My first love was dancing.
That’s not quite true.
My first true love was horses. But a close second was dancing. My mom used to say I was dancing before I could walk. (Not quite sure how I accomplished that, but apparently I was an exceptional child.) I checked out dancing books from the library, watched as much dancing as I could find on TV (back in the pre-cable days), and put on recitals in my bedroom. And I was good. All my stuffed animal critics told me so.
I also took as many free or low-cost dance lessons I could talk my mother into letting me take. This included the kids summer dance programs at the neighborhood Y. Then came that magical summer I learned the Hukilau. It’s a traditional hula dance so simple even a six-year-old could do it. I was living proof of that. But it seared a place in my brain that’s never faded. Years later, even without the help of YouTube, I remember the melody and lyrics (and even the hula steps) of that bewitching song…
Oh we’re going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki huki hukilau
Everybody loves the hukilau
Where the laulau is the kaukau at the luau
We throw our nets out into the sea
And all the amaama come a swimming to me
Oh, we’re going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki hukilau
So how does this fit into life as a Single Girl? Well, the hard truth is that past the age of 25 our metabolism slows and it becomes more and more difficult to keep our youthful figures. If you’re anything like me, the gym bores you to tears. And, I loathe the judgmental looks from the gym rats who think they own the place, or from the women who size up all the other women to determine if they’re younger/skinnier/prettier than you. Blech. I want none of it.
Dancing. Now there’s a fitness solution for me. Partner classes can be difficult without a partner, unless you don’t mind playing the male role (which I do). But hula? No partner required! And, better yet, you’re almost guaranteed to be in a room full of other single girls who are there for the same reason. So it becomes a fun-only, no-judgment, fitness zone. Best yet – the hula uses those muscle groups we all want to tone – thighs, butt, and abs. And because of the side-to-side hip movements, the hula naturally works those waist muscles, reintroducing curves in all the right places.
Who wouldn’t love all that? It’s the perfect trifecta of fun, fitness, and single girl fellowship. So, who’s going to join me for hula lessons? I’ll be the one in the coconut bra.
Oh – and in case no one offers hula lessons near you, here’s a link to a video that shows you how to do the Hukilau. It’s not exactly the same dance I learned as a six-year-old, but it’s very close. (P.S. That’s not me in the video.)
