FIGHT IS ON TO SUPPRESS HULA DANCES
A vigorous campaign to stamp out the time-honored hula-hula national dance of Hawaii, which is accomplished without the dancer moving his or her feet, has been instituted by clergymen and the reform element, according to Rev. Ezra Crandall, a missionary of Worcester, Mass., who arrived in San Francisco recently, after a visit of several weeks in the island capital, says the San Francisco Bulletin.
The “disgusting hula” of the present day, according to Rev. Crandall, is a survival of an ancient pagan ceremony practiced by the Hawaiians, but is has so degenerated that it has become a moral menace. Rev. Crandall stated that it is the opinion of those conducting the campaign that every self-respecting Hawaiian should take a stand against the terpsichorean indecency involved in the native dance.
“The hula, as it is commonly danced and commonly know now,” said Rev. Crandall, “should be the subject of vigorous condemnation, and I do feel that every Hawaiian should feel this reflection on the decency and propriety of his race.
“For the honor and the good name of the Hawaiian race, all men and women of Hawaiian blood are being urged to join in discountenancing these indecent exhibitions. The mere fact that some people, principally tourists, want to see them is no excuse for their existence. They are a shame to the islands.”
(Star-Bulletin, 6/15/1917, p. 14)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Volume XXIV, Number 7854, Page 14. June 15, 1917.
