Hui O Hula: Hawaiian Dance Club

Hui O Hula, the Leisure World Hawaiian dance club, welcomes all residents to learn the art of hula dancing. Lessons are given on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday’s class is held upstairs in the mirror room of Clubhouse 6; Thursday’s class is taught outdoors at Veterans Plaza by Clubhouse 3. No experience is necessary. For class information, call or text 562-338-1502.

In class, dancers use their hands, faces and bodies to express the meaning behind traditional Hawaiian songs. Each hula/dance tells a unique story. Remembering the choreography while connecting to the music can be challenging but fun.

“Learning to hula keep my dancers moving,” said instructor Jojo Weingart. “They enjoy the mingling as well.”

The current hula subject is “Logo De Pate,” from the movie “Moana.” Dancers are enjoying this South Pacific dance from Weingart, who learned it during her island cruise earlier this year. Hui O Hula will be debuting “Logo De Pate” at the annual Filipino Association of Leisure World’s veterans picnic on Saturday, July 5.

Last week’s class was filled with special aloha as dancer Nora Fredlund of Mutual 11, along with her hula family, welcomed her two cousins who were visiting from Peru. As a tribute, dancers serenaded the visitors with “Puamana,” a place song about a home in Lahaina on Maui. Most of the dancers are transplants from different parts of the world. Dancing “Puamana” brings happy thoughts of their homelands, as well as the one they share here in Leisure World.

—Jojo Weingart

Hui O Hula dancer Nora Fredlund (center with hat) and her hula 'ohana/family posed for a photo after dancing "Puamana," a song celebrating a beloved home. The group performed for her cousins Graciela Bustamante (third from left) and Elena Ballen (right of Nora) who were visiting from Peru.

Jojo Weingart