ATDTDA (1): "the Dance of Lava-Lava, the Volcano Goddess"

[Tim Strzechowski]

"I perform the Dance of Lava-Lava, the Volcano Goddess" (p. 27).

Samoan dance is possibly the one area of Samoan culture which has been least affected by contact with western civilsation. Whereas Samoan music has adopted guitars and other musical instruments, dance, which relies solely upon the performers body (with some exceptions - fire dance, knife dance, etc) still requires the performer to retain grace and move their arms and hands in the approved fashion. However, Samoans who are members of the Seventh Day Adventist church do not practice Samoan dancing because it is proscribed by their religion.
Unlike several of the other Pacific Islands you will not normally fnd the dancers performing in grass skirts, nor is the hula a dance native to Samoa. More often than not performers will were lavalava, but in some cases the women will wear matting made from the Pandunas and turned into ie toga and the men will wear necklaces or anklets made from leaves. The clothing made be decorated with feathers or frreshly cut flowers and lei. [...]
http://www.samoa.co.uk/dance.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Do-the-Samoan-Fa%27ataupati-%28Slap-Dance%29

Hawaiian legends tell that eruptions were caused by Pele, the beautiful but tempestuous Goddess of Volcanoes, during her frequent moments of anger. Pele was both revered and feared; her immense power and many adventures figured prominently in ancient Hawaiian songs and chants. She could cause earthquakes by stamping her feet and volcanic eruptions and fiery devastations by digging with the Pa'oe, her magic stick. An oft-told legend describes the long and bitter quarrel between Pele and her older sister Namakaokahai that led to the creation of the chain of volcanoes that form the islands. [...]
http://www.crystalinks.com/volcanomyth.html
http://www.enchantedfantasies.com/MadamePele.html

Um ... and for you comic book fans out there:

Real Name: Peliali
Identity/Class: Superhuman Goddess
Occupation: Volcano Goddess
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/peliali.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverclaw

Couldn't find any actual references, tho, to Lava-Lava the Volcano Goddess.  Need help ...
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20070126/72091de4/attachment.html>