Hula Halau Update: Tropical Polynesian Productions

Credit: Depositphotos.com/Deborah Kolb

On occasion I will post information that I receive regarding various hula halau and events across the country. Here is one update that I received that I thought would be interesting to those of you in the Glendale, Arizona area...

Tropical Polynesian Productions, a dance company is based in Glendale, AZ, is looking for reliable students/dancers and musicians in the Glendale/Peoria areas to join their dance company.

They also teach beginner classes in Hawaiian and Tahitian dance.  The classes are on Thursdays from 6 pm to 7 pm at the Arrowhead Montessori, 14801 N. 83rd Avenue, Peoria, AZ.  In addition, preschoolers that attend the Montessori have classes on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm.

This post reminded me of when I had the chance to see one of my keiki cousins (not exactly, but close enough) perform during Merrie Monarch week in Hilo.  At the time, I thought that my cousin (who was in grade school) was pretty young for learning hula. Now I know how wrong I was!  I guess that it's never to early (or late, for that matter) to start hula!  :)

Speaking of Merrie Monarch Festival...I had a great time during that week, and definitely encourage anyone who has not been to make plans to go...especially if you're into hula or would like to experience Hawaiian culture!  You really get to appreciate what an art form hula is and how important it is to Hawaiians.  (It's not like what many of the tourist places depict of hula....I'll save my rant for another time....).

Anyway...to Tropical Polynesian Productions.....hope to see you out there sometime!

A hui hou

Steve

The Missing Lei

Feather Hat Lei

Aloha and good morning to everyone!

I've been missing the blog for a while, but I think that I'm getting back into the groove!  Today, I thought that I'd just talk a little bit about a particular lei that's been missing from our site.  The lei pictured above is a feather hat lei that I have sitting around (for now).  If you've never seen these in person before, then let me tell you that these are some of the most amazing types of lei that are made.  From afar, and even from up close, it can be difficult to tell that these are lei are made from feathers.  They look more like a smooth silk or velvet (depending on the lei).  They even feel like velvet when rubbed in the direction of the feathers!

The hat lei came into being when the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) decided to incorporate a piece of their heritage into their role of cowboys by creating lei to put on their hats.  Today, you'll see people in Hawaii (both men and women) wearing either flower lei or feather lei to decorate their hats.  Also, if you go to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, you'll see some of the amazing feather lei that were made for the ali'i, or Hawaiian royalty.

The reason you don't see these lei very often today quite simply is because they are just so expensive and difficult to make!  The one pictured above would retail for about $400.  Why are they so expensive?  Well, this one took about 2 months to make before I received it.  Now...I'm guessing that it wasn't continuously worked on for that time, but it does give you an idea of the time that is required.

This particular lei was included in our store at one point, but after a while, I decided that it was getting very lonely.  (Poor little guy!).  With only one of these lei to display, I thought it looked a little odd...So, for now it's removed, but still for sale (final price is negotiable...).  If you're interested in this lei (or in just learning more about it), let me know.  I'm probably going to hold off on adding it to the store until we get some more to display...

A hui hou

Steve