Hui O Hula: Hawaiian Dance Club

Hui O Hula, Leisure World’s Hawaiian dance club, offers free hula classes weekly. Classes are held Tuesdays at 1 p.m. in the upstairs Mirror Room of Clubhouse 6 and Thursdays at 1 p.m. in the Optum Health Care Center conference room, next to the pharmacy. Wear comfortable clothing; barefoot is preferred, although socks or soft dance booties are also welcome.

One example is Keali’i Reichel’s recording of “Malie’s Song/Hawaiian Lullaby.” The gentle song celebrates the beauty of friendship and a beloved home with rainbows, colorful flowers, birdsong, sunshine and laughter. Hui O Hula dancers can easily relate its message to living in Leisure World.

With the holiday season approaching, instructor Jojo Weingart is beginning to review Christmas hulas, including “Mele Kalikimaka,” using Jimmy Buffett’s island-style recording. This hula features implements like split-bamboo rhythm sticks, and feathered gourd rattles.

Recently several Hui O Hula dancers made a home visit to Michael Oh, a Mutual 1 shareholder since 2004, who recently turned 86. Over the years, he became a familiar face in Leisure World through the Sunshine Club, line dancing and especially the LW Video Producers Club. As a volunteer cameraman, he recorded community performances, including many Hui O Hula events, helping preserve special moments for residents who could not attend in person. Oh has always enjoyed being part of the community, and the hula dancers were happy to bring a little aloha to him during their visit. Weingart also remembers a kindness from years ago, when Oh helped her mother, Ginger, who was deaf, with a flashing doorbell. It is one of many small examples of Oh being a helpful neighbor and volunteer.

—Jojo Weingart

Hui O Hula dancers paid a home visit to former LWer Michael Oh (front row, second from left, beside the walker). Joining the visit were Roy Nakamura of the Rollin' Thunder Golf Cart Club and Harry Varnas of the Filipino Association of Leisure World.