The Heiva Dance Contest was an
amazing show of creativity and Polynesian tradition! There aren't words to describe 160 people dancing in near perfect unison and precision. It is like they are all connected somehow! They practice for 6 months, 2-5 nights a week and it shows! And the 20 musicians were so precise. A percussionist trio played the to'ere (a hand-made hollow rosewood instrument played with a stick), and they were so precise, it sounded like just one person playing.
And, the costumes were incredible! In the one-hour dance show, they wore 5 costumes, plus the band had its own costume, and the solo male and female dancers had another costume. The "chief", who told the story about their theme, also had multiple costumes. The costumes were so elaborate! They were all 100% natural materials including leaves, palms, ferns, flowers, feathers, shells, and tapa.
(See Photos)
Tony's favorite costume was the one where the girls were topless, with the exception of flower leis! (See Dance Video 1) Our friend and agent, Tehani, was one of the dancers and she invited me to help make one of her costumes. It was so fun learning how to weave palms and braid leaves, etc. A much needed skill I'm sure! Even the guys make their own costumes! It took 5 of us to make just one costume and then Tehani still had to put all the flowers on it the next day, just before the contest.
(See Photos Of Costume Making)
The 5,000 person stadium was sold out 10 nights in a row. The crowd was amazing as well. Most people were dressed in traditional Tahitian flowery dresses and shirts, with flower leis and flower wreaths in their hair. Every event that we've attended in Tahiti has been so nicely organized and the crowds have been so respectful, patient, etc. It always makes me feel good to be in a crowd here and I typically hate crowds!
We went to 2 dance shows and 1 practice show in the stadium. We also saw a dance show at a marae (archeological ceremonial site), which was not part of the contest, but was a special dance presentation. We saw 5 dance groups in all and they were all so fantastic! They had 2 dance groups and 3 singing groups perform in one night, so it lasted from 7:00 - 11:30, way past our bedtime! But, worth it!
The contest has very strict rules on the theme, choreography, dance (includes 4 types of dances, with 20 different dance steps), costumes, and the music, with the traditional percussion instruments including the vivo (a three-holes-bamboo nasal flute - yes they blow through their nose to play this flute! There were 10 judges who score all of these elements.
The musicians are paid for their time, but the dancers are not paid and they have to make all their costumes! It is hard to imagine. The dancers practice 2-5 nights a week for 6 months, and then spend days making their costumes - all for no pay! What a commitment! Oh, and first they have to try out to get in the dance group. Tehani had to try out with 800+ dancers to get in the group of 160 dancers. The Heiva dancing is huge here!
Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras in the stadium or the marae site. But we did go to one dance show after the contest was over and I got some good videos. (See Dance Video1) (See Dance Video 2)
More Later - G&T