| August 9, 2003 |
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P.O.V.: American Aloha - Hula Beyond Hawai'i
Quick  -- close your eyes and picture a hula dancer. What do you see? Is it a bobble-hipped dashboard ornament, or maybe a dark-haired wahine swishing to Elvis tunes? Unfortunately, those kitschy images are what most folks mistake for the real thing. The filmmakers behind this PBS documentary hope to disabuse those notions by following the lives of three noted California kumu hula (hula teachers), their haumana (students), and the prestigious halaus (schools) they've established far from Hawaii's shores. Learn about hula's sacred origins and traditions, how each kumu struggles to stay relevant in mainstream America, and how their sometimes modern interpretations create controversy among traditionalists back home. Finally, learn of hula's near-extinction with the arrival of missionaries, its renaissance in the '70s, and today's revival in response to a struggle for the cultural survival of Hawaiian traditions. (in Performing Arts) |
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