The tauolunga is a traditional Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

n dance. The type of dance is comparable with (some) Hawaiian

Music of Hawaii

The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Hawaii's musical contributions to the music of the United States are out of proportion to the state's small size. Styles like slack-key guitar are well-known...

 hula

Hula

Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....

, or the Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

an aparima

'aparima

The aparima or Kaparima is a dance from Tahiti and the Cook Islands where the mimicks with the hands are central, and as such it is close to the hula or Tongan tauolunga...

.

Performance

The tau'olunga is a solo dance for virgins, especially for them to show off at their wedding day. But it can be danced at any special occasion. Often too it is performed by a small group of girls, up to 10 or so. It is rare for a married, or any older woman to dance it, and even rarer, but not impossible to be performed by men. However, men can assist the dance girl by mimicking their movements in an exaggerated and clownesque way, which is supposed to make the beauty of the girl even more striking. The assistance of older women is usually limited to only handclaps on the rhythm of the music. This role is called the tuulafale. It is very typical that a girl starts the dance, that then parents, cousins, whatever family members or friends come on the stage to put money notes on her oiled skin, and then join her in the tu{okina}ulafale. The prizemoney (fakapale) is a reward for the girl, unless, as often is the case, the dance is performed as part of a fundraising.

The tauolunga mainly consists of a series of hand movements, which interpret the meaning of the selected song. However, most of the movements are so stylised that only adepts will understand them. Many of the typical gestures (haka) are standarised and have their own name. Also important is the movement of the head. The head with the eyes should follow the hands on important movements, otherwise they are to be directed to the public. The eyes are never to glance away. From time to time little nods within one beat (teki) or two beats (kalo) must be made with the head. The girl must smile all the time. The movements of the body and the legs are less important. They have to follow hands and head. Shaking of the hips, as elsewhere in Polynesia, is forbidden. Most of the time the legs are standing still, knees must be together and bent (taulalo). Only from time to time some small steps, never large, or a turn around can be performed. In overall, the girl's movements should be supple and soft, as should be her whole body.

A unique feature of any Tongan dance, not found elsewhere in Polynesia is the rotational movements of the hands and wrists in many of the haka.

Dress

A tauolunga girl is usually dressed in a wrap around dress, either made from ngatu

Tapa cloth

Tapa cloth is a bark cloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii...

 with traditional designs, or a mat (kie) from handwoven pandanus

Pandanus

Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...

 leaves, or a piece of cloth covered with green leaves, grass, fragrant flowers or shells, or any shiny piece of cloth, still decorated with sewn-on traditional patterns, or even a grass skirt. Every type of costume (teunga) has its own proper name. The dress reaches from just above the breasts down to the knees, leaving her arms and legs bare. As long skirts are the traditional apparel for Tongan girls, this is an occasion to show off her shapely legs. If they are fair, the better. Putting oil on her exposed skin parts so that they shine, will enhance her beauty even more in the Tongan mind. Around her middle she wears a belt (sisi) also usually made from leaves and fragrant flowers. Wristlets and anklets (vesa) may be worn, ranging from simple bands of cloth or ngatu to elaborate belts of leaves and flowers again. Around her neck she wears a black ribbon with a white cowry shell on it (puleoto). By tradition, if the shell is missing, then she is no virgin. In practice, no girl ever does it without shell. On her head she wears a little crown (tekiteki), which will enhance her head movements during the dance, consisting of feathers or some light plant material. The more natural materials are used for her whole dress the better it is. Unfortunately plastic is slowly making its inroads nowadays.

History

The tauolunga is clearly a descendant of the ancient Tongan ula / faahi-ula / fahaiula

Ula (dance)

The ula is an ancient Tongan group dance, already reported by early European navigators like captain Cook. It is also known as fahai-ula , which may be degenerated to fahaiula...

. The original ula was a group dance of young chiefly daughters who on the rhythm of a quite monotonous song made a series of postures, beautiful to look at. The postures were with the hands only, the body remained stiff. The old tauolunga followed this style. It was not until 1950 that queen Sālote personally, with her song Manu o palataisi (bird of paradise) changed the tauolunga by extending the suppleness of the hands to rest of the body as well.