Hawaii is a truly beautiful place. Most people know Hawaii for its lovely beaches. However, Hawaii is also a land full of legends . One of the oldest legends tells of a special dance called the hula, which started here around 300 years ago. One hula teacher tells the story of how the dance started. "The hula started, as far as the legend tells it, when Hi'iaki and her good friend Hopoe went down to the beach. And then, when they were there, they noticed the waves ...and they imitated the waves. And then started to use their hands...like showing the waves.That is how the hula started." However,not everyone has always liked the hula.In 1820,some religious  people from Western countries came to Hawaii.The visitors were shocked by the hula because the dancers were not wearing many clothes.So they asked the local government to ban  the dance. After that,most Hawaiians were not allowed to perform the hula in public for almost 60 years.But that did not mean the dancing stopping.Many dances still performed the hula in secret.The dance was always there. Things have changed.At the moment,people of all ages want to study the old culture.They want to learn how to dance the hula.As a result,more and more people are attending halaus. Halaus are special schools that hula in the traditional way. Kumano is a hula teacher. For him, the dance is a way to bring the best of old Hawaii culture to people today. Kumano says that the dance is not really about the body.He feels that it is more about the mind.He explains this feelings,"...the hula is more... not so much a physical thing,but more of a mental thing.For new dances,the dancing means very little,because for Hawaiians today,many of them don't speak the Hawaiian language. So,what I try to do is to mind the real thing they see today." What can we learn from the passage?
Hi iaki and her good friend Hopoe got the idea of the dance from nature. The hula had already had a history had a history of over 200 years when it was banned. Many people attend hulaus because they teach the hula in a modern way. Kumano thinks that the hula dance is good exercise for people of all ages.