Tahitian dance

フラダンスのルーツとも言われているタヒチアンダンス。フラとの違い、タヒチアンダンスの歴史を調べました。

Tahitian dance and Hula dance, they have same origin. But we might feel a different impression when we watch these dance.

Hula has two style dances, Kahiko and Auana.
Kahiko is the traditional hula, Auana is the modern hula.

Tahitian dance also has two styles, Otea and Aparima.
Otea is affected by the polynesian culture. They dance with dram and move their waist hard.
Aparima focus on hand movements and express the lyrics. They dance with ukulele or guitar. It is said to be the prototype of hula.

For Tahitian people, Dance is the symbol of their culture.
There are dance in various scene of their daily life, for example, festival, a turning point in their life and so on. They dance to pray for a rich harvest and they also dance when they welcome guest.

●history

Missionaries banned their sensual dance in the early 19th century.
In 1819, King Pomano II thought all song and dance are the bad custom.
People resisted it and started the movement to fuse old customs with the teaching of Bible.

In 1840, the government allowed entertainment dance that was called “Upa Upa”. But even after that, it was said that dancing and drinking disturb the public peace and it has been restriction for about 60 years.
However, Tahitian people kept the dance tradition secretly.

In the 1950s, Madeleine Mou tried systematizing the steps and gestures due to pass the tradition on next generation.
She made a dance group named “HEIVA”. It was the first professional dance group.

As the tourism industry has developed, there have been more opportunities for public performance. Dancers from HEIVA made a lot of dance groups and tested their skills against each other in the competition.

In 1984 French Polynesia got the right of self- government.
Tahitian dance became being respect as their tradition.