Polynesia's version of Dirty Dancing?!

Dancing has a long history of cultural significance in the Polynesian tradition. And wow, the shows I saw at Christmas and New Year was both moving and vibrant, and so cool!

They have different dances for different occasions and events and the dance dates back to the ancient Tahitian people. The dances range from greeting visitors, prayer, seduction to the worship to ancient gods and story telling. The rhythm is both fast and slow, with or without fire and is accompanied by drums, conch shells and ukulele.

It's kind of funny actually... I used to play ukulele (and I owned a red one!) when I was around 8 years old. It was the instrument my school chose to teach us to play while other schools would go with the more regular flute. I'm a little rusty on the playing though, but maybe I should start back playing! Who knew I would end up in the part of the world where they actually play that instrument when I was 8 and thought that the ukulele was a distinct instrument!

My favorite is the fast rhythm with the drums which is so powerful while the beautiful girls do their incredible hip movements (seriously, I have never seen anyone move their hips like this and I am sure every woman walks away from the show, wishing they could shake it like that, and I'm sure every man wishes that too!) and their gracious arm and hand movements. And then you have the guys with their warrior looks, doing their incredible foot/leg moves. Their dances are amazing and gives me goose bumps!

The polynesian dance actually got banned over here in the 1820's by the British colonists as they thought the dancing had too sensual movements and the costumes were too revealing, and it was illegal until the early 20th century. Kind of crazy if you ask me, but during this time the dance was partly lost although it was done in secret.

I'm so happy to see that the Tahitians keep this tradition and take pride in it, because it is really amazing.

I was going to add a clip from YouTube, just so you can get a glimpse on what I'm talking about but it didn't work so I added the link. Check it out! I have to say though, a video clip does not give justice to actually being there and hearing the beat of the drum! But I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_8OM3QmQqo

Cheers my friends!

Camilla