Senior Hula

Last night my mother-in-law invited us over to her senior residence for a Hawaiian dinner and hula show. It was a special event at her place and everyone was excited.

The hula dancers were from the island of . . . Alameda. That's where we live; what hula group was this? It was from the Mastick Senior Center. There were 10 dancers, all 65+ yr. Some looked to be in their 80's while others looked to be in their 50's. They came from all over the Pacific: Hawaii, Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, and California. They were very into it and well coordinated. It was a lot of fun. They played slow hula songs and "age-appropriate" ones from the 40's and some Beach Boys-sounding ones. Since I was near the back, I couldn't tell how the seniors responded to the dancers, but the dancers were very energetic and a lot of fun. Maya and I recognized a few songs from our hula classes, and I recognized a few other famous ones. Nick was sitting too far away from me to tell him at the time, but hula songs that sound like they might be sexual, are. It was a little strange to see seniors making the most out of these innuendos, but they understood what the songs were about. At the end, they invited several audience members to join in a dance. Maya hopped up to join them. It was actually a dance that her hula group has learned, although I don't know if she has learned it herself. She had a ball.