Tautoga

The tautoga (pronounced [tauˈtoŋa]) is considered the most formal and restrained style of Rotuman dance, usually seen performed in large festivities or ceremonies (called kato'aga, a term summing up all traditional Rotuman ceremonies), or in public opportunities to showcase Rotuman culture. The tautoga style can be seen as comparable to the Tuvaluan fatele or Tongan lakalaka, and the "toga" [ˈtoŋa] sound to the word alludes to such an origin.

Dance groups in tautoga (called hafa, a loanword referring to the halves of the dance group) can vary in number from 10 people to 100+ people, depending on availability of dancers and the scale of the event. The men and women usually arrange themselves in rows and in a rectangular shape, with men on one side, women on the other like the lakalaka, and also analogous to the Tongan dance, the most attractive and competent dancers stand in the front row centrally (this factor is referred to in Rotuman culture as "mạru") and these attributes decline over each row and column.

Male and female dance styles differ greatly, although their actions are synchronised and use similar shapes to evoke the words and feelings of the music to which they are dancing. Women's hand movements are generally slow and graceful, similar to the shapes made in Samoan or Tongan dance, and with their feet almost together, they make a subtle shuffling movement in time to the music, shifting weight from one foot to another. On the other hand, male movements are usually more vigorous and defined, with a more dramatic shifting of weight from one foot to another, enabled by having their legs usually further apart and somewhat crouching, such that the man half of a tautoga usually appears lower than the female half.

Dress code is usually quite uniform, with all members of the tautoga wearing a "hạ' fạli", which is analogous to a sarong or lava-lava, all of the same colour and design, as well as a collared shirts or blouses (a recent adaptation, probably a missionary addition, indicating respect for chief guests at functions). In addition to this, all members of the tautoga wear a sweet smelling flower in their ear, and a tefui (traditional garland) and titi (a skirt of long leaves), both of which are more elaborate and decorated for men than they are for women. In some instances dance groups are known to have worn the tailfeathers of the "täväke" bird (white-tailed tropicbird).

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Wikipedia