The tradition of entertainment in Tahiti once centered on a special guild of traveling performers called the arioi who sailed on great double-hulled canoes from bay to bay and island to island, performing dance, pantomime dramas and chants. They usually performed in honor of Oro, their deity of peace, agriculture and fertility.

The Tahitians traditional ote'a or drumming dances, includes the graceful yet energetic hip-shaking ori Tahiti or tamure which young and old perform throughout its islands. While the women demonstrate remarkable dexterity with their hip movements, that are accented by the more [pronounce both syllables] or fiber skirts, the best female dancers are expected to keep their shoulders relatively still throughout the performance.