HEIVA

Nancy

Tonight we join islanders coming from hundreds of miles away all over French Polynesia to celebrate in song and dance their culture!  We see again Miss Tahiti and her princesses (who are called Dauphines), the woman from the Marquesas who sold us our beaded necklaces, and our Austrian friends from the  Modesta, Cinderella, Omweg.  We relax early into our seats at 6 pm, already more than a little tired from the excitement and sun of the sporting competitions earlier in the day, but ready to take on our own challenge to stay awake for 5 hours of performances by professional and amateur groups alike.   We are told we will have no trouble to pay attention – the drummers and hundreds of dancers will keep our energy going.   With a little walking around between performances, this is correct. 

The program for each dance group begins always with a narrator who tells a story – it reminds me of  Greek theater or Shakespeare.   I cannot understand the language but can easily understand the emotions of pride and love and humor and overcoming difficulties and challenges. At least one hundred dancers and singers on the large outdoor stage are dressed in fantastic costumes made of all natural materials – leaves and fruits, flowers, bones, and shells.  I thought this was only for movies but NO!

Here, in Tahiti and from all the islands, the people love their culture and compete for the festival prizes to be awarded at the end of the month.  The festival began 135 years ago, when the French held their military parades for Bastille Day but did not allow the Polynesians to participate   It is fitting that the winners the first year performed a song titled, Hear This Frenchman!

I enjoy most that people of all shapes and sizes  are on stage in the HEIVA – apparently  you only need to have skill and enthusiasm. There is no alcohol and for 5 hours the audience cheers for their local favourites and celebrates the heroes on stage.

We join them in laughter even when we do not know the jokes but understand the wisdom of being light hearted in life and not taking ourselves too seriously.  Finally, I succumb to my weariness and Florian pokes me in the side to tell me it is over and time to go home to the Esperanza.

Nancy found this very nice video from Heiva 2014 on youtube. Thanks Nancy, it is perfekt! Heiva 2014