Hawaiian Hula 'Ōlapa: Stylized Embodiment, Percussion, and Chanted Oral Poetry

Monika Lilleike's study of Hawaiian Hula 'Olapa reveals how this performing art practice shapes and transmits oral history via a distinct set of performative means of framing and stylization. The intermedial confluence of performance elements, comprising sound, body, and words, instills an oscillating effect of multisensory experience which echoes a deep-rooted sense concerned with place, distinct environmental features, and story line. The study appeals to discussions on intermediality, metaphoricity, and to an anthropology of the senses. It outlines practice as research and embodied knowledge as tools to conduct performance analysis.