Hello there to everybody who see's this msg,

I was hoping somebody could help me by giving me your perspective on Tahitian Hura Today compared to 40 years ago (1951).. it has changed but through WHAT western european influence ? ..french ettiquette, modern tech, modern media ? what do you think ???

its for my Pacific Studies Hypothesis and i just wanted to get different views please, it would be great.

Mahalo x

I haven't been around for Tahitian as long as some, but I know my kumu told me one of the big changes was the mechanics of the faarapu. One of the members here on DDN mentioned it once and I called my kumu and asked her and she confirmed.

Apparently, back in the day girls were taught to faarapu strictly from their waist and hips and that's it. Nowadays, you're encouraged to use your knees to pump your faarapu. I know doing it the old way (purely fueled by the hips and waist) was messing up a generation of Tahitian dancers backs and spines. So I think that change came from the influence of Western sports medicine. But I have NO IDEA how long ago the change came about to pump with the knees to make the shake. I think some still don't, either.