Decolonizing Hawai‘i through Dance
The Aesthetic Agency of Roselle Keli‘ihonipua Bailey’s Hula Practice Embodied by Her Female Hula Students
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17812548 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lina Aschenbrenner (0000-0002-5617-3897, Universität der Bundeswehr München, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religion and Gender (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1878-5417 • E-ISSN: 2589-8051 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/18785417-tat00041 |
| OpenAlex | W7155612847 |
| Language | EN |
This article examines the decolonizing potential of Hawaiian hula as taught by kumu hula Roselle Keli‘ihonipua Bailey at Ka ‘Imi Na‘auao O Hawai‘i Nei Institute. Drawing on six months of ethnographic fieldwork in 2023, I show how hula’s relational, land-based aesthetics function as female lived religion rooted in a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi worldview in Hawai‘i. Bailey’s pedagogy cultivates aesthetics that contrast with globalized individualistic spiritualities. Through practice, performance, and care for the Hawaiian ecosystem, Bailey’s students experience belonging, transformation, and emergent decolonial consciousness
Ethnography · Function (biology) · Individualism · Lived experience · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies · Study and Philosophy of Religion
| Highly cited | No |
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