hit&run hula.

my happy place is hawai’i.

not greatly original or unique, i realize,
but whoomp, there it is.

i love all the things people love about it –
the balmy breezes, the warm waters, the natural splendor,
the island-y rhythm, the comfortable clothing, the spam.

but above all, maybe, i love hawai’ian music.
nothing is better than sitting out on a lanai by the sea
with a chilly umbrella drink & a live hawai’ian band.

& a live hawai’ian band is incomplete without a hula dancer,
lovely & smiling as she interprets the music through her body,
moving with such hypnotizing fluidity, she’s like the ocean herself.

so i’ve been a student of hula for almost two years.
i’m still a beginner – more like a rain puddle than the ocean –
but i love it. love love love it.

huge shout-out to my beautiful-inside-&-out instructor,
vivian kaw of island rhythms –
an amazingly talented teacher, & extremely kind, patient & positive
with remedial cases like me.

it’s vivian who introduced me to hit-&-run hula –
it’s like a regular flash mob, only hipper. [hee.]

a little youtube trolling, & i discovered a series
of hit&run hula videos from patrick makuakane
& his halau [school] hula, na lei hulu i ka wekiu [hula that evolves].

they staged a hit&run hula event
in san francisco on august 15, 2009,
entertaining frisco folks throughout the day
with surprise performances throughout the city –
places like golden gate park, the apple store,
a bay area rapid transit station & a castro district intersection.

here’s my favorite – 10a @ union square:



i left my heart in hawai’i . . .
but until my next return to my happy place,
hula class is a super-fun substitute!!

in austin & interested in hula?
click here for workshop info!


image source: hula moon by nancy hoke.