Realizing that performances of luau and hula offer native Hawaiians a forum for keeping their ancestry and culture alive, how can you not go? A Luau show, such as the Old Lahaina Luau, voted the best in Maui for many consecutive years, may be the best opportunity to experience the sights, sounds and flavors of the original inhabitants. It's not perfectly authentic, of course, but it's a very good thing.
Hula, considered sacred to the Hawaiians, uses dance to give thanks, tell "story", relate history and is the traditional accompaniment to the foods, which are also prepared in ritualized fashion, from the pounding of the poi, to the slaughter and pit smoking of the pig.
Although the Natives probably drank Kava at their feasts, this Luau breaks with tradition and serves up wicked potions of Mai Tai's starting with the glass you are given with your Lei upon entering the site. Now Smile! Everyone gets a souvenir photo with the beautiful men and women who will both serve your table and later perform the dances.
Arriving at the Luau around 5:30 p.m. gives guests a chance to stroll the idyllic setting directly on the ocean, eye up the locally made crafts displayed round the perimeter on batik-tapa cloth sarongs and have a second cup of kindness. Don't miss the unearthing of the pig in your rush to the open bar, however, as sarong clad muscle men raise the meat from its smoky grave to the "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd gathered round the pit.
Soon enough the as the sun sets slowly behind Lanai, guest make their way to the elaborate and bountiful spread of salads, fresh tropical fruits and vegetables, roast pig, poke, chicken and island fish. With everything so tempting, it's hard to decide which items to put on your plate. This is also your chance to try the ambrosia of the Hawaiian royals -- poi. (No doubt an acquired taste, I have heard poi delicately described as a cross between paste and snot. Sorry, but had to warn you.) Then comes an assortment of desserts presented by the unfailingly cheerful staff and the show begins.
Center stage and in clear view of all the tables, the wait staff has transformed into costumed warriors and island beauties singing melodious ballads along with war-like chants that tell the tales of ancestral journeys across the seas to the newly born islands of Hawaii. Legends of the great gods and goddesses are recounted and inter-woven with stories of the human inhabitants. All during the telling, the acceptance and awareness of the rhythms of life, nature, and the sea are expressed by the incredulously graceful and controlled movements of the Hula. Those hands, those arms, those legs, those hips! Those coconut shells! Remember the expression Lester had in "American Beauty" while watching the cheerleaders? My husband had that very same look on his face.
I couldn't blame him. There's just something in the way they move.