The traditional music of Tuvalu consists of dances, including fatele, fakanau and fakaseasea.
The modern fatele involves the women on their feet, dancing in lines; with the men facing the dancers, sitting on the floor beating the time with their hands on the mats or on wooden boxes, such as a tea chest.
While Tuvaluan songs convey a dramatic story, the concentrated song structure often omits key events in the story. An example of a pre-missionary song is Te foe, te foe kia atua, which is a fakanau from Niutao recorded by Gerd Koch. (More...)
| Te foe, te foe kia atua. Te foe, te foe kia tagata. Pili te foe, manu te foe! E, taku foe! E, taku foe! | The paddle, the paddle of the gods. The paddle, the paddle of men. Take the paddle, seize the paddle! Oh my paddle! Oh my paddle! |