This week’s class theme of “dancing with our hands” takes us to the Pacific, where dancers all over the region use their hands to tell tales from the natural world. In this video of a Tahitian song, “Te Pua Noanoa,” dancers use flowing arm and hand motions to celebrate the motion of the wind and waves.
“Te Pua Noanoa” is Tahitian song written by Heremoana Ma’ama’atuaiahutapu about two women who string together flowers to make necklaces known in Tahitian as “heis” (in Hawaiian, “leis.”) Though our Tahitian dancing leaves a lot to be desired, when we sing “Te Pua Noanoa” in class we sound lovely.
