Secondary school students from across Canberra took Polynesian music and dance on tour to six schools last week as part of the Pasifika Music Outreach Program.

The program is a partnership between the ANU Music Engagement Program and Pasifika Australia, an equity program in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

The student-led group performed and taught a set of well-known and well-loved songs they had selected.

Setting the beat were classic Pacific tunes like Now is the Hour/Po Atarau, a popular New Zealand song with verses in English and Maori, and Samoan song Fatu Na Toto.

As part of the school performances, female students in the Pasifika Music Outreach program danced a hula, while a group of male of students from Belconnen High performed a haka.

“It’s about engaging these students in their own cultural music and dance, and then having them share and teach these songs to other students in the ACT school system” said Georgia Pike, Convenor of the Music Engagement Program at the ANU School of Music.

“Teachers have been given resources to prepare and follow-up with their students, to deepen their knowledge and engagement with Pacific Island culture.”

This article was originally published by ANU News.