Hula is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (mele). Developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there, hula dramatizes and portrays the words of the oli or mele in visual form — an excellent way of narration through movement.
Two Main Categories
Hula Kahiko (Ancient form) — accompanied by chants and traditional instruments.
Hula Auana (Contemporary form) — accompanied by western-influenced musical instruments, majorly the ukulele.
Other related dances — tamure, hura, ‘aparima, ‘ote’a, haka — come from other Polynesian islands such as Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and New Zealand. But hula is unique to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Spirit of Ohana
One of the most beautiful aspects of Polynesian dance is its focus on personal expression. Instructors claim that dancers enjoy one of the art form’s greatest rewards: the feeling of ohana — family.
This is the exact reason tech giant Salesforce chose to name the highest floor of Salesforce Tower in San Francisco Ohana — to describe the bond between employees, customers, partners, and communities.
A Hawaiian dance form, a San Francisco skyscraper, and a company culture — all connected by a single word.