A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to take hula classes. I've always been intrigued by the dance, but I had the feeling that it was kind of taboo for a white person to hula. I remember one of the free shows in the mall in Lahaina a few years ago when they were introducing all the little kids so they could take a bow. All these adorable hawaiian girls with what we would consider exotic names. Then they got to the one little blond girl and the lady introducing them got this look on her face like she smelled something nasty and said something along the lines of "Susan??? what kind of a name is that?" I still remember the look on that little girl's face, trying to hold her stage smile while being insulted.Here, you can't be too white to hula. Everyone is welcome, and I absolutely love every minute of it. It is fun, good exercise and apparently I don't suck at it. The only downside is that hula is done with the knees bent and mine sound like a Jiffy Pop when I dance.
