viewfinder: Hula

Hula

Pauline MacPherson (center) fumbles with a few of the steps and breaks into giggling fits during hula class. She signed up for it to learn something she always wanted to try but never had the time as she raised her six children.

"I think it's wonderful," MacPherson said. "It makes me feel sexy."

Making women feel sexy at 71 isn't the typical selling point for a class at Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe St. N.E., but hula lessons are far from typical. Maybe that's why they're such a success.

With flowers tucked behind their ears and bright skirts wrapped around their waists, more than 15 women sway their hips to the rhythmic melodies of a Hawaiian song. They aren't perfect dancers, but with the spirit of aloha permeating through the drab brick walls of the classroom, they are having a blast.

"I tell the women to leave their worries and troubles at the door," said instructor Cindi Heffner. "They are here to dance and feel the joy and the aloha."

Vi Chavez-Cropp (left) wanted to learn a new style of dancing and got more than a few new steps out of the five-week class.

"Getting together, being good to each other and enjoying God's creation - there is a real spiritual aspect to hula," she said.

That's the aloha. For Heffner, aloha is more than a salutation, it's the essence of Hawaii. Hula classes give her the chance to celebrate her culture.

"Maybe it's why I'm in New Mexico," mused Heffner, who has been teaching hula since she moved here 10 years ago. "Maybe my husband and I are here because we are meant to spread aloha and teach hula."

Chavez-Cropp, MacPherson and their friend Connie Devers (not pictured), the self-proclaimed "Three Stooges" of the class, are considering private lessons, they said.

"I guess it's the beauty of the dance," said Chavez-Cropp, "but the fact that we are doing it with friends and meeting new friends and encouraging each other - it's the whole package that's fantastic."