Note (return) — XXVI.—THE HULA KU’I MOLOKAI

The hula kí-e-léi, or kí-le-léi, was a performance of Hawaii’s classic times, and finds mention as such in the professedly imperfect list of hulas given by the historian David Malo. 395 It was marked by strenuous bodily action, gestures with feet and hands, and that vigorous exercise of the pelvis and body termed ami, the chief feature of which was a rotation of the pelvis in circles and ellipses, which is not to be regarded as an effort to portray sexual attitudes. It was a performance in which the whole company stood and chanted the mele without instrumental accompaniment.