Friday, January 29, 2016

French Polynesia: Tahitian Dancers

We've gotten used to our initial shock whenever we travel somewhere less conservative than Abu Dhabi (in other words, anywhere). We experienced the same in French Polynesia whenever there was a dance show. They really don't wear much of anything. A few leaves and a small piece of cloth which is only tied together and somehow still stays on and in place. I wonder what an Emirati female, covered in black from head to toe, would make of this?

We saw 4 different cultural dance shows during the cruise. The first was a group of little kids from the island of Huihine. They were really cute and it was the first one so it was really interesting and entertaining.

The second show was another group of kids from another island who had done some touring in the US. They were pretty good, but the show was outside and it was HOT. We watched from the pool and sipped the drink of the day so it ended up more entertaining than it probably was! :)

The third show was pretty awful. Very mediocre dancers and what felt like a really lazy approach to the whole thing. One of the dances was two young dancers tying pareos in different configurations. Really? But hey, we're in Tahiti so not much to complain about, right?

The final group was the best. O Tahiti E is a professional troupe who tour all over the world in an effort to preserve and share the culture of the islands. You could immediately see that they were professionals.

Here are a few photos of the last group, O Tahiti E.

This was one of the men's dances. Lots of stomping and leg scissoring and menacing looks.

Yes, those are banana leaf bikini tops. And not one wardrobe malfunction - amazing!

This the band behind the dancers. I guess when you retire from dancing, you take up one of the instruments.

The Tahitian hula. Very graceful and pretty.

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