhio Beach Hula Show for the Waikiki Improvement Association (WIA). "They are being zoomed around the world even as the show is happening. The tourists tell me that they are so happy to be able to see the Hawaiian culture because it’s what differentiates us from other destinations."

After two decades the Kuhio Beach Hula Show, now located at a hula mound by the Duke Kahanamoku statue near Uluniu and Kalakaua avenues, is still dancing its way into visitors’ hearts.

The free hourlong show, which begins at 6 p.m. in the winter months and at 6:30 p.m. the rest of the year, is performed Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sponsored by the WIA and paid for by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the City and County of Honolulu and the neighboring Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, the show also includes a torch-lighting and conch shell ceremony.

"The torch lighting and hula show presents authentic Hawaiian hula, history and culture to the visitors and is very popular with local hula fans and kamaaina, and with guests," said WIA President Rick Egged. "The program also offers hula students an opportunity to share their hula and interact with the tourists in Waikiki. It’s become the signature event for Waikiki."

Some 15 to 20 authentic halau rotate performances at the mound annually, Weeks said. "They are among the finest in Hawaii."

Kumu Hula Leimomi Ho and her dancers have been performing in the show since its inception and have enjoyed the chance to help thousands of tourists see the real Hawaii.

"When the show first started, we were the only halau," said Ho, whose halau is named Keali’ika’apunihonua Ke’ena A’o Hula for her hanai mother, the late Auntie Vickie Rodrigues.

Performing at the mound gives local dancers a chance to educate visitors.

"Some think hula girls are just people in grass skirts going left and going right,"Ho said, "but it’s not just that. … Hula is our whole being, and we are trying to convey that in our dance. Hula is telling stories with the hands."

Kimi Rodrigues, who has danced under Ho since the early 1980s, said tourists should know that when the various halau dance at the Kuhio Beach Hula Show, they are sharing their own personal history.

"My family is very proud of Auntie Vickie’s hula and music knowledge, and when we perform we are proud to share these traditions," said Rodrigues, whose grandfather’s brother was married to Auntie Vickie. "The songs we do are about the people and places of Hawaii. We help people to understand that there is meaning behind these Hawaiian songs."

While hula has always occupied an important place in the host culture of Hawaii, Hawaiian entertainer Jeff Apaka said the Kuhio Beach Hula Show offers a rare glimpse into yesteryear.

"In the day, folks like Alfred Apaka, Hilo Hattie and others performed in major rooms from New York to Los Angeles, and the ‘Hawaii Calls’ weekly radio show created our ‘Paradise in the Pacific’ image that lives till today," said Apaka as he reminisced about his famous father.

"Visitors to Hawaii travel here for many reasons — the sunshine, beaches, safety and, for our Asian visitors, the shopping," Apaka said. "All of those things are available in other locations of the world, many at a lower price. But traditional hula performed by local na halau (hula schools) is unique to Hawaii."