My friend Jake from work is really into all things Hawaiian – he’s the one who took me out on the outrigger canoe, he surfs and loves everything to do with the water, he plays Hawaiian music on the ukulele, and much more. His uncle had a “kanikapila” (play music) party on Saturday, and I got invited along. The party turned out to be a celebration for the Hawaiian language class that Jake’s uncle and father are taking.
It was fantastic. After some pupus and a potluck dinner, people started playing their instruments (many ukuleles and a steel guitar included), singing Hawaiian songs, and hula dancing. It was great. Many people knew only one or two hulas, and would request the musicians to play the songs they knew. I’m not sure that I’d seen men dance hulas before, but there were several dancing last night. Some people knew many hulas, including the teacher of the Hawaiian language class and her daughter, a finalist in the Miss Aloha Hula contest!
I took a video on my camera – I’m posting it below.
Check out some pics of the house (not mine – I was only there at night):
And some stills from the party:
