A STUDY OF DANCE in Tonga must go back the more basic art of poetry, for understanding the poetry is essential if one is understand the meaning of the dance. On the other hand, if one is study poetry or any other verbal art in Tonga, it is essential study dance, for today folklore is expressed mainly through the medium of dance. Folklore and dance, then, are interrelated arts and must be viewed in relation the socio-political system which produced them. There are two basic kinds of dance in Tonga-one which has movement as its main element, and one which accompanies poetry. It is with this latter type that we will be concerned, and it can further be divided into two types. One type sings the praise of the royal family, the high chiefs, and an ethnocentric love of Tonga, and is essentially an expression of allegiance the established political and social order; the second kind comprises legends and folklore from Tonga's hallowed past, and also from more recent times. Indirectly, however, this second type of poetry functions in the same way as the first. The example discussed in this paper is of this latter type. The usual kind of dance that accompanies poetry is called lakalaka, which literally means to and, indeed, the leg movements are basically a walk that moves one step the left, then one step the right, and occasionally forward and back. The arm movements are graceful and intricate, deriving their distinctive character from the rotation of the lower arm. The dance is performed by all the men and women of a village ranged in two or more rows facing the audience. The men stand on the right side (from the observer's point of view) and women stand on the left; the order in which they stand is determined by social status. The men do one set of virile movements while the women do another set of very graceful movements so that there are two dances going on simultaneously. Each group interprets the poem in a manner consistent with the Tongan view of movements suitable and appropriate for each sex. The movements dramatize the poetry. They do pantomime the words, nor do they symbolize in the sense that one movement symbolizes one phrase, or idea. Rather they are figurative: the movements create an abstract picture which a number of meanings can be assigned, and conversely, one idea can be alluded by several different sets of movements. This illustrates the Tongan value of not going straight, for the proper way refer ideas