Although the hula is a full-body dance; only the hand movements truly express the meaning of the dance. It is said that the expression of war scenes in the dance will put a future war to rest. Many dances express the desire for a good harvest.
In Hawaii, both men and women dance the hula. When dancing, men wore only a sash and women wore no tops. Needless to say, the first missionaries to arrive in Hawaii were horrified by the overly revealing costumes and turned off by the rather sexy dance moves, so hula was immediately banned. However, the hula was kept secret and when King Kalakaua came to power in 1874, he revived the traditional dance, but required women not to go topless and to wear long skirts. As you can imagine, tourism has once again changed the face of the hula.
The Kahiko, an ancient hula dance, has always been purely religious, but now it has become an entertaining hula dance accompanied by the ukulele. Most people associate this dance with Hawaii. The Owana hula, or modern hula, became a holdover from the islands.
Recently, there has been a growing interest in Hawaii's historical roots, and as a result, the Kahiko hula has been resurrected. There are many schools on the island that teach this ancient hula. Hula teachers are greatly respected and there is considerable competition among the hula schools. The Queen Merry Festival, held in honor of King Kalakaua in Hilo on the Big Island each April, attracts the best dancers in the state of Hawaii. Tickets for the Hula Olympia extravaganza are snapped up months in advance.