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Spontaneous Choreography: Improvisation in Polynesian Dance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Adrienne L. Kaeppler
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Extract

In many parts of Polynesia dance is well known as a highly structured activity with precise choreography and meticulous movements, performed by large (or small) groups with precision timing—characterized by Captain Cook in Tonga as follows: “All their motions were performed with such justness that the whole party moved and acted as one man” (Beaglehole 1967: 109). On the other hand, Polynesian dancers are also well known for their ability to perform spontaneously in dances “improvised” for the occasion, such as at a Hawaiian lū'au or in a Samoan siva. This paper will attempt to separate these two activities by cultural categories in order to understand more fully the cultural implications of improvisation in Polynesian dance. Dance in Hawai'i and Tonga will be emphasized; they constitute the geographical focusses of the author's research.2 However, at least some of the concepts developed should have general applicability throughout Polynesia.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 19 , 1987 , pp. 13 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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References

References Cited

Beaglehole, J.C., editor 1967 The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery, the Voyage of the Resolution and Discovery 1776-1780. Cambridge: Hakluyt Society.Google Scholar
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 1971 “Aesthetics of Tongan Dance.” Ethnomusicology 15: 175–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 1972 “Method and Theory in Analyzing Dance Structure with an Analysis of Tongan Dance.” Ethnomusicology 16: 173–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 1985 “Structured Movement Systems in Tonga.” Society and the Dance: The Social Anthropology of Performance and Process, edited by Spencer, P. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–118.Google Scholar
In preparation “Ha'a and Hula Pahu: The Movements of Dance and Ritual.”Google Scholar
Puri, Rajika and Hart, Diana 1982 “Thinking with movement: improvising vs. composing?” Journal for the Anthropological Study of Human Movement 2(2): 71–88.Google Scholar