Music
and Dancing
 The
heiva, or
Tahitian festivals, were very common in the era before
European discovery.
The
Polynesians adored games and practiced several sports, as
entertainment occupied a large part of their lives.
They
used to organize canoe races, surfing, wrestling or
boxing-matches, javelin throwing and archery.
But however exciting these activities were for the
Tahitians, none of them equaled their consuming passion
for dancing. Dances
were directly linked with every aspect of traditional
life. So one
danced not only for joy, but also to welcome a visitor, to
pray to the Gods, to challenge an enemy, to proclaim one's
victory in a competition or to accompany the great and
solemn celebrations on the marae.
Everybody
was allowed to dance: men, women, children and even
someone of noble birth, provided his performance equaled
his rank. Dances
by transvestites were permitted if men took the role of
women, but never the contrary.
So the otea is a dance for men and the upa
upa is performed by a couple.
Some
dances were only performed at night and others required
the participants to be completely naked.
As
we have already noted, the arioi were what we would call a professional troupe, today.
This
group would move around according to requests from
different areas or outlying islands.
Their program included erotic dances which must
have shocked the first Europeans to see them.
The Protestant missionaries regarded them as an
"immoral" spectacle "possessed of the
devil". In
1820, article 23 of the law of the Leeward Islands states
clearly that" all
lascivious songs, games or entertainment a
restrictly forbidden". (Articles 22 and 24
forbade tattooing or the wearing of flower crowns in
church). Thus,
throughout the nineteenth century, traditional chants and
dances begin to disappear. Pagan chants will be replaced by himene.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, we find the 14th July heiva
returning, but the women wear "mission"
dresses with long sleeves !
Then, little by little, the more makes a comeback
and there is no opposition to dancers being naked to the
waist.
Musical
instruments are very basic.
They include several percussion instruments and two
wind instruments.
The
stringed instruments so widely used today could have come
from Hawaii where the Spaniards introduced them in the
17th century.
The
pu, a marine
conch-shell made out of a large murex (charonia tritonis) ws used to summon people to the marae
) and to announce important news.
The vivo is
a nose flute, carved from a piece of bamboo; it is
often decorated with pyrographed motifs.
Its main function was to accompany songs and dances
but it could be played purely for personal enjoyment.
The
drums, pahu, usually made from followed out tree trunks,
have various shapes and sizes.
The membrane stretched across the top by means of
woven cords was made from dog skin or shark skin.
These instruments provided rhythm for both
festivities and religious ceremonies.
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