YouTube viewers are fascinated by a now-viral video of a young girl from the Yucatan performing what appears to be a Polynesian-inspired dance. Over 2 million people have watched the video since it was uploaded in 2013.

Known only as Xhunaxhi, the video description states that this is a performance that won her a silver medal in the Confederacion Interamericana de Danza (or Inter-American Dance Confederation). Presumably trained by the School of Dance known as “Fiesta Hawaiana” on the Yucatan Peninsula under dance instructor Gehisi Encalada (as the video title states), little Xhunaxhi is clearly a natural.

While for some it’s disturbing to see young children dressed up to perform, many viewers have given this a cultural thumbs up for sharing an ethnic art form (although many seem to think the dance, like the dancer, is Oaxacan).

Her routine is likely based on traditional Tahitian dance known as the ʻōteʻa – which is characterized by rapid hip movements. While it’s not something we’re necessarily used to or comfortable seeing from such a little girl, there’s no arguing that she’s a very gifted dancer for her age.

Dressed in a costume as close to traditional garb as one can get thousands of miles from the French Polynesian island that invented it, Xhunaxhi walks out onto the giant stage, which only serves to make her look even more diminutive.

When the percussion begins – this is the music that accompanies the ʻōteʻa – she begins those rapid hip movements mentioned above. And boy are they rapid!

Most of us would break a hip even giving it a try.

Of course, it appears a bit risque to some – and that’s understandable – and American dance competitions can seem even more so. Nevertheless, dance is a skill that teaches not only body control but discipline and athleticism as well.

Xhunaxhi’s costume is made specifically to show off her backside, which is part of what the dance highlights but also makes people feel a bit uncomfortable.

This dance is typically performed by a group that often ends up in a creative formation as they move around their stage. And while it used to be performed by men as a war dance and later by both men and women in a way that told more of a story, it’s now more often performed exclusively by women, often as part of traditional welcome ceremonies in Polynesia.

But Xhunaxhi is on her own for this performance and it’s an awful lot of hip-shaking for one person to do! Even if we did it in slow motion, we’re pretty sure we couldn’t maintain it for the two minutes she does.

While the dance was outlawed by Christian missionaries that invaded the island in the 1800s and saw it as too provocative, it was revived again as the Polynesians – and the Tahitians in particular – began restoring their culture in the 1950s. The islands are still a French “collectivity.”

Since the dance has made it all the way to a dance school in the Yucatan, it’s safe to say that more children will be learning it.

Let’s hope they learn more about the culture that created it as well!

You can scroll down below to view one dancer’s impressive interpretation and introduce yourself to a modern version of the traditional Polynesian ʻōteʻa.

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Source: wilbert uribe via YouTube, ʻōteʻa via Wikipedia, Etnika Magazine