Dance the day away: Polynesian club teaches students traditional dances
If grass skirts, poi balls and dancing with sticks or rocks seem intriguing, the Polynesian Student Union (PSU) is welcoming dancers and spectators alike.
With the annual luau approaching, dancers of PSU are practicing two to three times a week in preparation. Bill Sproat, vice president of PSU, said they currently practice Tuesday and Thursday 7:30-9:30 p.m. with a two hour practice on Saturday. Sproat said even though they practice a lot, it is hard to be really good at any of the dances.
“You can get the moves down pretty easy,” he said, “but you need to work hard to make it look right.”
Kaho Fiefia, sophomore in business marketing, said he has been practicing all year for the luau.
“It takes a lot of effort to learn the dances,” he said.
Fiefa, who is 100 percent Tongan, said he has been dancing for many years and used to perform for a show that traveled around the U.S.
Travis Hollingshead, junior in civil engineering, said Polynesian dancing is a good opportunity for students of all cultures.
“All people should try it because you can get a taste of the culture,” he said. “And you even get a good workout during some of the dances.”
McKenzie Moore, undeclared freshman, said she has been dancing for three weeks. She said she isn’t Polynesian, but she went to a PSU meeting with her roommate and got to know the other members.
“I like the culture because they are fun and friendly,” she said. “Polynesian dancing is something fun to do and it gets me involved.”
Hollingshead said he just recently began learning the dances and is finding it challenging.
“Memorizing the moves is a little hard,” he said, “but the most difficult part is getting it to look smooth and not so rigid.”
Analee Christensen, president of PSU, said actually showing up to dance is hard and also getting over the fear of not being able to dance. But for beginner dancers, Sproat said, one of the Hawaiian dances would be the easiest to learn.
The Hawaiian Hula is “a story is told with the dancers’ hands and slow swaying of the hips,” Christensen said.
There is an ancient hula called the Kahiko, she said, that involves dancing with rocks. The Implement dance is a faster hula, where the dancers use different dance implements to tell their story, she said, and there is also a couples dance where boys and girls dance together to tell the story of love.
Christensen said she likes all the island dances but feels most comfortable with the Hawaiian dances because they are the most beautiful.
“But I also like the Tongan dance,” she said, “because it challenges me.”
The Tongan dances tell a story by the graceful movements of the hands, she said.
Fiefia said he loves dancing anything Tongan because it has the most conservative and graceful movements.
A traditional girls dance, Christensen said, is called the Tau’olunga. She said the dance is performed and money is given to the dancer, whether it is thrown, stuck on them or tucked in their costumes.
The Kai lau is a warrior dance performed by the boys, Christensen said, with red and white-striped sticks, not to be confused with candy canes, and the Soke is a couples dance performed in groups of four. She said sticks are also involved with this dance and there is a lot of movement.
Charbri Wright, undeclared freshman, said she has been dancing since she was little because she is half Maori. She said her favorite dance is the stick dance.
“I like it because we get to clank sticks and toss them to each other,” she said. “It makes cool noises when you do it in unison.”
Christensen said the New Zealand or Maori dances tell stories with singing and implements. One type of dance is with poi balls, which are balls of cotton, wrapped in plastic, attached to short and long weaved yarn that dancers swing and hit to music.
The stick dance involves hitting and throwing of sticks between dancers to music, she said and the Haka is a warrior dance.
“The Haka is where yelling, intimidation, scratching, slapping and hand movements are done by hot men,” Christensen said.
Sproat said the most difficult dances to learn are the Tahitian dances.
The Tahiti dances tell their stories with fast shaking hips, Christensen said, like the Otea which is “very seductive and very hard.”
One that’s a little bit slower is the Aparima, she said, “but it still has the fast shaking hips in mind.”
The last type of dancing is Samoan, who tell their stories with movements of hands and body, she said, but with no swaying. Christensen said the girls dance, called the Siva, involves a lot of movement with their feet and hands while the Slap Dance is when boys keep beat by slapping their bodies and hands. She said there is also a couples dance that combines the Siva and the Slap Dance “to tell a story of wonder.”
There are many different dances to choose from, Sproat said, and students can learn the dances for next year and get involved with PSU by going to the Multicultural Student Society office on the third floor of the TSC.
If students are not able to dance, but would enjoy watching the performances, Christensen said, there are a few opportunities coming up. PSU Night at Club New York is Thursday, March 5, she said, where there will be items raffled off, PSU gear to buy, a Tahitian shaking competition and also the PSU Band RAMMAGE.
The PSU Luau will be 7 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall Friday, March 20. Christensen said there is also an optional dinner before at 5 p.m. at the church located at 650 N. 1200 East. Prices and more information will be posted on fliers around campus.
For more information about PSU, learning to Polynesian dance or upcoming performances, contact Christensen at analee.christensen@gmail.com.
–natalie.c@aggiemail.usu.edu