Traditional dance and liberty

Hura Tapairu

Dance is an integral part in the life of the Polynesian people. Practiced at an early age, every dance has a history. Every year the art of the Polynesian cultural dance is celebrated during the “Hura Tapairu” festival, meaning “the dance step of beautiful girls” in theTahitian language. A dance competition that takes place in December. Originally, the tapairu were young girls that served the queen and were selected for their excellent artistic expression. With its first edition in 2004, this challenge immediately was differentiated from other Tahitian traditional competitions.

The first difference is the liberty of expression granted to the dance teams. During this challenge there is no imposed theme or choreography. The second difference is the fact that the Hura tapairu competition is open to all international delegations. Originally the Hura Tapairu was created to allow small groups to present in front of an audience.

For this 7th edition, the competition was divided in two categories. The first category named “Overall”, grouped the dance Ote’a (a traditional Polynesian dance assimilated to Tamure) and the Aparima (a traditional dance executed more slowly) together. The second category was the Hula, a graceful and very slow dance native to the island of Hawaii.

26 teams enrolled in the competition for 2011, each one trying to be more and more creative to win the ultimate prize of 400 000 Pacific francs (3 300 Euros). The Hitireva group emerged victorious, obtaining the first place thanks to their energy, their passion and their hard work.