The hivinau is a dance from

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

where the dancers turn in pairs around the

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. It is often either the first or the last dance of a dance festival or used as a transition between two dances. Although an old dance, it is not traditional, the name hivinau probably derived from a yell by the officers of any passing European ship: "Heave now!", and the subsequent turning of the wheel with

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

chain by the crew. The dance has two circles, one of men, another of women, turning around the centre axis where the orchestra sits, as whether the anchor is to be heaved. Every time a male and female dancer meet each other, they turn to each other, yell: "Hiri, haʻa, haʻa" and may perform some knee or hip shakes respectively.

References

P. O'Reilly; La danse a Tahiti Dances of Tahiti {{Dance-stub