These women are performing traditional Tahitian dance, or Ori Tahiti, in Tahiti’s annual cultural festival, the Heiva. Hanzawa now lives in Australia, where she has set up her own Tahitian dance school, Tai Pererau, in Sydney’s northern beaches. The arrival of Europeans in French Polynesia, along with their religion and laws, saw Ori Tahiti banned or repressed for close to 100 years. Ginie Naea, from France, is a dance teacher at the Te Ori Tahiti school in Geneva. There is a real bond between Ori Tahiti dancers, a real family that is created around the same passion.

Source: The Guardian January 06, 2022 20:55 UTC