Friday, July 13, 2007

My first hula lesson...

Every year my singles ward has a service auction to raise money for our ward campout. Just about anything and everything you can imagine is up for bid--from house cleaning to computer services to gourmet meals to private airplane tours of the Salt Lake valley to hula lessons. Yes, let's stop with that last one as it happens to relate to the title of my blog.

My first purchase at this year's auction was a hula lesson from my friend Tara who served a mission in Hawai'i. Why would I purchase such a thing you ask? Is it because I am a wonderfully skilled dancer who needs a new genre to conquer? Definitely not!! Let's just say if I found a magic lamp and could have 3 wishes from a genie, one of those would be to be able to cut a rug with the best of them. Not that I am completely without rhythm mind you...it's that I am a much better dancer in my own head than what my body chooses to do. I think something is lost in translation between my brain and my appendages.


The real reason I bought the hula lesson is two-fold. First, I went to Hawai'i in November of last year and ever since then I have thought about Hawai'i at least every other day if not every day. I used to wonder what the big fuss was all about but after having been there I must have been hit with the spirit of Aloha or something. I'd give anything to be there right now in fact. Second, I thought it would be fun to share this lesson with my sister during the annual family trip to Utah. Megan is by far a better dancer than I am and has taken a number of different types of dance classes so I thought she might enjoy this as well.


So a couple of nights ago Tara came over armed with some cd's and even some lavalavas (which I somewhat reluctantly put on I might add). Since Heidi was around as well, we made it a lesson for three. Tara began demonstrating her mad skills and throwing out Hawaiian words that I honestly cannot now remember. We learned the different steps and then started to put them together as choreography for a specific song.


I did much better with some steps than others. I have rediscovered that I am not very good at trying to get different parts of my body to do different things at the same time. I know I looked pretty ridiculous attempting some of the stuff although I think I pretty much nailed the "vamp" (which is just about the most simple step which is kind of used as a break during the instrumental portion before the next verse of the song starts).


Anyway, we learned a whole song in my cramped living room and it was really fun!! In the past I have been discouraged trying to learn other forms of dance. But I must say I really enjoyed learning a little bit of hula and although I am nowhere near as graceful as Tara or other real hula dancers, I wasn't a complete loss. Megan and Heidi really enjoyed themselves as well and I'm pretty sure Tara got a kick out of my lack of coordination. I tried to switch places to be out of her peripheral vision but my coordination problems were so widespread there was nowhere to hide! Here we are with our kumu (teacher) after the lesson (l-r Heidi, Tara, Megan, me):


Mahalo Tara! It was a blast!! I videotaped her showing us what the dance is supposed to look like so I can practice on my own until I get it down. So next time you see me, feel free to ask for a demonstration of my new skills...and until then...A-LO-HA!!!

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