Taualuga

The Taualuga is a traditional Samoan dance, considered the apex of Samoan performance art forms and the centerpiece of the Culture of Samoa. This dance form has been adopted and adapted throughout western Polynesia, most notably in the Kingdom of Tonga, Uvea, Futuna, and Tokelau. The renowned Tongan version is called the tau'olunga.

The word Taualuga in Samoan refers to the last stage of traditional house building in which the topmost rafter was secured to the building (fale), signifying the completion of construction. The term "taualuga" symbolizes the conclusion of a monumental task and the beautifying final touches involved. The dance is frequently performed as the grand finale of an evening of entertainment or as the concluding number at Samoan wedding receptions, social functions, and other festivities.

Traditionally, the Taualuga is performed by the son or daughter of a chief. Each village in Samoa is autonomous and led by a council of matai referred to as the 'village fono.' The daughter of a high chief in a village is known as a "taupou" or "sa'o'aualuma" when they perform public ceremonial roles; the male equivalent is known as the "manaia", or "sa'o'aumaga." However, Taupou in certain districts consist of important individual female names or titles under Samoa's traditional social hierarchy and form of governance, the Fa'amatai chiefly system.

This dance is sacred to the Samoan people and traditionally only virgins were allowed to perform it. Today virginity is not necessarily a prerequisite and although older adults and even teen-moms are occasionally seen performing the final dance, a strong preference for unmarried performers is still the norm. The Manaia could perform the Taualuga if the High Chief had no daughters, but the performance of a chief's son was often in jest; a manaia's performance was not held to the same strict standards of elegance and refinement required of a taupou and did not hold the same sociocultural significance of that of the taupou. The taupou held the role of "sa'o'aualuma" or the leader of the unmarried women of the community; she was accompanied by a retinue of her peers wherever she went and was constantly under the protective watch of designated "tausi" or older women of the village whose sole responsibility was to preserve the virtue and reputation of their chief's prized daughter. The taupou was raised from youth in the arts of hospitality, cultural rituals and ceremonies, chiefly protocol and demeanor, and the intricacies of the fine arts of dancing, the pinnacle of which was the taualuga.

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