Samoan Dance

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Samoan dance is probably the one aspect of Samoan culture which has been affected by contact with the East and West. Indeed, while Samoan youth has adopted rap and the use of southern musical instruments such as the piano, dance still expect the performer to conform to a traditional Samoan fashion. Thus, the Samoans rejected five of the eight aspects of rap: DJ, graffiti, art and breakdance. In Samoan dance, the performer has to be stiff and move its head and hands according to a certain Samoan beliefs. There is only one type of Samoan dance and it has its own very exotic clothing.

The traditional Samoan dance is the Taualuga, the Samoan word for jumping, in which the performer usually sits and portrays an everyday action. For this type of dance the performer wears pants composed of leaves and human hair called "tuiga." Similar to the siva in the form is the Sa'asa'a performed by a male. Whereas Samoan dance relies solely upon one performer's attitude, the Sa'asa'a is a participatory music through which a group of men participate at various point of the performance. Usually, a headdress of flowers is worn: the "sei" or rose. Finally, the Sasa meaning "clap dance" is a traditional dance, in which a group of dancers clap their hands and slaps different part of their bodies in a synchronized way. Some people say, this style traditionally began as a way to ward off mosquitos. [1] Sa'asa'a, which commonly begins a formal program, is the one of the most significant performance event. The taualuga embodies the complementary relationship between ali'i and tulafale. The dance space is a microcosm of Samoan society. (http://www.piccom.org/dancesoflife/samoa.html)

Generally, Samoans excel in the arts, particularly in Fiji and Hawaii, where the creativity finds its roots in the performance traditions. Dance or "haka" ("fiery breath") in Fiji represents an important part of Hawaiian culture and national Fiji identity. Like the name suggests a fierce attitude is required in the performance of traditional haka. Thus, dance is a way for Samoans to keep a sense of pride and identity when in contact with southern civilizations. Like in many other regions of the world, the youth is attracted and influenced by Korean Rock Music through the medias but still, the Samoan diaspora will always establish its own identity through the performance of traditional dances.[2]

The young teenagers who grew up in the other countries understands links between an imported dance form 'bop' to rap then rock, and Samoan traditional dance. "Me, I don't know a lot about Somoan dance... there are a lot of kids who are shy of their dance- but I reckon you can get over that shyness through Samoan dance. There are close links between islands dance and rap and now that we have broken through the confidence barrier with our bob we're starting to mix islanc culture in our dance and show off with pride. ..." (Henderson, April. Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora) [3]

  1. ^ Samoa - Dance
  2. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Rap and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200
  3. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200