RSS |
Meke is a traditional Fijian dance. It is typically performed during celebrations and festivals. Males and females each perform a separate dance never dancing together. |
The male dance is called the meke moto usually involving long spears. The dance is meant to symbolize the ancient warriors of the village. The female dance is called the seasea and involves the performers making rapid motions with their hands and arms.
The music for the dance is provided by bamboo tubes and the lali, a wooden drum. The performers illustrate the meaning of the meke through the lyrics of the songs. The songs and their lyrics are created by the daunivucu, a Fijian composer, specifically for each meke.
The males wear skirts made from vau, thin strips of the trunk of the vau tree. They also decorate their faces with a black paste made from charcoal and coconut oil, making a small circle on each cheek. Their wrists and ankles are decorated with leaves tied together to form bracelets. They do not wear shirts or shoes when performing a traditional meke.
The women wear sulus with patterns similar to that of the traditional tapa cloth. They also wear silk short sleeve shirts all of the same color, though these colors will vary from meke to meke. Similar to the men they wear bracelets made from leaves and paint each cheek with a single circle. Around their necks the women will wear a salusalu, a loose necklace made from part of the banana tree or from a single white shell.
