Dancing in the Pacific Islands is so much more than just dance; it’s a visual and musical tradition of storytelling for cultures surviving over thousands of years without written history.
Each region is unique in its music, dance and costume. Moana did a lot to put it all up on screen for the world to see, but it melted it all into one – Samoan headdresses, Tongan woven clothing, Hawaiian dancing, Tahitian drumming…. I only visited a few of the regions, and can’t claim to understand all the differences, but here’s what I heard and saw:
The Marquesas are rugged islands – tall, jagged volcanic peaks that plunge out of the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles from the Western Hemisphere. The people still live pretty traditionally, hunting wild boar by hand and going to sea in outrigger canoes to fish. The dance reflects the ruggedness of the islands. Marquesan Haka is a war dance, often including a simulated beheading of the enemy. Marquesan Haka Pua is a dance about hunting wild boar/pig.
Society Islands
The Society Islands (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc) are much tamer. The islands are protected by coral reefs, creating a calm lagoon between the reef and the island. The volcanic peaks are softer, the vegetation more fertile. Life just seems easier here than in the Marquesas, and the dancing reflects it. Gestures describe daily activities like paddling a canoe and collecting vegetables. Tahitian Ori is fast and high-energy with drumbeats played on a slit-log drum known as a toere, and fast hip shaking by the women (otea) and knee flapping by the men (pa’oti).
Melanesia
Fiji and Vanuatu form part of Melanesia, a region named for its people who emigrated from Africa thousands of years ago.
Fiji
Fijian Meke are powerful and graceful dances, including the spear dance, the fan dance and the sitting dance.
Ni Vanuatu dance to pray for a good yam harvest. The men move in concentric circles, stomping their feet and clapping their hands. The women circle around the outside jumping and singing along in a high pitched brassy tone. The men’s stomping reminded me of the rumbling of the earth you can feel every time the nearby Yasur volcano erupts.