Reretava Contempary Tahitian Dance Company is directed by Nicola Marae Allain, Ph. D.
Nicola creates original storytelling dances combining Tahitian Dance – ‘Ori Tahiti – with contemporary Tahitian performance practices.
Reretava was Nicola’s Great-Great-Grandmother’s middle name – her full name was Ragitake Reretava Tekurio. Ragitake was born, raised, and died on the tiny Tuamotu atoll of Katiu in French Polynesia.
Nicola’s mother is half-Tahitian, half-English, and Nicola was raised partly in Tahiti, French Polynesia. She has been dancing Tahitian since she was a little girl, and studied Tahitian and Asia/Pacific traditions at the graduate level. Her Tahitian great-grandmother, affectionately known as Mama Kina, was a culture bearer, and Nicola’s family has a long history of sharing Tahitian stories and traditions. Nicola’s choreography is inspired by the stories of her Polynesian ancestry and rich family history, and by creation myths that are all but forgotten or unknown in most parts of the world, but for the remnants of oral traditions that remain on tiny atolls in the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean, and the stories revived through dance in cultural renaissance activities.
Revetava Tahitian Dance Company classes and rehearsals are held at Studio Sylphide in in Greenfield Center, NY, just minutes away from Saratoga Springs.