In 1830, Queen Kaʻahumanu, acting under the influence of Protestant missionaries who had arrived in Hawaiʻi a decade earlier, issued an edict banning public hula performances. The dance they deemed a pagan ritual did not disappear. It retreated into caves, sugarcane fields, and remote villages, taught in secret by kumu hula (teachers) who kept the tradition alive without a written language to preserve it. When King David Laʻamea Kalākaua ascended the throne in 1874, he made it his mission to restore what had been driven underground. At his Silver Jubilee in 1886, chanters and dancers performed publicly for the first time in decades. The question this article explores is not simply what hula is, but how a practice nearly extinguished by colonialism became, against all odds, a living, evolving narrative tradition that remains contested and vibrant today.
“Hula is the language of the heart. Therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.” — King David Laʻamea Kalākaua, as recorded in accounts of his 1880s revival.
Hula is not a single dance style but a living oral-narrative tradition that encodes Hawaiian history, cosmology, and genealogy through disciplined movement and chant. The ancient hula kahiko and the modern hula ʻauana differ in purpose, accompaniment, and context — and both continue to evolve. Understanding hula means understanding how it survived suppression, adapted to tourism, and remains a site of cultural debate today.
That survival story matters because hula carries knowledge that was never written down. Before contact with the West, Hawaiians had no written script. Chants (oli) and songs (mele) transmitted genealogies, navigational knowledge, and accounts of volcanic eruptions across generations. The movements of hula were a mnemonic system — every hand gesture, hip rotation, and foot placement encoded a specific narrative. When missionaries and the monarchy banned the practice, they were not suppressing a dance. They were suppressing a library.
The two main branches of hula serve different purposes and emerged in different eras. The table below outlines the key distinctions.
| Attribute | Hula Kahiko (Ancient) | Hula ʻAuana (Modern) |
|---|---|---|
| Period of origin | Pre-19th century, developed over centuries before Western contact | Emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries under Western influence |
| Primary purpose | Honor gods (including Pele, goddess of volcanoes), high chiefs, and narrate battles and creation stories | Celebrate the natural beauty of the islands, trees, flowers, rain, and contemporary life |
| Accompaniment | Chant (oli) and percussion | Song (mele) with Western instruments |
| Instruments | Pahu hula (tall sharkskin drum), pahupahu (bamboo pipes) | Guitar, ukulele, steel guitar |
| Costume | Traditional barkcloth (kapa) and natural materials; men often bare-chested | Fabric skirts and Western-influenced tops; commercially made costumes common |
| Status today | Performed at festivals, competitions like Merrie Monarch, and in cultural revivals | Widely performed at luaus, hotels, and public shows for visitors and locals |
These two forms are not ranked as “authentic” versus “commercial.” Both are legitimate expressions of Hawaiian culture that emerged from specific historical pressures. The lines between them have blurred over time, and many contemporary performances draw on both traditions.
The Roots of Hula on Molokaʻi
Hawaiian oral tradition locates the origin of hula on the island of Molokaʻi. According to accounts preserved by kumu hula lineages, the goddess Laka — patron of hula, love, and forests — gave birth to the dance on a sacred hill called Puu Nana in the district of Kaana. This origin story is not a metaphor. For traditional practitioners, Laka is a living presence, and hālau hula (schools) maintain altars (kuahu) dedicated to her where offerings of leaves and vines are placed before performances.
Ancient hula was not performed for entertainment. It was a spiritual practice that accompanied religious ceremonies at heiau (temples) and marked transitions in the lives of chiefs. The pahu hula, a tall drum made from a hollowed coconut trunk covered with sharkskin, provided the rhythmic foundation. Dancers underwent rigorous training in hālau that functioned like seminaries — students lived with the kumu, learned chants verbatim, and observed strict kapu (prohibitions) around conduct and diet. Some scholars note parallels with Polynesian dance traditions from the Marquesas and Tahiti, but hula developed its distinctive vocabulary of hand gestures and hip movements in isolation over centuries. The exact timeline of that development remains debated; no written records exist from before 1778, when Captain Cook arrived.
When the Dance Was Forbidden
The suppression of hula began in earnest after Protestant missionaries landed in 1820. They found the open hip movements and bare-chested performers scandalous and the chants to pre-Christian gods incompatible with their theology. Queen Kaʻahumanu, who had converted to Christianity, issued the 1830 edict banning public performances. The ban was never formally rescinded after her death in 1832, and some chiefs quietly stopped enforcing it. Kamehameha III openly defied the kapu in 1834 by attending a performance, and by 1851 the government had shifted to a licensing system — heavy fees were charged per performance, effectively taxing the tradition rather than eradicating it.
A persistent outsider misconception holds that hula was “primitive” or “pagan” in a simplistic sense. In fact, hula kahiko was a sophisticated theological and historical practice with strict protocols. Missionaries did not see it as harmless fun — they understood exactly what it was: a competing system of knowledge and belief. Framing it as “just dancing” erases that complexity.
The most consequential period of suppression followed the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the 1898 U.S. annexation. The new territorial government discouraged Hawaiian-language education, and since hula chants were performed in Hawaiian, the dance itself faced a second wave of marginalization. Yet kumu hula continued teaching in rural communities, passing down chants and movements orally. The tradition survived through these individual acts of transmission, not through institutional support.
King Kalākaua — often called the Merrie Monarch — had already begun reversing the decline during his reign (1874–1891). His coronation in 1883 and his Golden Jubilee in 1886 both featured hula prominently. But the chants performed at his court had changed: they now honored flowers, trees, the king and queen, and the beauty of the islands, rather than the old gods and the birth of islands. This shift marks a real turning point that scholars still debate — was it adaptation for survival, or a fundamental break with the past?
Kahiko and ʻAuana — Two Traditions
The distinction between hula kahiko and hula ʻauana is the most important framework for understanding the dance today. Kahiko means “ancient” or “old.” It is performed to chant, not song, and the dancers’ movements are more angular and percussive, matching the rhythm of the pahu drum. The face remains serious; smiling during kahiko is traditionally considered inappropriate because the performance is a serious act of storytelling and spiritual connection. ʻAuana means “to wander or drift.” It emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries as Hawaiian musicians incorporated the guitar and ukulele brought by European and Mexican immigrants. The movements are softer, more flowing, and dancers often smile. The lyrics celebrate rainbows, the fragrance of plumeria, and the beauty of a particular valley — subjects that would have been foreign to pre-contact hula.
Specific movements carry precise meanings across both styles. The basic stance is haʻa — knees bent, torso erect, feet planted. From this position, dancers execute lewa (a hip lift), hela (foot touches the ground at a 45-degree angle in front), ʻami (hip rotation with several named variations), and kāholo (a traveling step). Each gesture corresponds to a word or image in the chant. A hand sweeping upward might represent a coconut palm swaying; a gentle wave of the arm can signify the ocean. These are not arbitrary — they are a fixed vocabulary learned over years of training.
Hula in the Modern World
The Merrie Monarch Festival, first held in Hilo in 1963, transformed hula’s place in contemporary Hawaiian life. County chairman Helene Hale launched the festival as a way to attract visitors during an economic downturn. It has since become the most prestigious hula competition in the world, drawing hālau from across the islands and from diaspora communities in Japan, the U.S. mainland, and Europe. The week-long event in April includes a parade, craft fairs, and three nights of competition judged on precision, costume, chant accuracy, and emotional delivery. Winning a Merrie Monarch title can define a kumu hula‘s career.
Hollywood’s role in popularizing hula is more complicated. Early 20th-century films and vaudeville shows presented dancers in cellophane grass skirts and coconut-shell bras — costumes that had no basis in traditional Hawaiian dress. This image became globally dominant, and it created demand that stimulated a revival even as it distorted the practice. Hotels and resorts began offering hula shows and lessons, initially catering to mainland tourists. Over time, audiences and practitioners pushed for greater authenticity, and many commercial shows now blend kahiko and ʻauana elements with respect for protocol.
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For visitors who want to see hula beyond the resort luau, free performances are held regularly at shopping centers and community spaces across the islands. Kaʻanapali Beach on Maui hosts free evening shows. The cultural tours offered through Viator often include hula demonstrations led by practitioners who explain the meaning behind the movements. These experiences differ from staged luaus — they tend to focus on the oli (chant) and the historical context of each dance rather than on spectacle.
When watching a hula performance, especially a kahiko piece, avoid applauding between sections. In traditional protocol, applause comes only at the end of the entire performance. Talking during a chant is considered disrespectful. If you are invited to join a basic ʻauana dance, follow the instructor’s lead without grabbing or exaggerating the movements — hula requires precision, not flamboyance.
Context and Comparison — Hula Across Eras and Expectations
Understanding hula means seeing how it changed across distinct historical periods. The table below maps those shifts against key attributes.
| Era | Who performed | Primary context | Typical subjects | Status of practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-contact (before 1778) | Specialized dancers trained in hālau, often of high-ranking families | Religious ceremonies at heiau, chief’s courts, seasonal festivals | Gods (Pele, Laka), genealogies, battles, natural phenomena like lava flows | Central to religious and political life |
| Missionary era (1820s–1880s) | Practitioners in remote villages, secret hālau in caves and plantations | Private, underground — performed out of sight of authorities | Same as pre-contact, but increasingly adapted to avoid detection | Banned (1830–1832), then taxed/licensed (1851 onward) |
| Kalākaua revival (1883–1891) | Court performers, public hālau re-established | Royal celebrations, public festivals | Flowers, trees, the king and queen, natural beauty — fewer references to old gods | State-sponsored, publicly celebrated |
| Territorial era (1898–1959) | Hollywood dancers, resort performers, rural practitioners | Film sets, hotel luaus, community gatherings | Commercialized imagery (grass skirts, coconut bras) coexisted with underground traditional practice | Marginalized in schools, commercialized for tourism |
| Contemporary (1963–present) | Competition hālau, resort performers, community groups, diaspora troupes | Merrie Monarch Festival, hotel shows, community events, online | Full range — ancient chants, modern songs, political commentary, environmental themes | Revived, contested, evolving; both protected and commodified |
The grass skirt is the single most persistent visual stereotype associated with hula, and it is almost entirely a Hollywood invention. Traditional hula costumes used kapa (barkcloth) skirts, lau hala (pandanus-leaf) skirts, or paʻu (tied fabric). The cellophane grass skirt — made from imported synthetic materials — was created for 1930s Hollywood films and tourist shows. Many contemporary hālau avoid it entirely. Assuming a dancer in a grass skirt is performing “authentic” hula is the most common outsider mistake.
- Hula is a narrative and spiritual practice, not merely a dance — it encodes Hawaiian history, cosmology, and genealogy.
- The kahiko/ʻauana distinction reflects a real historical shift, but both forms are legitimate expressions shaped by survival pressures.
- Hula was banned, taxed, and marginalized for over a century; its survival is a deliberate achievement of kumu hula who taught in secret.
- The grass skirt and coconut-bras image is a Hollywood invention, not a traditional costume.
- Contemporary hula is a site of ongoing cultural debate about authenticity, commercialization, and adaptation.
Questions Readers Ask
Is it okay for non-Hawaiians to learn hula?
Yes, but context matters. Many hālau hula in Hawaiʻi and internationally welcome non-Hawaiian students who approach the practice with humility and commitment. What is not appropriate is treating hula as a casual party trick or performing it without understanding its meaning. The key is learning from a qualified kumu hula, not from a YouTube video.
Why do hula dancers sometimes look serious and sometimes smile?
The facial expression corresponds to the type of hula. In hula kahiko, a serious demeanor is expected because the performance is a spiritual act honoring gods or recounting history. Smiling during kahiko is traditionally seen as disrespectful. In hula ʻauana, dancers smile freely — the mood is celebratory and the subjects are joyful.
What does a hand gesture in hula actually mean?
Each movement has a fixed meaning tied to the words of the chant or song. A hand sweeping upward can signify a coconut palm, a wave, or a bird in flight depending on the lyric it accompanies. The vocabulary is learned over years and is not improvised. The same gesture can carry different meanings in different chants.
Did hula really almost die out?
Yes, multiple times. The 1830 ban, the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, the U.S. annexation in 1898, and the suppression of the Hawaiian language in territorial schools all pushed hula to the brink. Each time, kumu hula preserved the tradition through secret teaching. The survival of hula is not inevitable — it is the result of deliberate, often risky, human choices.
Is the Merrie Monarch Festival only for Hawaiians?
The festival is open to all hālau hula that meet its standards, regardless of the ethnic background of dancers, provided they are trained by a recognized kumu hula. Hālau from Japan, Mexico, and the U.S. mainland have competed. The judging criteria emphasize accuracy, costuming, and chant quality, not ethnicity.
What Hula Reveals About Survival and Storytelling
Hula is not a relic preserved in amber. It is a tradition that changed form under pressure — banned, commercialized, Hollywood-ized, and reclaimed — and it is still changing. What makes that story useful beyond Hawaiʻi is what it reveals about how any community holds onto knowledge when the institutions that supported it are dismantled. Hula survived because people taught it in caves, because a king chose to revive it, and because grandmothers passed chants to grandchildren in kitchens and living rooms. That kind of transmission doesn’t produce a single “authentic” version. It produces a living one. For a deeper look at the spiritual dimensions of ancient hula practice, read our guide on unveiling the ancient hula as a spiritual journey.
Sources and further reading
Maui Divers Jewelry. “The Meaning Behind Hula.” 🔗
Roads and Destinations. “The Hula Story: Marginalization and Renewal of Hawaiian Culture.” 🔗
Roberts Hawaii. “Hawaiian Hula Dance 101.” 🔗
Related reading on IslandHopperGuides
Slack Key Guitar: The Soulful Sounds of Hawaiian Music — explores the musical tradition that accompanies hula ʻauana.
Navigating the Nuances of Hawaiian Protocol: A Guide for Respectful Visitors — covers broader etiquette for engaging with Hawaiian cultural practices.
The Art of Kapa: Preserving Hawaiʻi’s Ancient Barkcloth Tradition — traditional fabric used in hula kahiko costumes.
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