Cueca
The Cueca is the Chilean national dance and therefore is the most important one in every traditional Creole celebration. The man’s posture and enthusiasm remind one of the rooster’s courtship dance. The woman, however, acts in a rather elegant and restrained way.
Vals Cilote
This Chilean waltz, originating from the Chiloé island, clearly shows the European influence. The dance tells the romantic story of a young man who wanted to build a boat to get to the other side of the river, where his beloved girlfriend lived. A tornado had destroyed the bridge so they weren’t able to visit each other anymore.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Sau-Sau / Tamuré
These are the most popular dances of the Easter Islands’ folkloric repertoire. The Sau Sau is characterised by its soft and harmonic movements of hips, arms and hands. It represents love and flirting, far from any hard or aggressive expression.
The Tamuré originates from Tahiti and is more aggressive and direct. It imitates, in a natural way, the sexual act through strong and rapid movements.
Ko Matou Nei
This is a very popular piece that shows different aspects of the Rapa Nui people and culture and also includes a friendly greeting to other people of Polynesia. As it is characteristic for this region’s dances, the dancers move in accordance to the song’s lyrics.
Uru te Hami
This dance portrays the warriors’ ritual of putting their traditional clothes and headdresses on, and shows how they carry their shields and finally paint their bodies.
Ki'ea
This is a Hoko ritual, performed by Rapa Nui warriors before going to war. Ki’ea is the name of the island’s earth that is still used for body painting.
E’Ui
This choreography is performed to a love song that is dedicated to a female dancer, describing her grace and the emotions that she evokes through her movements. The song was composed by Arturo Frontier.
Paté Paté
This piece doesn’t strictly belong to the traditional Rapa Nui culture; it is rather a contemporary song of a popular Polynesian band.
The Polynesian culture with its bountiful dances and music developed far offshore the mainland on hundreds of islands, of which Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa belong to the most famous ones. Since the Easter Islands politically belong to Chile, however, they have higher significance for the Chilean population.
Paté Paté tells the story of a bunch of young men and women who go out to dance and have fun.
Ko ai te tahote
This dance is a Hoko, performed by young women who, due to their beauty and virginity, have been chosen as candidates to be married off to the winner of an important contest. He’s the so-called birdman. Each year, one of the women had to live in a cave during months in order to prepare her skin to become white until the day of being turned over to the birdman.
