Kanak Dance and Music: Ceremonial and Intimate Performance of the Melanesians of New Caledonia, Historical and ActualIt can be difficult for urbanized folk to imagine a world where the daily sounds are those of nature and of the small noises of human work and voices. How much more difficult is it to imagine the incredible impact of the ancient musical dancing ceremonies of the Oceanic tribes of the Kanak? It is evident that these ceremonies, named pilou-pilou by the first French missionaries, had great importance in Kanak life, and that they were the most tremendous acoustical events to be heard in that world. The beating of bark-clappers and the stamping of bamboo tubes was combined with part-songs by two singers, accompanied by the shouting, cries, and whistles of hundreds of dancers. All this must have left an indelible mark on the aural sensations of the participants. After such ceremonies, that world returned to the sounds of nature. Today the Kanak aural world has entirely changed. People are used to the noise of cars and machines, to the wonders of modernization, and even to those living in rural areas the presence of machine noises is so prevalent that the seas and the forests may now seem dulled. This examination of Kanak Music and Dance proves a marvellous kind of time capsule, a way to see into a past environment through a persisting tradition. |
Common terms and phrases
19th century accompanied ae-ae songs Ammann apooro cäbu ayoii bamboo bark-clappers bèèmä Belep bneumalan Caledonia called centre and north ceremonies cèto chefferie choir club coconut costumes dance and music dance group dance performance dance songs dance tassel dancers danse David Becker/A.D.C.K. Drehu Dubois Eletok example Fagauvea fehoa flute French Gohapin grand chef Grande Terre gukaden Hienghène Houaïlou ia-ilen idiophones instrument Kanak culture Kanak dance Kanak flute Koné kutera language Leenhardt Lifou Loyalty Islands Maré masked figure Melanesian melody mimetic dances missionaries motions movements nêêkiipâ dance Nengone neutral motif Nouméa nyäbi Ouvéa Paicî percussion percussion instruments pilou-pilou played Poindimié polyphony recited refers rhythm round-dance rythme du pilou Sarasin seloo singers singing slit-drum sound spear stamping-tubes strophe subject motif sung synchronisation taperas Terre Ti.Ga Tiaoué Touho traditional Kanak tribu Vanuatu warriors washongoshongone waueng wayai wejein Wetr women women's dance words Xârâcùù yaac