About the Sundrop Dance naming scheme

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Any theories or explanations on how the dance got its name?

[Cilia]

The only stupid question is the one that goes unasked, as they say...

I got only two ideas.

• The name comes from the force of the dance, and a properly done Sundrop dance is like dropping the sun on someone. That is, it has great weight and power, which makes sense considering it's intended to be a war / deterrent dance.
• The name comes from a long metaphor. The sun, light, is hope, and by using the Sundrop dance you are destroying their hope. That is, the sun drops below the horizon, leaving only darkness and despair.

Might I add that, while it's highly entertaining to see the Vanu do it, the Sundrop dance is... significantly less powerful when my PC does it? Perhaps because I'm playing a waifish Auri woman, but...

[Fenral]

Might I add that, while it's highly entertaining to see the Vanu do it, the Sundrop dance is... significantly less powerful when my PC does it? Perhaps because I'm playing a waifish Auri woman, but...

Apparently, the entire thing is modeled off Haka, a form of traditional dance from New Zealand, which has radically different moves depending on whether a male or female is performing.

I knew about none of this until just the other day, so full points to the dev team for expanding our cultural horizons.

[Cilia]

Apparently, the entire thing is modeled off Haka, a form of traditional dance from New Zealand, which has radically different moves depending on whether a male or female is performing.

I knew about none of this until just the other day, so full points to the dev team for expanding our cultural horizons.

I figured there was some of that in there, considering the Vanu do seem to take cultural cues from Maori / Mariana traditional cultures. I immediately picked up on the differences between the male and female dances when I first saw Linu Vali use the Sundrop dance; while it's not as extreme as the differences in Haka, there are differences. Specifically, the third and fourth moves of the male dance are repeats of the first and second, while for females they cross their left / right arm across their chest as the third and fourth move.

Ehh. Minutiae.

EDIT
Yeah, after watching the male and female Sundrop dances side-by-side, I can say for sure the female version is significantly less, ah, energetic. Disappointing. Understandable, but even so. (If I didn't have swimsuits and underwear dyed with rare gold dye, I'd consider getting a Fantasia, but... ehhh.)

[Kaiser-Ace]

Apparently, the entire thing is modeled off Haka, a form of traditional dance from New Zealand, which has radically different moves depending on whether a male or female is performing.

I knew about none of this until just the other day, so full points to the dev team for expanding our cultural horizons.

Lol, I'd been calling it "The Vanu Haka" even before the official name was released. It just hit me the moment I saw the dance. (Tbh, I still call it "The Vanu Haka" occasionally)

[MilesSaintboroguh]

It's also cool how some Vanu Vanu quests have you using the dance for various things.

Everytime I hear Sundrop, I think of cough drops for some reason...

[CyrilLucifer]

Not going to lie, when I hear Sundrop, I think of lemondrop candies.

[Wadoka]

Sundrop is a lemony-sweet soda-type beverage in my neck of the woods

[Fenral]

Gonna throw out that I think the theme in play is "lost in translation." In native Vanu the name conveys the force and terror of the dance, but translated into Eorzean Basic (or whatever they call it) by our Echo it just sounds really cute and mild.

[Cilia]

Gonna throw out that I think the theme in play is "lost in translation." In native Vanu the name conveys the force and terror of the dance, but translated into Eorzean Basic (or whatever they call it) by our Echo it just sounds really cute and mild.

I don't think it's an Echo goof (since people besides us can understand the Vanu), it's just a cultural difference.

As you noted, the Sundrop Dance is based on Haka, a traditional war dance of the Maori people. Like the Sundrop Dance, its purpose is to psyche up the dancer(s) and intimidate their opponent(s). It's basically a challenge, "come get some!"

From our point of view, it's just a silly and goofy dance, since we're far more prone to immediately getting to the stabbing and shooting. It's very important to the Vanu, however, because it's a part of their history and culture, and allows them to resolve conflicts without bloodshed. (Unless you're dealing with the Vundu, but we all know they're jerkholes anyway. Maybe I should try using it the next time I'm sent on a mission to steal their food...?)