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The music and dance of the Tokelau Islands was affected by the wave of modernization which swept the Pacific following the establishment of the Western powers in the 19th Century. Although remote and isolated these tiny islands were fully involved in the recreation of their traditional music and dance style to reflect the new ideologies and technology. Yet the new form also maintains a strong sense of local identity and the ebullience and vigor of Polynesian dance, music, drumming, singing and text composition. In this study the work of local composers and the social context of performance are acknowledged, the separate elements of music, dance and poetic text are considered as they are interrelated within this form, and the history and geographical spread of the fatele to other islands. Working in the islands and in New Zealand (where the majority of Tokelauans now live) Allan Thomas also charts his growing understanding of the dance and music through more than ten years of fieldwork showing the special features that this modern form presents within studies of traditional musics.
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