Hula Pahu are sacred chants and ritual movements performed with pahu, the sharkskin-covered drum. In Volume 1 of this authoritative two-volume study, Adrienne Kaeppler attempts to trace the origins and document the history of this vital Hawaiian tradition. In his introduction, renowned chanter Ka`upena Wong speaks of hula pahu as a "still-living tradition which may yet regain some of its early importance, as more and more Hawaiians search for their cultural roots."

Adrienne Kaeppler analyzes dance movements and explains their evolution from early ha`a (ritual) traditions. She accounts for the sacred nature of hula pahu by placing its origin in ritual workship of the "state gods" of the Hawaiian religion. Kaeppler believes that the chants and movements that once honored the gods, or akua, were transferred, after the arrival of Christian missionaries, to rituals honoring the surviving ancestral gods.

The author identifies three major traditions of hula pahu, discusses their chief practitioners, and describes how these traditions were transmitted from generation to generation. Her dance descriptions are supported by Labanotation scores (movement natation) that allow deeper analysis than usually encountered in cultural studies of dance.

1993/2004, Softcover, 289 Pages, 10" x 7".

Adrienne Kaeppler: Hula Pahu, Hawaiian Drum Dances Vol. 1 0930897552$29.95