Although their traditional dances are the pride of Pukapuka and Nassau, they have found that they often receive lower scores in the annual Te Maeva Nui festival when performing their cultural heritage.

This year, Pukapuka and Nassau, two of the Cook Islands’ most remote islands, have incorporated rhythms and beats from other islands in their ura pa’u (drum dance), blending these drumbeats with the movements and expressions of their homeland.

The over 1000-strong audience repeatedly applauded the islands’ unique and bold statement announced in their script at Te Are Karioi Nui (National Auditorium) on Wednesday night, the first night of Te Maeva Nui.

In the first part of their ura pa’u, Pukapuka Nassau portrayed the dance usually performed on their islands.

However, in the second part of their performance, they included beats from outside their island, “because no matter how pulsating our drum dance is, it always seems to be marked down by the judges,” stated Junior Ruarau, the composer.

“This is the reason we are learning to be more aggressive when we dance like the other islands.”

The theme of the ura pa’u was based on their hurricane shelter built for protection from cyclones and hurricanes.

Some highlights of the ura pa’u were: the warm-up, “runga raro (up and down)” – a technique of their ura pa’u, and the “Lomamai” – where they merged their traditional beats with new beats of today.

The theme for this year’s Te Maeva Nui is “Te au Tauranga Rongonui o taku enua/matakeinanga – The important ports and landings of my island/tribe”.