Karen Amezcua

English 113
Research Paper Draft 1
February 6, 2015
There has to be a reason of why people dance. It could not possible be because people
just feel like it. A person must have started dancing for some reason. To be able to understand the
concept of dancing, one might need to research to depth the whole history of it. This might be
difficult to research, because dance does not leave physical artifacts behind like other things
leave behind like humans and animals. There are no fossils, or caves, or paintings. Dance is hard
to research because there is nothing physical from the ancestors than can define what they used
to do as dancing, at not nothing very clear. Although there might be struggles with precise
information about dance, dance has always been part of life. Dance has been an important role in
ceremonies, entertainment, and celebrations. Hawaiian dance, known for its name of hula, is one
type of dance that will be mentioned in this paper.
Hula is the name for what Hawaiian dance is. It is a dance in which both genders can
dance to. Although for the most part, women are the ones that dance it the most, while men are
the ones that play the music with specific instruments. The dance consists of movements of the
hands, the feet, and hips, and the face. Hands movements can define the meaning of what a
person might me dancing, as well as the face gestures. It is all about posture and the dancers
body, so it will definitely help you strengthen your back muscles and posture. A good posture
defines the sacredness and dignity of the dance itself. It helps you with the bones of your body.
The side to side movements give people strength to weight-bearing bones, providing physical
toning to the hips and stomach. It can also be a way of recovering from an injury because
dancing keeps your joints moving and is a very good replacement for activities with intensity
like jogging or running.

Dancing benefits your physical body in many ways, but it can also benefit your mental
health as well. Studies have shown that dancing styles like hula can help slow the development
of Alzheimers disease. This is because it involves physical and mental activity. Dancing
involves to be able to balance, so that means that when people get older, they develop a less
probability of incidents by falling. It improves your coordination, since hula is about moving
hands and feet with coordination as well as your hips. It can release stress since this types of hula
requires a major concentrations and focus. Dancing is a way of taking a break from the stress of
the world.
This Hawaiian form of art has rhythmic movements. Hula is Hawaiians way of
expressing with the body. It is a living book of our culture. Many of the hula songs are about
nature, for example waves, wind, and rain. In order to dance hula, you have to be able to
interpret the song. Visualizing and interpreting the words with the movement will help you
develop a smoother hula movement. Every movement of the hand has a symbolic meaning. Your
hands could be interpreting a story as your body is only moving to the rhythm of the music. The
steps of hula could be either very simple or very complicated. They can also be smooth or they
can be rough. It all depends of what the story behind the dance movements is trying to express to
the audience. A hula dancer is actually supposed to be looking at its own hands, since you should
be so into the music and rhythm, you would not be able to have time to look at the audience, for
the most part. It does not matter the subject, hula is always danced with a good spirit.
Hula used to be performed only for honor of something. It was a sacred dance that was to be
used only on special occasions. As time went by, hula became as a way of entertainment,
although the old use of hula is still important. There are schools specialized in hula, and this
schools are very strict. In order to be chosen in a hula school, certain requirements need to be

into consideration. Dedication is one of the most important things one will need to apply all the
times. Respect is also something very important, since hula is very spiritual and has to do with
the interaction of one self and nature.

Annotated Bibliography
Hale, Constance. "The Hula Movement." Atlantic 290.1 (2002): 166-168. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 6 Feb. 2015
This articles talks about the movements of hula. It includes information about the
significance of a dance. This article is relevant to my research paper because it talk about how
other people view Hawaiian dance compared to what the real meaning is. Hula is known to be a
sweet smooth dance, when in reality most hula dancing requires or powerful movement and
rough rhythms.
Joyce Gregory. "Preserving The Language Of Aloha." Americas 64.3 (2012): 32-38. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.
This articles talks about the language of Aloha. It includes information about the
Hawaiian dance, hula. This article is relevant to my research paper because it talks about how
hula is a way of expressing something. It is Hawaiis way to express the soul. It also includes
information such as it is a form of worship and is performed in religious ceremonies.