Hi, Nina A!

"I am a newbie- a bellydancer who would like to expand my knowledge of dance.

"Can anyone explain to me what polynesian dance is ... "

I'm a former ATS bellydancer who is now a student of hula, and I always feel a little compelled to respond to posts like yours, for the obvious reasons -- however, just so it's clear, I left bellydance completely in order to focus exclusively on Hawaiian dance, music, and culture. And I want to thank you personally for asking these questions first, and for seeking to understand what is truly a rather complex subject. (Unfortunately, the perception among many of the Pacific Islanders I've met is that bellydancers -- in particular -- fail to do what you are doing, and I've learned that because of this, some bad feelings have developed because there is the perception that bellydancers rip off and/or exploit Polynesian culture and even misrepresent it because they haven't made the effort to learn more than "the dance.")

Just so you know, you've asked a big question here, and so the answer is going to be lengthy -- so my apologies to all, but I'm hoping this long response will be helpful, and not boring!

First of all, a little geography lesson. According to Wikipedia, "Polynesia is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. Geographically, and oversimply, Polynesia may be described as a triangle with its corners at Hawai'i, New Zealand and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian triangle are Samoa, Tonga, the various island chains that form the Cook Islands and French Polynesia." A more loosely held view is that because Hawai'i is situated in the Northern Pacific and the other islands are in the Southern Pacific, Hawai'i is "technically" not Polynesian. [That's not an argument I'm making or a stance I'm taking, just an observation of how some people differentiate between the two.] Certainly, there are similarities; but Hawaiian culture developed in isolation from the southern Polynesian islands for several centuries, and during that time, the similarities waned and distinct differences developed. Dance is one of the clearest examples of these differences.

"I met a hula dancer at a belly dance show who was emphatic that polynesian dance was not the same as what she did; that Hula told a story and Polynesian dance was made up of hip movement that she found boring."

The hula dancer you met was partially correct: Hawaiian hula requires a song or chant or poem to be augmented by gestures and movements. The hula doesn't actually "tell" a story, but evolved in the pre-literate ancient times as a visual cue to amplify the meaning of the important chants and songs that contained the histories and legends of the gods, goddesses, kings and queens. As we hula students learn, "without the song, there would be no dance." The Polynesian dance this person was referring to sounds to me like Tahitian dance (since each of the island groups mentioned above has its own signature dance); Tahitian dance is also seems to be the most commonly presented example of Polynesian dance on the mainland.

There are usually two Tahitian dance forms presented: 'aparima and 'ote'a. 'Aparima is a dance where the hand motions are central, and thus it is kind of close to the Hawaiian hula or Tongan tau'olunga. It's usually danced in groups. There are two types of 'aparima: the 'aparima hīmene (sung handdance) and the 'aparima vāvā (silent handdance), the latter being performed with music only, and no singing. The music is often played on the guitar or the Tahitian 'ukulele (which is different from the Hawaiian 'ukulele). 'Ote'a is danced with music only, drums, but no singing. The drum can be one of the different types of the tō'ere, a laying log of wood with a longitudinal slit, which is struck by one or two sticks, or the pahu, the ancient Tahitian standing drum, covered with a shark skin and struck by the hands or with sticks. The rhythm from the tō'ere is fast, from the pahu it is slower. A smaller drum, the fa'atētē can also be used. The dancers make gestures, reenacting daily occupations of life. For the men the themes can be chosen from warfare or sailing, and then they may use spears or paddles. For women the themes are closer to home or from nature, combing their hair, or the flight of a butterfly for example. But also more elaborate themes can be chosen, for example one where the dancers end up in a map of Tahiti, highlighting important places. In a proper 'ōte'a the story of the theme should pervade the whole dance. (This information is also from Wikipedia.)

The hip movements in 'ote'a relate to the drum rhythms, and if a person doesn't understand that or what the drum rhythms mean, the dance can seem somewhat repetitive -- especially if one is used to dancing Hawaiian hula.

"She said the grass skirts were what people thought of when they heard "hula" but that that was polynesian.... "

It's sad but true, the most famous symbol of the Hawaiian hula is the grass skirt; but traditionally, Hawaiians used a skirt fashioned of ti leaves. The ti leaf is wider and heavier than the thinner strands of grass that people are used today (as exemplified by those kitschy cellophane "grass" skirts). The grass skirt was introduced to Hawai'i in the early 1800s by laborers who arrived in Hawai'i from the Gilbert Islands. They were seen by King Kalakaua, the Merrie Monarch responsible for reviving hula after it had been banned by Christian missionaries. He liked the look of those skirts (dried, resembling raffia) and had his court dancers wear them. But they are not from Hawai'i ...

"Is it possible to begin to learn it from a dvd? If so, what dvd?"

I'm sure there will be people who will disagree with me on this, but my answer is an emphatic "No." Polynesian dance, be it Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, or even Hawaiian, is not simply a dance, it is a living embodiment of a particular culture. As such, each dance carries with it lore and tradition that are usually shared in the realm of the class, from teacher to student. The traditions of the Polynesian cultures are oral, meaning that knowledge is intended to be imparted by a person to a person. While I believe that DVDs can be great as practice tools, you will never be able to learn the heart of Polynesian dances without a teacher. And the dances of Polynesia are dances of the heart.

"Or does anyone know of a teacher in the Baltimore MD area?"

I found one for you in Baltimore! Meki's Tamure Polynesian Dance Group: www.hula123.com/. There may be others, but that's the first one I found. I stopped there because once you enter the world of Polynesian dance in your area, you'll find out firsthand about who teaches what, where, and when.

"Thank you in advance!"

You are very welcome! Again, apologies for a very, very long post -- and good luck to you!

From my training I learned the Hula is a poem dance, some time a story is told but not always. Some hulas are just about the beauty of an Island, fishing, love ect. I also learned the the long grass skirt is for ori not for hula, hula dancer sdo wear a ti -eaf skirt some times, or a cotton skirt. I think you can start learning hula from a video, but its more costly in the long run, just beacue most videos are very basic, and once you learn the basics your stuck. I will start teaching hula soon in my area, to bad it far for you. Maybe I'll do a intro to hula workshop foe bellydancers!

Nina,
I don't think you will remember me, but I've met you at DID and Samira/Carmine's workshop/hafla. I've been studying Polynesian dance for the past year, and I thought maybe I'd let you know my reflections on it from a belly dancer's point of view.

At first, I loved the ote'a best. It was most like what I knew... lots of hip work. However, I must say it's the fastest I've ever had to move my hips in my life. Nothing in belly dance even compares. Not only is it fast, but bigger is definitely better. It takes a lot of practice to get your movements big and not be sloppy - especially because they do still isolate body parts as we do in belly dance. If your style is Egyptian with the smaller movements, it will definitely take some getting used to.

Even though you use your arms and hands some in belly dance, it's nothing like Tahitian/Polynesian dance. Most of the time in belly dance your arms are held in positions or are transferring from one position to another. In Polynesian dance (especially the aparimas and ahuroas) not only is your body dancing, but your arms and hands dance also. When I first started doing the slower stuff, I just didn't like it. It was like rubbing my belly and patting my head at the same time. My arms just didn't want to move - never mind move in the graceful manner needed. I have practiced and practiced and I'm getting a little better (still no where near my teacher), and I have come to learn to really love the slower dances. The slower more graceful movements allow you to express a greater reverence for the music. It's very powerful.

The hardest thing for me still is the lack of chest and shoulder movements in Polynesian dance. I'm so used to including those body parts in my belly dance, when asked to improv Polynesian, my moves goes straight to belly dance. I haven't been able to compartmentalized the dances yet.

For me, the very biggest difference between the two dances (belly dance and Polynesian) is the attitude. I can't even express it. All I know is that whenever I dance Polynesian/Tahitian I am the happiest I've ever been. I really would encourage you to try it.

If you are going to be at DID this year, I am hoping... maybe... to do a Tahitian dance. We'll see... Anyway, whether I dance or not, my husband, Chip, will bring his to to'ere to play. He has the use of a real one from Tahiti (my teacher's), and he has also made one himself. We have found that even though dance teachers are far and few between (on the east coast), information about playing Tahitian music is even harder to find. We were very fortunate to find a to'ere player that now lives in Va Beach and was able to come to Charlottesville to teach a workshop.

Like in any dance, the most influential part of how much you learn to love/not love it is your teacher. I have been most fortunate in having one of the best teachers ever. Her name is Aniseh and she is here in Charlottesville. She studied on the west coast, in France and in Tahiti. She loves what she does, and she makes it very easy to love the dance. I hope you can find a teacher just as wonderful.