Tuvaluan dance music

Dancing chants are the most shared type of folk Tuvaluan chant. Older pattern dancing songs were done while siting, standing or kneeling. The two main folk dances of Tuvalu include the fakanau (for men) and oga (for women) and fakaseasea. And also, the fakanauwas a Niutao and Nukufetau dance done mainly by men, which was done at a sitting position, or on Niutao while kneeling or standing, but without shifting from the poistion and also the story of the song was descripted by trends of arms, hand and upper body. An elder will stand in the center of a circle of artists keeping time. The fakanau, oga and the fakaseasea were used for festivities and also for praising fellow islanders. The solely instrument used is the small wooden slit precussor or the time was beaten with a supporter or small rolled mat or the use of the palm of the hand on the ground.

source of picture: www.today.ucla.edu

The part of the fakanau as a praise chant was an essential part of Tuvaluan tradition. A composer of a praise chant would practice with the artists beforehand, and tell the subject of the chant so that he would have period to get gifts. After the initial act, the subject would give the gifts to the artists, and would often remain to do so after the future acts as well. The fakanua and oga custom has extinct.

The fakaseasea was primarily carried out by young unmarried women, who were on their feet, dancing and moving their arms, hand and also their upper body too; while men and women would sing and beat the time. This is a gradual chant with very loose rules on how to dance it, with differences of diverse islands with diverse names. The fakaseasea custom remained though done mainly by elders.

The folk fatele was done in the sitting or kneeling position with five or six young women, who whill be  chanting, moved their arms, hand and also upper  their body; also the men and women performance as the chorus. The very famous type of Tuvaluan dance music in the current period is known as the fatele, which is affected by European songs and harmony and is competitive, with each island split into ways. Lyricism is an essential part of the fatele custom, which starts with the older men singing a chant in a meeting hall (maneapa), then slowly repeating it louder and faster as the others comes in; they also use the empty cabin cracker cans or wooden boxes to play the beat.

The current fatele encompasses the young unmarried women on their feet, dancing lines, which the men facing the dancers, sitting on the ground rhyming  and the time on their hands on the mats or on wooden containers. The performers pass the story being retold; and the music eventually peaks and ends abruptly. The celebrations include the church festivals and weddings, at which the fatele are done and it is performed for hours. The fatele custom is common with the music of Tokelau.

The oscillation in beat dance was seen erotic by missionaries and most folk dancing was restricted. The restriction came along with limitations on folk religious events as these dances served a spiritual purpose as well, as the effect of the missionaries reduced in the 20^th century the siva dance custom from Samoa became famous. This dance concentrates on the various dancers who have space in which to perform the step and arm, hand and body trends of the Samoa siva dance custom.