Talofa Lava! Recently we have celebrated Samoan language week! Maya, you immersed yourself into the Samoan culture, learning basic words and phrases, dances, visual arts, as well as trying some delicious Samoan cuisine! You were fortunate enough to have Whaea Kyla and Whaea Danielle teach you the Sāsā dance. This traditional Samoan dance is performed in a seated position and uses different hand actions to tell a story whilst keeping to a drum beat. Maya, this was challenging, you showed great confidence, performing each move with speed and coordination, all while keeping in time with a beat! We could tell you had fun performing this dance, you used a lot of energy and enjoyed shouting different upu (words) throughout the performance. Maya, you showed great eagerness when learning about Samoan art. You designed your very own pe’a (tattoo), tapa cloth, and sei (floral crown). To design a traditional Samoan tattoo, you studied various patterns and looked closely at the different geometric patterns used in other pe’a. Maya, you were quick to complete this and had enough time to create your own Samoan sei as well, which you really enjoyed! Maya, we were impressed with the confidence and enthusiasm you displayed towards each new learning task.
Nikki McAskie 7th June 2021, 20:54 Samoan Language Week!
