Details

Latitude

-4.212755

Longitude

152.173

Start Date

1993-08-02

End Date

1993-08-02

Tape#1: Traditional Tolai Song and Dance or "Singsing Tumbuna" Side A&B: Daniel ToRot was born in 1930 with parents from Totovel and Kikitabu in the North Coast area of the Gazelle Peninisula. He attended the local Kuanua language school run by the Methodist Church at Totovel called "Luk Buk". This was learning how to read, write and count in Kuanua language or "tok ples" and not the English language. Such learning was for any published material like the translated bible, writing and numbers to understand and communicate similar to "literacy and numeracy"in Kuanua. During the war (WWII) in 1942, he was a gardener for the Japanese army and at peace time be stayed in the village to learn fron his father and uncle the practices and art of traditional Tolai song and dance as a composer and choreographer know as "tena buai". He mastered as a practitioner with magical powers and spiritual connections `from dreaming, composing, mentoring and leading performances in ceremonies and public gatherings of Government organised events and cultural festivals. Daniel was then the Chairman of Tolai Warwagira Festival events for competitions in choir singing, stringbands, gospel`groups and traditional dance performances for East New Britain and other provinces were invited to participate. Daniel was known as "Pukalop", the "tena buai"or traditional music mentor and practitioner well known and was a judge in the traditional section of the Tolai Warwagira competitions. He mentored with specific powers with different tailored "buai"in his craft for various types of traditional dances namely; Wutung, Libung, Parpari, Kulau, Perapere, Tabaran, Alor, Tapialai (Tubuan). These types of dances have different significance and relevance to how they performed in composition, choreographed, patterns and styles of dancing and leg-hands-body movements. There are basically the Tubuan and non-tubuan song and dances. Tubuan songs, Gara and Kabakaver, are sung only by male members of the tubuan society. One has to be an initiate in order to take part in the gara and “ancestral dance” of tapialai. Other types of dances, non tubuan dances, are generally called malagene. Musical instruments accompanying tubuan gara are kundu and garamut. For the non-tubuan dances, the Tabaran is the top end in the hierarchy in terms of value associated to status and wealth demonstrated by shell money or tabu as compared others in occasions of ceremonial performances. Preparations are undertaken away from public in special bushland areas called taraiu with body dressing or moamong, head or face carved masks or pokopoko. The dancing pattern from entry to ceremony site to during and exit have specific sequence associated and dancing format are in rows of two, three or four is a large number of performers and dependent of type of dance. Daniel's specialty was the Tabaran Kakakao dance. Other associated dances to the Tabaran are Alor, Kulau. The Tabaran means means spirit and the dance is of the same nature or another version of the Tubuan. The Tabaran dancing imitate 'creeping spirits' (kakakao), for whose appearance is in the form of masks (lor) to signify the spirits of kaia or tutana vukarit beings. (Steven Gagau, June 2019)

Sources