Music & Dance
The first known Northern Mariana Islands residents arrived from the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Malay Peninsula around 2,000 BC.
Music and Dance in the Northern Mariana Islands
Music on the Islands can generally be broken down into three categories: local, mainland American, and Asian. Local consists of Chamorro, Carolinian, Micronesian Hawaiian Reggae and Palauan music, often with traditional dance for many occasions. Mainland American consists of much of the same music that can be found on U.S. radio. Asian consists of Japanese, Korean, Thai and Philippine music, among others. There are seven radio stations on Saipan, which play mainly popular and classic English-language songs as well as local and Philippine music.[21]
A Chamorro Native Dance
Native Men Dancing With Each Other
Another Chamorro Dance Similar to Hawaiin
Girls are taught at a young age to keep the dance tradition
Men and Women Dance Traditionally
The people have different dances. There is a dance called Bwai which is a Refaluwasch women dance. A certain cases when males dance they wear large leaves around their necks and wear leaves around their heads. There is also one for men. It was originally for warriors but spread to other men after the people came to the Mariana Islands.