Highland Senior Center

Beginning - Computers for Fun
Date: July 9, 2009
Time: 8:00-10:00 am
Length: Beginning - 4 Weeks
Cost: No Fee members
      No Fee non-members
Instructor: Kim Scarcella
Location: Game Room
Description: Learn Computers.....in a friendly atmosphere

Hawaiian Dance
Time: Mondays 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Cost: $2.00 per class members
      $2.00 per class non-members
Location: Exercise Room
Description: “Hula is the language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.” - David Láamea Kalâkaua (the Merry Monarch), the Last King of Hawaii, 1874-1891. The hula is said to have created by Laka (goddess of hula), Pele (goddess of fire/volcanos), Hiiaka (the younger sister of Pele and goddess fo Hawaiian culture), and Hopoe (Hiiaka’s human girlfriend, who taught her the hula dance). But what is hula? It is a mix of art forms including dance performed by both kane (men) and wahine (women), using facial expression, hand, body, hip, and foot movements, honoring the aumakua or ancestral gods and chiefs, accompanied by an ipu or gourd drum and other percussive instruments), and Hula mele (chanted poetry). Here at the center we have our own halau (school) every Monday from 2-3 p.m., where nâ haumâna (the students) are taught the art of Hawaiian dance by Patty Bracone. As some of you may know, hula dancing is actually the telling of a story. But there’s more than just shaking your hips and waving your arms. The moves are intricate and deliberate, and Patty will make sure you get the moves done correctly. You begin by learning the basic steps of traditional Hula, and then Tahitian as the students progress. But you don’t just learn the moves. You also learn the meaning of the dance, as well as how to make the costumes. (Traditional woman dancers wore bark cloth skirts and no upper garment other than leis. For over 25 years Patty has taught people how to “Hula the correct way.” Not an islander herself, she loves to travel to Hawaii and Tahiti, and soon learned to love the dance. Back home in Whittier, she began taking classes, and progressed to owning her own group. She hopes to spread her love of the joy of the dance. Students are encourages to bring a lei, a hay (something that goes around the head like a flower crown), or just a flower in your hair to inspire. Students will also make a pareo, which is something you tie around your hips. Hips are very important in hula. A good dancer never moves her shoulders. Only moves from the waist down. So if you’re not afraid to shake it, bring it on down.