The stage is set for tonight's show and I noticed there is now a stone tiki sitting in front of the spider painted on the wall.
The Church is lit up by its own lights.
The wood carved statue of Mary holding baby Jesus.
The carved door seems to show the way to the light of God.
The stage lights come on in the dark, lighting up the faces of the tikis.
These girls are getting excited, but the lights blur my photo of them.
The TV crew is out again and this is the lady who does the interviews, dressed in costume with feathers in her hair.
The crowd watches as the young men move toward the stage with their painted faces.
Tonight we got seats by the corner of stage left and we watch as the dancers parade by to the back of the stage.
The drummers are at stage right tonight, ready to start the beat. Notice the reflection on the vests of the rescue squad/firemen (volunteers from several islands).
Wearing leaves, shells and feathers, the ladies head to the stage. That fiber bra does not look too comfortable. ;-)
The first set of girls are making their moves.
This is the Ua Poa troup and they brought a wood carved tiki to dance with as well.
The young man in the red cover was telling a story about this tiki. I so wish we understood the Marquesan language, but remember this is not for tourists, this is for them!
After the story the men show up with sticks of fire!
Dancing with fire!
They chant and swing the fire around. I stuck in this video because it makes a huge difference when you can see the moves and hear the chant!
The fire now in the background, the men still hoop it up. Have you noticed the next group is sitting in the front row to watch them?
Yikes, there are some buff dudes in there!
Now the girls join them.
Same buff dudes front and center!
Video of the Ua Poa war chant.
The finale with everyone on stage together.
Next group on stage is Ua Huka also from the Northern group.
The men have their faces painted black to look like beards (although we did not see one real one)
The girls are seated in front of the men singing their hearts out, video.
Their bodies start to glisten from the sweat.
Here they wiggle their knees back and forth and slap their thighs.
The guy in the middle is running around throwing his fist in the air chanting.
He is not looking at us, but this is a better photo of him.
They are now all on stage and the pretty one in the pink is front and center.
Last group of the night is Hiva Oa, dressed in black.
This guy is playing a shaman and using his big leaf to get his point across.
The king and queen enter the stage. This is that same amazing big guy I remember from the earlier feast, now dressed in yellow.
His presence is overwhelming as he shouts his call.
And tells his story.
The girls are dressed in the Marquesan colors red, yellow and white with those same big leaves to accentuate their dance moves.
These costumes look a bit more comfortable.
And the leaves hanging from their hips accentuate the swinging!
The man in all black is leading the next dance.
Knee knock, thigh slap.
I knew you wanted to see those hips swing and yes some are better than others in this video.
Head stud warrior with black cover and big pointy necklace.
Ladies in red.
The one gal in black leads the ladies and she has a big tattoo on her leg.
Video of singing, thigh slapping and hip swinging!
The girl in black still commands the stage at the final dance.
I really wish I could tell you more, but it was just impressive getting caught up in the energy of all the people. Glad I was not an intruder to these islands in the 1700s!!
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