Hawaiian dance troupe performs hula to preserve its culture

Before first contact with Westerners in 1778, Hawaiians didn’t need written language. They had hula.

This ancient form of dances, songs and chants was passed down from generation to generation to preserve their culture. Stories woven into the performances conveyed everything from rituals and traditions to religion and history.

The practice carries on in Hawaii, despite the influx of Western culture. Today, Hawaiians view hula as a way to honor both the past and the present.

Halau o Keikiali’i, a troupe from San Francisco, will perform “The Sacred Hula: Ka Wa Hula — Hula Through Time” on Feb. 22 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center in Bothell. The show will recount the beginnings of Hawaiian culture, how it changed over time and the ways it continues to progress.

Through chants, music, dance and song, the performance will touch on themes such as love, death and harmony with nature. Some of the songs and dances are 400 years old. Others were composed and choreographed over the past 25 years by Kawika Alfiche, 46, a kumu hula (master teacher) who founded the troupe in 1994.

“We wanted to put together a performance that would work well for people who have never seen it and people who know a lot about it,” Alfiche said. “Hula is so easily accessible to people that it doesn’t take too much to be connected and grounded in it. People are looking for connections. Our music and dance seem to be able to that.”

Still, he said it’s easy to overlook important aspects of hula performances. It’s much more than shaking hips, grass skirts and ukuleles.

Alfiche will explain the context of what is happening on stage before a song or dance, such as rituals that pay homage to priests, monarchies and deceased teachers.

“Every single hula is a story,” Alfiche said.

The show will depict the strife felt by the native population after the islands were discovered by Westerners, such as laws that banned hula from 1820 to 1870 and prohibited the Hawaiian language from being taught until 1986.

While haunting chants will help set the mood, the dancers’ movement on stage will be their primary tool for storytelling. When they raise their hands above their heads, it’s a gesture to the rain, mountains and sun; when they point down, it’s to the ocean, fish and earth.

“Everything we’re doing with our bodies is communicating with nature,” he said. “There’s so much you can do with an arm extension.”

The troupe includes about 20 performers, including Alfiche, who also plays the pahu, a sharkskin-covered drum.

Evan Thompson: 425-339-3427, ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @ByEvanThompson.

If you go

Halau o Keikiali’i will perform “The Sacred Hula: Ka Wa Hula — Hula Through Time” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center, 18125 92nd Ave. NE, Bothell. Tickets are $42 for adults, $35 for seniors and military with ID, and $15 for youth. Call 425-298-3449 or go to www.npacf.org for more information.