Music, dance and storytelling
Songs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.
Music, dance and storytelling traditions are the performances that a community passes down by ear, eye and heart: the epic poem recited by a griot, the dance in a circle at a wedding, the shadow play of Java, the ballad of a village, the lullaby of a grandmother. They carry history, law and humour in forms that people can remember. Many are linked to festivals and rites, and many are on UNESCO's lists of intangible heritage. Here they are gathered by country, with notes on who performs them and when.
Songs and dances of the people
Folk music and dance are community property: they are learnt by joining in, not by lessons, and they change a little with every generation. Circle dances, line dances and couple dances accompany harvests and weddings, and instruments such as the drum, the fiddle, the pipe and the lute are made locally. In many places, there are separate songs for work, for love, for mourning and for children, and each has its own time and place.
Stories and theatre
Oral storytelling holds a society's memory: epics, myths, fables, proverbs and riddles told by elders. Some become formal theatre, such as kabuki and noh in Japan, wayang in Indonesia, the mumming plays of Britain or the Ramlila of India, which retells the Ramayana in a month of evenings. These forms often depend on one master teaching one student, and communities and governments now support them to keep them alive.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Music, dance and storytelling (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandPoi
A Māori performing art of swinging tethered weights in rhythmical patterns.Performance
🇦🇺 AustraliaBark painting
Ochre pictures on flattened tree bark, an Aboriginal art form of northern AustraliaCraft
🇰🇮 KiribatiMusic of Kiribati
Chant, body percussion, songs and dances of the islands of KiribatiPerformance
🇹🇻 TuvaluFatele
A traditional dance song of Tuvalu performed at community events and celebrations.Performance
🇫🇯 FijiMeke
A traditional Fijian dance and song form performed by groups at celebrations.Performance
🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreFa'ataupati
A traditional Samoan dance performed by men who clap and slap their bodies to create rhythm.Performance
🇦🇺 AustraliaGarma Festival of Traditional Cultures
A four-day cultural gathering in northeast Arnhem Land celebrating Yolngu traditions and fostering two-way learning.Festival
🇳🇿 Wellington, New ZealandHaka
A ceremonial dance of the Māori people in New Zealand, performed with vigorous movement and chant for welcome, mourning,Performance
🇳🇿 Wellington, New ZealandKa Mate
A Māori haka of life and survival, composed by Te Rauparaha and performed by New Zealand teams.Performance
🇹🇴 TongaTauʻolunga
A Tongan dance of hand gestures and steady eyes, performed by young women at weddingsPerformance
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline
A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore
🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu
Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance
🇼🇸 Samoa and 3 moreSiva Samoa
A graceful Samoan dance marked by subtle, expressive arm and hand movementsPerformance
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandMāori Language WeekTe Wiki o te Reo Māori
An annual nationwide week promoting the learning and use of te reo across New ZealandCeremony
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaCorroboreegaraabara
A gathering of Australian Aboriginal peoples featuring dance, music and storytellingFestival
🇵🇬 Goroka, Papua New GuineaGoroka Show
An annual cultural gathering and sing-sing in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New GuineaFestival
🇦🇺 AustraliaBush dance
An Australian social dance style, usually with a live bush bandPerformance
🇦🇺 AustraliaBush ballad
Verse and song that tell stories of life in the Australian bushPerformance
🇻🇺 VanuatuSand drawingsandroing
One unbroken line drawn in sand with a finger, used to tell stories in VanuatuCraft
🇹🇴 TongaLakalaka
A formal group dance of Tonga where singers stand in rows and move their arms to express songs.Performance
🇳🇿 Rotorua, New ZealandKapa haka
Māori group song and dance, from tribal and school groups to the national stagePerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Poi: RaviGogna, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bark painting: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Music of Kiribati: Julie Lyn, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sand drawing: PhillipC, CC BY 2.0, source
- Music of Tuvalu: Avenue, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Siva Samoa: Smita Biswas, CC BY 4.0, source
- Māori Language Week: Government House (New Zealand) https://gg.govt.nz/copyright-and-licens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fatele: JialiangGao, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meke: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Haka: Merrett, Joseph Jenner, 1816-1854., Public domain, source
- Ka Mate: Alasdair Massie, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bush ballad: A. B. Paterson, Public domain, source
- Kapa haka: Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, CC BY 2.0, source