The slap, the dance ... the slap-dance!

April 20, 2008 11:28 AM

slappity-slappity-BOOM!-slappity-slap-slap-slap-BOOM!... Slap dancing from opposite ends of the earth! In Samoa, it’s called the Fa'ataupati; it’s said to have originated out of the need to swat insects away. And in the Tyrolean Alps, it’s called the Schuhplattler, supposedly the oldest surviving dance in Europe. And on MetaTalk, it goes like this, amirite?

More of the Fa'ataupati:
- example | example | example | example | example | example
- So you want to do the Fa'ataupati?
- Americanized and Modernized
- Med school students fa'ataupati like this, amiriteagain?

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More of the Schuhplattler, which you may remember from National Lampoon's European Vacation...
- example | example | example | example | slo-mo | example | example | with picnic benches
- Compare this how-to with the Fa'ataupati one.

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How NOT to do a slapping dance. Someone drive this asshole home already.

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quonsar, may I have this dance?

posted by not_on_display (16 comments total)

What, no stepping? (probably better step videos out on the tubes, but it was the first one with good slapping I came across)
posted by fermezporte at 12:05 PM on April 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

The mosquitos don't stand a chance against the awesome dudes in the second link! I had the good fortune to see a special performance of Samoan dancing at Aggie Grey's Hotel in 1988; the hotel offers a weekly dance show for guests but that evening a TV crew was filming so the dancers went all out for the cameras. (Apparently the dancers are all hotel employees and seem to really enjoy this part of their job.) The show is held in the hotel's poolside fale, a traditional Samoan house consisting of a thatched roof supported by wooden pillars and beams. Anyway, the young bucks were not content with staying on the stage, but climbed up into the rafters and did their stomping and pounding on the narrow beams. The dancers who stayed on the ground didn't seem too concerned so I guess it wasn't as dangerous as it looked, but ... *shudders* The driving rhythms of drums and feet made for quite a memorable performance, but the high-wire act put it altogether over the top.

If anyone finds that footage on YouTube I'd love to see it again!
posted by Quietgal at 12:23 PM on April 20, 2008

What a coincidence--I just finished a Schuhplattler course a few weeks ago. It is a fun dance, but the next day my thighs are raw from all of the slapping!

please don't that's-what-she-said me!
posted by pumpkin11 at 12:24 PM on April 20, 2008

What about the Hambone?
posted by horsemuth at 12:42 PM on April 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

The fat man in the "goes" link needs a 48AA training bra.
posted by Cranberry at 12:44 PM on April 20, 2008

Something about watching a bunch of smiling half-naked Samoan men do the Charlie's Angels pose ("modernized" link) just made my already pretty awesome day just that much better. Oh, and the dancing! I see what you mean about the instructions. Can you tell which is which from these excerpts?

Step 1. Put on your lavalava.
Step 2. Take off your shirt.

1-32. Starting M L, W R, walk one step per ct, scuffing (or rather tapping the heel) on ct & as free ft swings through. Dancers may yell "YAAAH-hah-hah-hooey" in falsetto as their exuberance moves them.

posted by jessamyn at 12:47 PM on April 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

this is a fun post, following the links (ty horsemuth) I found the Hambone Brothers which may be the most hilariously surreal 30 seconds of youtubery I've seen.
posted by dawson at 12:51 PM on April 20, 2008 [3 favorites]

I had to watch the "How NOT to do a slapping dance." link twice to get why it's a "slapping dance."

Can anyone venture an educated guess regarding the location of the wedding? My best guess would be Lebanon or pre-war Iraq. Or possibly one of those Caucasian countries, like Georgia or Armenia.
posted by sour cream at 12:53 PM on April 20, 2008

...and, of course, the fish-slapping dance.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:49 PM on April 20, 2008

^ZenMasterThis, how dare you cut in on my dancin' with q?!

Thanks, people, for the stepdancing, hambone, and weird hambone links, too. Awesome.

And ^jessamyn, I hear the "YAAAH-hah-hah-hooey" in Goofy's voice.
posted by not_on_display at 2:07 PM on April 20, 2008

Come on over baby, a whole lotta slappin' goin' on!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:14 PM on April 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

Slapping each other is popular on the playground, too.
posted by Foam Pants at 3:15 PM on April 20, 2008

I found the Hambone Brothers ...

The fellow on the left in that clip is doing the hambone, and the fellow on the right is eefing AND manualing. Amazing!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:53 PM on April 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh, and going through the comments in the eefing and manualing threads linked directly above, I note that with this Hambone Brothers link, randomination's question has now been answered! Metafilter at its BEST!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:14 PM on April 20, 2008

Glove slap baby!
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:08 PM on April 20, 2008

Manaia. This FPP deserves a robust CHOOOHOOO. Thanks, not on display.
posted by Slap Factory at 4:01 PM on April 21, 2008