Hula knew?: The Kaona of my Hula Siblings.

In May of 2004, on the first night of hula class with Na Lei Hulu, Kumu said something that I think about often. I don't remember his exact words but he said, to a packed room that is now maybe a quarter of the size it was then, that if we stick it out, if we stay dancing with this group of people, we will become great friends with some of them, and the rest, although we may not be super close, we will feel a great connection to.
When one dances hula, one dances with the music, not to the music, and definitely not at the music. When we dance hula we will be, at least when class is in session, wearing our emotions on our sleeves. Doing this at least once a week for the last 6 years, one can't help but feel a connection to other people in the class. And it's true, there are some people in the class I have become great friends with, and I do feel a great connection with the rest of them.
Even with this connection I don't really know some of the people I dance with. I know their names. I know their pa'u. I know them by their skill. I may know if they are married or have kids. I may know where they live or what they do for a living. The fact remains, however, there are things about some of my hula siblings about which I know nothing, or at least not a whole lot.
Case in point, my hula sister Sue. I really like Sue. She's nice. She's fun to talk to. She's a beautiful dancer. I wish I knew her better. The other day I came across her website, and I have to say, I was totally blown away. You need to check out her site. She paints the most beautiful pictures of flowers, seeds, roots, shells, leaves, etc. They are so amazing and beautiful. My favorite is on this page. It's the one in the right hand column, third one down. You should check it out.