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Te Ao Hou, December 1968, Page 20

by the chorus members. The dancers held a long feather in the right hand and this was handled like a soundless rattle being switched up and down and then from side to side. The low chanting plus the soft rustling of seeds within the small gourds created a serious ceremonial atmosphere for what was to follow. The spectators watched in expectant silence for a full twenty minutes during which time the dancers began to perspire. They were standing in the burning sun which was sufficient to make even the spectators drip perspiration. The chant over, there was a regrouping of the dancers and the chorus. The chorus members formed an open U-formation on either side of the snake-house while fourteen of the dancers paired off. The inside dancer of each pair rested his right hand on the right shoulder of his partner. The chorus struck up a different beat and the paired dancers began a solemn dance around the plaza again in an anti-clockwise direction. The dance was slow and heavy with a strong accent on the right foot which produced a thud and an equally heavy rattle