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Thomas on Islands | profile | all galleries >> == Tahiti Islands == >> Tahitian Festival on Huahine tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

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Tahitian Festival on Huahine

== Other Tahiti Islands ==
Huahine, January 6 2006: Festival of Commune de Huahine
People of Huahine value their heritage, and this festival is best testament to their ability to preserve local way of life. Each evening we saw people in Polynesian costumes and Sunday dresses being picked up from all parts of the twin-islands, in the evening we also heard drums in our bungalow. We asked what is the occasion, and so we became aware of the festivities.

Compared to commercial Luau's on Hawai'i, we saw here performances of dances and music made by Maohi people for the people, and not a daily routine repeated as a job for tourists. However, they were aware of the visitors. All announcements were made in Maohi, French and... in English. We were very grateful for the English version.

We were stunned by the craftsmanship of the costumes, dynamics and quality of the performances. Our impression was, that the groups of performers were scored by a jury of elders, which you can see to the right on these images. Organization was clearly not provided by stage professionals, nobody seem to be following a strict time schedule. However, someone has provided ticket stands, security personal and food wagons.

On the benches where we sat, we were encircled by many young people, who seemed very friendly and curious toward visitors. As soon we were close by, they switched from Maohi to French, we were not sure why. This might be however the ever progressing influx of the French culture imposed on their lives. We observe this problem on Hawaii as well.

One strange scene played on the end of the show, as tropical rain set on: We were not very concerned by the few drops coming down, Tahitians however set to an almost escape stampede, and we wondered with smile what happened to the people who once crossed worlds greatest Ocean in outrigger canoes...

0826 Commune de Huahine
0826 Commune de Huahine
0827 Tahitian chants
0827 Tahitian chants
0828 The Jury or maybe the Elders?
0828 The Jury or maybe the Elders?
0830 One of the chanting groups
0830 One of the chanting groups
P0562 Cute
P0562 Cute
0831 Tahitian Chanting
0831 Tahitian Chanting
0832 The drummers and the band
0832 The drummers and the band
0833 One of female chanting companies waiting
0833 One of female chanting companies waiting
0837 Vahine in traditional costume
0837 Vahine in traditional costume
0838 Typical polynesian dress
0838 Typical polynesian dress
0848
0848
0849
0849
0853 Chief? Juror?
0853 Chief? Juror?
0855
0855
0856 Tahitian Vahines
0856 Tahitian Vahines
0857
0857
0860
0860
0861
0861
0865
0865
0869
0869
0870
0870
0874 Cakes were very popular...
0874 Cakes were very popular...
0877
0877
0879 Chanting Ensemble
0879 Chanting Ensemble
0883 Chanting Ensemble
0883 Chanting Ensemble
0885 Their band
0885 Their band
0887 Beautiful solo voices
0887 Beautiful solo voices
0888 Introducing the last and largest of the dancing groups
0888 Introducing the last and largest of the dancing groups
0892 Grace and Beauty
0892 Grace and Beauty
0893 Dancing Tahitians
0893 Dancing Tahitians
0894 Dancing Tahitians
0894 Dancing Tahitians
0902 Dancing Tahitians
0902 Dancing Tahitians
0905 Dancing Tahitians
0905 Dancing Tahitians
0913 Leading vahine
0913 Leading vahine
0919 The Chief or the Organizer?
0919 The Chief or the Organizer?
0923 Leading male dancer
0923 Leading male dancer
0924 One of the smaller chanting groups
0924 One of the smaller chanting groups
0929 Dancing Tahitians
0929 Dancing Tahitians
0931 Male dancer
0931 Male dancer
0934 Female Dancer
0934 Female Dancer
0938 Final scene
0938 Final scene
0939 Rain: More dances or end?
0939 Rain: More dances or end?
0940 Rain! Everybody tries to escape...
0940 Rain! Everybody tries to escape...