Field reports : Hawaiian folkdance club

The debut of hula club

Dancing teacher with live band

Yoshida Rie, School of Commerce, Senior

The Hawaiian folkdance club is a hula club which started last October and became an official University club in this April. One of our characteristics is that we keep in close touch with graduates of the university. Junko, who is an alumna and is a certified hula teacher, gives us a lesson every week

We realized one of our ambitions on June 26th by making our public debut at a party of the Japan Immigration Society, which was held at the Tokorozawa campus. We arranged for the performance with the assistance of a former member of the club who is now a staff member of this academic society. On that day we wore a makeup and waited for our call with grave faces. There are eight of us. Some have danced since the foundation of the club. Some started hula just a month ago. We danced to the accompaniment of the “Coconut Plantation Trio” (an OB band). It was a wonderful experience to dance to a live band and a singer! We performed three songs: “Beyond the Reef”, “Kaimana Hila”, and “My Little Grass Shack”, though we were nervous since some members of the society were from Hawaii.

We will have our next performance on August 1st, dancing at the 8th Naleo party at the Shin-Takanawa Prince Hotel. The party will be held by the Naleo Toumonkai, to which Mr. Shin Shirai, a prominent figure in the hula world, and Mr. Shigeru Tsuyuki belong. There is less than a month left to practice, but our successful debut has given us a degree of confidence, and we are sure we can give an even better performance than before.

As you can see, our club already has a number of venues in which to perform. We always welcome new members. If you are interested, please write to kuleapaa@yahoo.co.jp. We also plan to start ukulele lessons. Please contact us if you would like to participate.