Ura Tabu Pacific Dance Claimed

Ura Tabu was first established in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa in August 2008. The collective is made up of a diverse range of Indigenous dance practitioners from the Pacific.

The name Ura Tabu is derived from Ura: to Siva, to hula or to dance and Tabu: tapu, kapu, sacred sometimes forbidden, other times taboo.

Not only was Ura Tabu established as a response to reignite the sacredness of Pacific dance, but it was also a call to lift irrelevant taboo’s that limit our potential as wahine not only in dance but in our wider societies. Today we stand strong in this globalised age, armed with self-love, empowered to create with courage, resilience and a renewed sense of self-awareness.

GAFA

Our Genealogy plays a central role in all our dance creations. We draw strength, grace and spirit from our Pasifika women of the past, present and future. Their guidance allows us to create a synergy that resurrects an internal fire and pure alofa inherent in our Pacific cultural practices. It is in this space that we are able to push boundaries and become wild and instinctual; a force that allows us to move seamlessly through culture, environment, time, society, philosophies and belief systems.

VALUES

Our value system informs our way of being, guides our interactions with others, determines our creative outcomes and is centred around our collective consciousness. We have selected 9 core values that represent our cultural sources of knowledge and collective whakapapa. The number 9 is also symbolic in being a number of Tapu, wisdom, completion and fulfilment. ​