'ote'a

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The ʻōteʻa, (usually written as otea, Tahitian being lazy with accents) is a traditional dance from Tahiti, where the dancers, standing in several rows, execute different figures.

The ʻōteʻa is one of the few dances which already existed in pre-European times as a male dance. (The hura (Tahitian vernacular for hula), a dance for women, on the other hand has disappeared, and likewise is gone the couple's dance ʻupaʻupa but which may have reemerged as the tāmūrē). Nowadays, however the ʻōteʻa can be danced by men (ʻōteʻa tāne), by women (ʻōteʻa vahine), or by both gender (ʻōteʻa ʻāmui = united ʻō.). The dance is with music only, drums, but no singing. The drum can be one of the different types of the tōʻere, a laying log of wood with a longitudinal slit, which is struck by one or two sticks. Or it can be the pahu, the ancient Tahitian, standing drum covered with a shark skin and struck by the hands or with sticks. The rhythm from the tōʻere is fast, from the pahu it is slower. A smaller drum, the faʻatētē can also be used.

The dancers make gestures, reenacting daily occupations of life. For the men the themes can be chosen from warfare or sailing, and then they may use spears or paddles. For women the themes are closer to home or from nature, combing their hair, or the flight of a butterfly for example. But also more elaborate themes can be chosen, for example one where the dancers end up in a map of Tahiti, highlighting important places. In a proper ʻōteʻa the story of the theme should pervade the whole dance.

The ʻōteʻa is considered as Tahiti's best and most spectacular dance, maybe even of whole Polynesia. Especially the costumes are extremely elaborate. Of course the same more dress and the same shaking of the knees for the boys and those of the hips for the girls as in all Tahitian dances (see |tāmūrē) is used here too.

[edit] References

  • Patrick O'Reilly; La danse à Tahiti.

[edit] External links