I did not intrude so as to ask for the names of these sweet young ladies.
Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song. It was developed on these Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled here. The chant or song is called a mele. The hula is a dramatic performance commenting on the mele.
The ancient hula (kahiko), as performed before Western encounters with Hawai'i, is accompanied by chant and traditional instruments. Hula is unique to the Hawaiian Islands.
Hula kahiko embodies an enormous variety of styles and moods, from the solemn and sacred to the frivolous. Many hula were created to praise the chiefs and performed in their honor, or simply for their entertainment.
Serious hula was considered a religious performance, performed on platform temples; even a minor error was considered to invalidate the performance and foretold of bad luck bringing dire consequences. Dancers while novice and practicing were ritually secluded and put under the protection of the goddess Laka. Religious ceremonies marked the successful learning of the hula and the emergence from seclusion.
Hula kahiko, with historical chant, is typified by traditional costuming, by an austere look, and by a belief in serious word meanings. Where Hawaiian history was oral history, codified in genealogies and chants, each was memorized strictly as passed down. Chants told the stories of creation, mythology, royalty, and other significant events and people. Much has been lost in these stories.
Female dancers wore the everyday wrapped skirt and ceremonial lei which left the breasts uncovered. Male dancers wore the everyday malo, or loincloth. Costuming worn for sacred hula were considered imbued with the sacredness of the dance and were not worn after the performance. They were typically left on the small altar to Laka as offerings. Among the more serious hula were a form of fealty, and frequently meant to flatter the chief. There were hula celebrating his lineage, his name, and even his genitals.
