In Hawaiian dance you also learn how to be a teammate, to cooperate and help each other. Most of the costumes are hand made. Hence, you have to learn how to make them and help those who know less. The parts that we are not able to make are then sent to a seamstress to be made for us.Working together doing fundraisers to cover the cost of materials was one way to keep costs down. Raphia, a material made from palm trees, is used for  grass skirts and it is very expensive. Accessories such as necklaces, bracelets and brooches may be made by hand or purchased.  The coach usually had an idea of the accessories but the dancers had input.

In the Hawaiian dance you do not learn a choreography or steps. In the Hawaiian dance you feel the music and interpret it with a story. It is usually performed by ladies, who should not wear makeup.
 Hawaiian dance enhances natural beauty and  nature. The costumes do not  cover much of the body, and most of these are traditional  skirts that are hand-made pieces. The flowers and the bright colors are a costume's characteristics that cannot be missed.
The mountains, the sky, the water, the flowers, all this is life, and  Hawaiian dance shows life. The Hawaiian dance shows you the natural beauty. That's why ladies do not wear makeup but instead show the beauty of their natural bodies.

I was nine years old the first time I saw girls dancing Hawaiian dance. It was at my sister's high school graduation. I fell in love with the colors of their skirts and the way in which they moved them. I also liked their beautiful hair with a flower, that moved to the rhythm of their hips. For a moment I saw myself there, dancing with them delighting the audience with those delicate but fast movements.

That was the day that I discovered I loved Hawaiian dance. I could not wait to go to the same high school that my sister went  so I could learn how to dance Hawaiian, but for me to do that, I had to wait four long years!

Time passed and the day finally  came for me to go to high school. Three weeks later  after classes began, I was on the Hawaiian dance team! I  was there for two years and I will never forget all the experiences, fun times, and sacrifices that were made in that stage of my life.