Dance of Death in New Hebrides

About the dance of death in Gaua in the New Hebrides, where the dancers before a war were killed.

WILLIAM IVERSEN'S 10 BEST ODDITIES

The Dance of Death. "Legend has it that until quite recently the elders of Gaua, in the New Hebrides, came to the dance armed with bows and arrows and shot to kill any dancer who weakened the magic potency of the dance by so much as a single mistake. Under such exacting demands, dancing tended to become the full-time career of a professional caste, as it did in India, where temple dancers have traditionally dedicated their lives to the worship of dancing gods."