Classroom lesson · Music · 🇹🇻 Tuvalu

Fatele

Tuvalu's traditional sit-down song-dance performed at celebrations

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Fatele is the traditional performance art of Tuvalu — a combination of song, rhythmic body movement, and dance. What makes it unique is that performers are seated or kneeling for much of the performance, using graceful arm and hand gestures to tell stories, while a box drum called a pate keeps the rhythm. As the song builds, performers may rise to standing.

Tell me more

A fatele is performed at important occasions — when a ship arrives, at a wedding, to welcome guests, or at a national celebration. A large group of people, often the whole community, takes part. Men and women perform separately or together depending on the occasion, and the movements of arms, wrists, and hands flow together in a beautiful rippling pattern, like waves.

The music begins slowly and builds in tempo. The lead singer starts a phrase and the group echoes it back. The pate — a hollow wooden box drum beaten with the hands — provides a heartbeat for the whole performance. By the end, the speed and energy have built to an exciting climax, with performers swaying and the audience clapping along.

Fatele is more than entertainment — it carries the history and values of each island community. Different islands in Tuvalu have their own slightly different style of fatele, and performances can last for several hours. Learning fatele from elders is an important way that children on Tuvalu connect to their culture and the generations before them.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Fatele starts slowly and builds in speed. How does the pace of music change how you feel when you listen to it?
02Fatele carries the history and values of the community. Can you think of a song, dance, or tradition in your own culture that does the same thing?
03Different islands within Tuvalu have their own style of fatele. Why might communities that are close together develop their own versions of the same tradition?

Try this

Classroom activity

Try a simple seated rhythm activity. Ask children to sit cross-legged in a circle. Start a slow clapping rhythm (clap, clap, pat knees, pat knees). Gradually speed up over two minutes. Add arm waves and head movements. Discuss: how did it feel as the tempo increased? What happened to the group's energy?

Fatele

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Discussion prompts

Classroom activity

Other things that make Tuvalu special

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