Ula (dance)

The ula (dance) is an ancient Tongan group dance, already reported by early European navigators like captain Cook. It is also known as fahai-ula (split dance), which may be degenerated to fahaiula. It is still danced nowadays, although less popular than its descendant the tauolunga.

Lyrics

The oldest parts seem to be from Sāmoan origin:

Oiau, sia langi ula; i iē
fai mai sia tauolunga. io!

Tulopa he iau moe; io ē!
vasaleva iau moe; io!

Sina vai tava ā ē
he iē, ā ē.

Sina vai tafe lou lonā.
io, io, he lou lonā.

Tunotuna oe Ale-le-sā,
manuia oe saualuma.

Laulau tui Vaea ē,
Vaea lau mānaia.

These parts are from the beginning of the 20th century:

Tonga, Tonga ē,
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē
pei kau mua pei kau mai
ke tau kalofi kuo tau e langi
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē.

Tonga, Tonga ē,
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē
ko e faiva ni ko hoto kakala
o lau taanga pea fola haka
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē.

Tonga, Tonga ē,
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē
kuo ke meai sioto founga
fiemālie tuku ke u ula
tulituli faiva, he tuli faiva ē.

And then there are still more variants.

Execution

The name split dance comes from the habit that the performers split up in two (or more) groups, one entering the stage from the left, the other from the right, until the two meet in the centre and merge into one or more rows. The performers are always girls, it is rare that boys will join.

The dance movements are in essence very simple and limited. Most of the...
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