Fakanau

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Fakanau ("magical sayings", as the fishermen's calls) is a traditional seated dance performed by the men of Tuvalu . He is accompanied by singing and rhythmic clapping.

shape

Fakanau singing and dancing is a traditional dance form of the islands Niutao and Nukufetau, which belong to Tuvalu (in the British colonial era Ellice Islands ) . The dance has a melody somewhere between chanting and chanting and is danced while the dancers stand in one place. Well-known titles are Te onge ne tupu ia Kiollli , Neutuakina te vao i napanapa and Ko na fakanau nei e kamata ifo mai gauta oi fakaholo atu ai ki gatai kafai te vaka e hoho ifo ki gatai.

The dancers performed the dance in a circle, in a seated position with gestures of the arms, hands and torso while everyone sang together. An elderly dance master in the middle of the circle gives the rhythm. In Niutao the dances were performed in a standing or kneeling position. Fakanau and Fakaseasea the other Tuvaluan dance forms were specially composed according to the rule of " aliki or toa " and in praise of canoe building, house building and fishing. Then the dances were performed in honor of a famous person or for the community and only after permission was obtained were specially composed and choreographed by the dancers. The performance was held in the presence of the family and relatives. Food and other items brought in for the occasion were presented to the personality, who in return honored the composers and dancers. It is part of the event of the Fakanau to call out magic spells and invocations, or even calls out. The dance was faster in rhythm than the Fakaseasea and the Fatele . The dances were performed for entertainment and ceremonies on the occasion of the faleaitu . However , Fakanau was performed in several sections over the course of one night, rather than as a coherent dance theater. The content of the dance songs included "spells for fishing, a kind of dramatic monologue - when the fish are called, pleading, flattering, also insulting - depending on the mood."

genre

Fakanau and other dances of the genre , such as Mako and Fakaseasea, are only seldom performed today, and if so, then because of their "antique" qualities. Fakanau is comparable to the Lue and Sea dances in the Ontong Java atoll . The oga is a typical women's dance that, like the fakanau, was performed while sitting or kneeling and singing. Ingjerd Hoëm classified the Fakanau in 1992 as "instrumental", while she called the kakai ("folk tales") as "recreational entertainment"; these two genres are seen as a pair of opposites.

history

In the past, the dances were celebrated as a church service in the course of so-called faleaitu (English: ~ "house for gods") as an expression of gratitude to the gods and during community celebrations. Over time, the Fakanau dancers gained high recognition for their skills. After the introduction of Christianity, the fakanau was ostracized as the Christian preachers viewed the men's swinging as too erotic for the women. In this course the Fakanau disappeared completely.

The ethnologist Gerd Koch achieved a revival among the inhabitants of Niutao around 1960. The ancients of Niutao considered the song a cultural heritage. Tinilau Matolu , a man who was 83 years old at that time (* ~ 1877), reported that he had learned the song in 1902 from Kaisami , Tepae , Temaalo and Poulasi . Tinilau and his old friends rehearsed the song for eleven days. The group had an average age of 67 years. Then they edited the song in a quick rhythm with three verses and quick claps. The final version was performed on September 13, 1960 by 18 men (average age 56) with Katea (a 52-year-old experienced sailor who had visited Samoa and Fiji ) as the dance master. The recording was received with great dedication and enthusiasm and the song became a hit in Niutao, even among the children. The dance was recorded on 16mm film in October 1960 . In July 1963 the song was re-recorded with six old men along with several Kakanau dance songs and broadcast on Radio Tuvalu .

Legend

The simple song is said to go back to an event in which the men of Niutao were traveling in a large canoe. The story is known as vaca lasi . The men were out at sea during the high tide. Then they discovered another canoe. The men inside did not say hello when they called. And the men of Niutao were very concerned about the lack of a response. They realized that they had to be gods. They hurriedly returned to their village.

text

Te foe, te fo kia atua!
Te foe, te fo kia tagata!
Pili te foe, mau te foe!
E, taku foe! E, taku foe!

Transmission:

The paddle, the paddle of the gods!
The paddle, the men's paddle!
Take the paddle, grab the paddle!
O my paddle! O my paddle!

See also

literature

  • Dieter Christensen: Old Musical Styles in the Ellice Islands. Western Polynesia, Ethnomusicology, 1964, 8, 1: 34-40.
  • Dieter Christensen, Gerd Koch: The Music of the Ellice Islands , Berlin: Museum of Ethnology 1964.
  • Gerd Koch: Songs of Tuvalu (transl. Guy Slatter), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific 2000. ISBN 9820203147 ISBN 978-9820203143
  • Ad Linkels: The Real Music of Paradise . In: Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, James McConnachie, Orla Duane (ed.): Rough Guides. 2000. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Gunter Senft, Ellen B. Basso (Ed.): Ritual Communication. Berg, Oxford / New York 2009

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Simati Faaniu, Hugh Laracy: Tuvalu: A History 1983, pp. 40–41 (accessed September 7, 2012).
  2. ↑ An unnamed group of Tokelauan writers: Matagi Tokelau . [email protected], 1990, ISBN 978-982-02-0059-3 , p. 178– (accessed on September 9, 2012).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Gerd Koch: Songs of Tuvalu . [email protected], 2000, ISBN 978-982-02-0314-3 , pp. 16, 21, 27-28, and 116 (accessed September 8, 2012).
  4. ↑ Ingjerd Hoem: Theater and Political Process: Staging Identities in Tokelau and New Zealand . Berghahn Books, 2004, ISBN 978-1-57181-583-5 , pp. 98– (accessed on September 9, 2012).
  5. ↑ Ingjerd Hoëm, Instituttet for sammenlignende Kulturforskning: A way with words: language and culture in Tokelau society. Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture 1995: 98 . ISBN 978-974-89272-0-6
  6. ^ Mervyn McLean: Weavers of Song: Polynesian Music and Dance . Auckland University Press, January 28, 2003, ISBN 978-1-86940-212-9 , p. 180, (accessed September 7, 2012).
  7. ↑ "incantations in fishing, a kind of dramatic monologue - calling to the fish, pleading, charming, even abusing - as moods are acted out." Allan Thomas: Songs and stories of Tokelau: an introduction to the cultural heritage . Victoria University Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-86473-201-9 , p. 32, (accessed September 7, 2012).
  8. ^ William M. Clements: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore And Folklife . Greenwood Press, December 30, 2005, ISBN 978-0-313-32847-3 , pp. 407 (accessed September 9, 2012).
  9. ↑ Jane Mink Rossen: Songs of Bellona Island . Forlaget Kragen, 1987, ISBN 978-87-980636-8-1 , p. 323 (accessed September 9, 2012).
  10. ↑ Ingjerd Hoëm, Even Hovdhaugen, Arnfinn Muruvik Vonen: Kupu mai te tūtolu: Tokelau oral literature . Scandinavian University Press, 1992, ISBN 978-82-00-21650-6 , p. 35 (accessed September 9, 2012).
  11. ↑ The paddle, the paddle of the gods!
    The paddle, the paddle of the men!
    Take the paddle, seize the paddle!
    Oh my paddle! Oh, my paddle! "