Dancers are practicing for special event
HUI O HULA
Hui O Hula, LW’s Hawaiian dance club, meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 p.m. The Tuesday class is upstairs in Clubhouse 6. The Thursday class meets in the conference room at the Optum Health Care Center next to the LW Medcare Medical Pharmacy. All are welcome. Traditional hula is danced barefoot. Soft booties or socks are fine for anyone who prefers not to dance barefoot.
Current class subject is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” made famous (again) by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo‘ole. His gentle voice and simple ukulele style helped the song travel far beyond Hawai‘i, becoming popular around the world. The hula dance is being prepared for the Leisure World Multicultural Festival, along with “What a Wonderful World.” In hula, the hands tell the story, and this song gives dancers a beautiful story to tell. Instructor Jojo Weingart has broken down the lyrics and created a simple chor-
Taken in 2008 at LW's . rst Multicultural Performance at the Amphitheater, Hui O Hula shared aloha with dancing “In A Little Hula Heaven.” The club is looking forward to dancing "What A Wonderful World' at the 2026 Multicultural Event on July 17. eography.
All are welcome to learn this hula. For more information, call Jojo at 562-338-1502.
Hui O Hula has been busy sharing aloha through several recent performances.
On June 20, the dancers celebrated longtime Leisure World resident Marion Dodd’s 80th birthday, along with her son Russell’s 60th birthday, with many friends and family at Clubhouse 4.
Marion and her husband, Eric, have been friends of the hula club for many years, it was a poignant occasion filled with aloha, especially since the passing of her beloved Eric.
On June 23, Hui O Hula entertained the Impaired Vision & Hearing Club, followed the next day by a performance for the Rolling Thunder Golf Cart Club picnic on June 24.
Dancers gladly entertained the members and taught them “The Hukilau.”
Rolling Thunder President Roy Yamaguchi, who is from Hawai‘i, said the music and dancing brought back many happy memories for him and his wife, Lucie, who is also a hula dancer.
Hui O Hula will venture out to Stanton to share aloha at Rowntree Assisted Living’s summer luau today, Thursday, June 25.
The hula dancers have been entertaining there, twice a year, for well over 15 years.
