Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Honors Family Tradition With Samoan Taualuga Dance: Watch

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson recently showed off his dance moves. The Moana star participated in a Samoan Taualuga with his mom, which honors his Hawaiian roots and a family tradition.

TMZ shared a video of him and his family, which he also dropped on Instagram. He kicked things off shirtless to honor the Samoan tradition of proudly showing off Polynesian tattoos. 

“I was blessed to have this very special moment on stage with my mom, my daughters, and our aiga (family) — dancing our Samoan culture’s sacred dance, the Taualuga,” he captioned the post in part, before explaining more of the tradition. “It’s custom for Samoan men to take their shirts off to proudly show our Polynesian tatau (tattoo) and the intricate stories our ink tells. Also, custom for Samoan women to lift their lava lavas up to proudly show their beautiful malu (tattoo) on their legs as well.”

He added: “I’m slapping the ground as a way to show my respect for how significant this is and how SACRED our ground becomes in this moment with our elders (and my daughters dancing next to me). It’s emotional. You can’t help but feel it. The mana.”

For the busy actor, he says it’s important to have these moment, relish with family, and slow down. “Life is busy for everyone – so special moments like this mean the world to me, to honor our family, our culture and always so good coming back home to Hawaii,” he added.

He also recently opened up about how returning home to Hawaii is a reminder that it’s the “greatest city.”  In an April Instagram post, he shared a video of himself driving along a cloud-shrouded tropical highway. “Every time I come back home to Hawai’i, I’m reminded why this is the greatest city in the world. Every drive brings back every loving memory and crazy moment growing up here. All the good stuff and all the not-so-good stuff,” he wrote in the accompanying caption. He added, “Most defining times in my life have been here in Hawai’i. Life’s ambitions at times took me far away, but I’m always coming back home. It’s in the blood. If you know, you know. 🤙🏾😊🩸💪🏾”