Nuku Hiva, 7-1-2017--Festival month

By David

Last evening we attended the festivities at the community center, along with a couple dozen other sailors.  We still don't have a handle on what is being celebrated but it was an amazing evening.  The stock answer to our inquiries is simply "July is festival month".

During the past several weeks a large, maybe 150' square, building has been erected to seat the festival goers.  It's connected to the community center dance floor and both are highly decorated in palm fronds, decorations of woven palm leaves, colorful banners, etc.  

Kevin, of Yacht Services, had reserved a long table of all of us.  Once plied with drinks and food, we sat back to watch the performances, which were an eclectic mix of choosing the child prince and princess for the festival month, followed by a traditional Marquesan drum and dance performance.  The prince/princess competition consisted of 3 or 4 competitors of each gender, striking their most alluring poses in front of a panel of judges.  It was a surprisingly entertaining show for sailors and locals alike.  

The real show of the evening though was the traditional Marquesan dance performance.  By any measure, it was the most powerful dance performance we'd ever seen.  The troupe of 6 men and 6 women was accompanied by half a dozen native drums.  The huge room and everything in it pulsated with the deafening staccato beat of the drums.  The dancing, especially the men's, was unbelievably energetic, their chests heaving with the effort and shiny with sweat.  We could only imagine what an utterly intimidating scene it would have presented to an enemy tribe back in the day.

The high energy, high testosterone men's performance contrasted with women's more sensual pulsations. 

Even this morning, the sounds and sight of it all continue to echo in our minds. 

Finally, and I bring this up not because it relates directly to the festival, but because it's an interesting aspect of Marquesand culture.  Transgender people make up a small but significant portion of the Marquesan population.  Interestingly, the most attractive woman in the audience last evening was transgender.  

For more on this fascinating topic, here's an interview that may be of interest (note that we haven't been able to see it here, due to the slow internet):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKVCcIbYsvo&feature=youtu.be

(If that link doesn't work, try a search for "The Dutch Seaman: Episode 35, Transgender in the Marquesas")

A festive table of sailors.
The table, and in fact the whole room, would soon be filled to overflowing.

A beguiling princess competitor whose entire costume was made from flowers.

Two of the Marquesan dance troupe.  Skull Crotch in particular was super high energy. His energy and passion made a lasting impression on everyone.

A titillating vahine beckons the men.

... and is answered by Skull Crotch

Then the vahine ends with the bird dance.