History of Dance History of Term Paper

Total Length: 847 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

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The double-gourd drum, called ipu heke, provides accompaniment for the dancers (Meaning pp). Mele refers to sung poetry, and oli refers to the voice techniques used to deliver the mele, which is chanted in a rhythmic manner for dancing and at other times in a non-rhythmic manner (Meaning pp). "They are sometimes composed to mark an event of immense magnitude, such as an earthquake, volcanic eruption, storm, or tidal wave" (Meaning pp). Compositions also recall events such as the birth of a high chief or experiences such as lovemaking or war, and feelings such as nostalgia for a person or place (Meaning pp). Moreover, the composition process may be "straightforward or very complex, depending on the composer's mood and training, and other factors, such as the need to veil the identity of the hero or heroine" (Meaning pp). "Mele are delivered in diverse voice styles in which performers convey the character and sounds of the natural world, such as the wind, ocean, birds, and volcanic eruptions" (Meaning pp).

One of the most traditional instruments used for hula is the sharkskin drum called pahu.

The pahu stands two to three feet high and is made from the trunk of the coconut or breadfruit tree. A small knee drum called puniu accompanies the pahu.
The puniu is made from the skin of the kala fish, stretched over half a coconut shell. Another drum we often use is the double-gourd drum known as ipu heke (Meaning pp).

When the missionaries arrived in Hawaii in the 1830's, they were shocked by the open dancing of the hula and convinced Queen Kaahumanu that hula was bad (Brief pp). Throughout the nineteenth century, missionary disapproval was so strong that it drove the hula underground where it "survived partly because some royalty continued to support it, and partly because dedicated families and individuals in remote areas quietly continued to pass along their knowledge to succeeding generations" (Hawaii's pp). In the 1870's, King Kalakaua made hula popular again and the Hawaiians have been dancing hula ever since (Brief pp).

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