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Is the “Tahitian” Drum Dance Really Tahitian? Re-Evaluating the Evidence for the Origins of Contemporary Polynesian Drum Dance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Helen Reeves Lawrence
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Extract

During the 20th century, the Tahitian drum dance ('ōte'a) has become a symbol of Polynesia representing, for Westerners, the myth of the “Pacific islands paradise”. It has been assumed that the popularity of this dance genre led to its introduction into other areas of the Pacific. But is this dance Tahitian in origin?

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 24 , 1992 , pp. 126 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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Footnotes

*

I am grateful to Dr. Amy K. Stillman for her critical appraisal of this paper as presented in its original form at the 31st World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, Hong Kong, July 1991. I also acknowledge, with warm thanks, assistance received from Christine Cansfield-Smith in preparing the map. Special thanks goes to Dr. Adrienne L. Kaeppler and Emeritus Professor Barbara B. Smith for reading carefully the second draft of this paper, making helpful comments and suggestions for improvements, and, most of all, for their continuing encouragement.

References

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