Cook Islands Dance

Cook Islands dance is famous across the Pacific for its speed: the ura is driven by pate wooden slit drums beaten at a pace that seems impossible to keep up with, and dancers - hips moving in a blur for women, knees scissoring for men - do exactly that. Performance is woven into island life through church, community events and the fiercely competitive Te Maeva Nui festival each August, which marks self-government and brings groups from every island to compete in dance, drumming and song. Island nights at resorts offer the accessible version, usually with an umukai feast cooked in an earth oven.

What you actually see

• Ura drum dance - the fast hip and knee movement the islands are known for.
• Pate drumming - the wooden slit drums driving the rhythm.
• Te Maeva Nui - the August national festival and its competitions.
• Umukai feast - earth-oven cooking served at island nights.

When to go

Island nights run weekly year round at various venues. Te Maeva Nui falls around the start of August and is by far the best time to see dance at its highest level, with competition groups rather than resort troupes. Book accommodation early for that week.

Honest expectations

Resort island nights vary in authenticity and some are thin; the community and competition events are the real thing. Te Maeva Nui performances are long and run over several nights, mostly in Cook Islands Maori, which is part of the point. Photography during church services and some ceremonies is inappropriate. Sundays are quiet everywhere.

Nearby

Avarua's auditorium and cultural village, and island nights across Rarotonga and Aitutaki.