To many, the word "Pacific" conjures up images of swaying palm trees, islanders in grass skirts, World War II battles and dazzling sunsets. These stereotypes have helped to obscure the extraordinary cultural, political and natural diversity of the Pacific Islands, a vibrant and complex region encompassing 25,000 islands spread over 10 million square miles of ocean in which 30 million people speak hundreds of different languages and dialects. Dance is the one thing they all have in common, the unifying art form that embraces all of them.

For nearly 50,000 years, dances and songs have been an expression of Pacific Islanders' origins, their journeys, their struggles - their very existence. These are their "dance stories" - their DANCES OF LIFE. The program journeys to five Pacific islands - New Zealand, Palau, Guam, American Samoa and New Caledonia - to reveal the cultural history and diversity of the Pacific Islands. DANCES OF LIFE airs on PBS on Thursday, May 12, 2005, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET. (check local listings). Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) narrates.

DANCES OF LIFE views dance through the eyes of the people who practice it as an art form and as a way of life. Unlike dance performance in the West, which focuses largely on physical movement and music, Pacific dance encompasses singing, chanting, poetry and story-telling. There is a striking historic and cultural component to the dancing - these are dances about heroism, violence and war, as well as love and eroticism.

By focusing on the dances of five different nations, DANCES OF LIFE shows how each group developed its own cultural expression through dance. In New Zealand, Maori men perform a war dance, each man endeavoring to be fiercer than the next in order to frighten the enemy. In Palau, a nation ruled by women, culture and modernity co-exist. There, dance is a way of preserving historical documentation, passing tradition from mother to child and celebrating life-changing events such as birth. Guam, a nation colonized by Spain in 1521 and now an American territory, has lost much of its original traditions, and today's dancers work at rediscovering and recreating the original dance styles and songs that united their ancestors.

In American Samoa, dancers perform the "mosquito slap dance" with high-stepping athleticism; choreographed slapping rids the dancers of imaginary pests. In New Caledonia, dancers don't dance with their feet but "with their guts" - fearsome warriors perform with rhythmic grace as they psychologically prepare themselves for battle.

Today, as global economies threaten to homogenize island cultures as never before, Pacific Islanders are struggling to maintain their identity and traditions. Dance is central to these efforts; for centuries it has remained one of the most powerful vehicles for transmitting the culture.

The primary elements of DANCES OF LIFE are the dances themselves. Working closely with the dance creators, filmmaker and director Catherine Tatge and producer Shane Seggar have highlighted the innovative and inspiring ways Pacific Island artists are revitalizing their cultural traditions. Dance creators today are developing new languages that combine traditional dance elements with those reflecting the contemporary urban experiences of many Pacific Islanders today. Viewers discover how Pacific dance, despite considerable challenges, continues to thrive as a vibrant, living art and bring communities of Pacific Islanders together.

Cultural exchange among Pacific Islanders themselves has been a major influence on the region's dance. While each island has its own unique culture and tradition, the islands are united in being part of a larger cultural milieu: Oceania. Through this PBS broadcast, DANCES OF LIFE expands the boundaries of the Pacific, bringing cultural and historical dance stories to communities around the globe.

Underwriters: National Endowment for the Arts Judy and Josh Weston, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Co-producers: International Cultural Programming and Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) in association with KQED San Francisco. Executive producers: Dominique Lasseur and Carlyn L. Tani. Producer: Shane Palusi Seggar. Director: Catherine Tatge. Editor: Douglas Rossini. Director of photography: Philippe Charluet. Narration writer: Leslie Clark. Sound: Mark Cornish. Format: CC Stereo