Male hula dancers to perform at Hawaiian event in Onna

Male hula dancers to perform at Hawaiian event in Onna

On June 26, at Araha Beach in Chatan, members of the Kailua Hula Studio, who have been promoting male hula dance.


July 6, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo　

In preparation for Moon Beach Luau 2012, a Hawaiian event to be held on July 7 and 8 at the Hotel Moon Beach in Onna, several men have been practicing the hula dance. The Kailua Hula Studio, based in Kubota, Okinawa City is unique in that they have ten male dancers.

A member of the team said, “The overwhelming majority of hula dancers are female, but we want to encourage male hula from Okinawa.”
Ten men and 13 women, a total of 23 people have been practicing at the Kailua Hula Studio.

At events in July, these male dancers will perform in two of three performances by themselves.

In the last three years, Daiki Nakamoto, who is one of the key members of the team, has made several trips between Okinawa and Hawaii to learn hula. Last November, he invited Ariyuki Tamanaha, a firefighter and former colleague and others to give it a go. Tamanaha explained the merits of hula for him as being that he could enjoy it with his wife.

To get ready for the live performance, on June 26 they practiced at Araha Beach in Chatan. “I want to entertain the audience with a dynamic performance that only male dancers can achieve.” Nakamoto said.

(English translation by T&CT, Lima Tokumori and Mark Ealey)

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