The Mako is a fast-paced dance from

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

which is performed by young men. Accompanied by an extremely fast rhythm on a drum or tin can, dancers perform wild gestures involving their entire bodies; they point in various directions, run, sit, roll, or lie down repeatedly and in quick succession. The dance originated in ʻUvea and is only rarely performed in Tonga.

Musical themes

The songs used with the Mako feature lyrics in Tongan. Their themes are most often drawn from nature and daily life or occasionally from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Additionally, one of the best-known refrains, ''toli he siale'', is a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

; it can mean "picking flowers".

References

*I.F. Helu; Faikava Dances of Tonga {{Tonga-stub