The Tarawa East Stake held their annual "Dancing Festival" at Moroni High School on June 3, 2012.  Eight of the wards in the stake performed traditional dances, all except for the North Tarawa Ward which is on a different island, which made it difficult to get members to the festival.  The performances by each ward were outstanding.  Each dance lasted from 6 to 12 minutes and each dance was quite complex with the different movements involved. and in rhythm.  The included singing, chanting, slapping,  clapping, hand and foot movement all in unison's.  It was truly impressive

The costumes were all made of native materials from the lava lavas to the grass skirts, head bands (garlands), necklaces,  Many of the young women had some type of white powder on their face.  Kiribati dancing is different from most Pacific Island dances you see at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The men do not smile, because they are saving all their energy to complete the dance, which does require much stamina.

The senior couples were among the honored guests, so we sat on the front row and were able to video tape each dance.  To begin the performance a preliminary dance was performed by a group of ladies and as they finish the dance, they came to where the guests were and placed the floral garlands they were wearing on the heads to each of the honored guests.

Elder and Sister Thorne wear the floral garland given them as part of the opening dance

Welcome Banner

Observations by Sister Thorne

The people participating were from about 10 or 11 years old up to grayed haired grandmas and grandpas.  Some wore a hula type grass skirt.  Men wore what looked like a woven floor mat wrapped around their waist and tied with colored cords.  When they slapped their hands to their sides, it made an interesting muted sound. The flowers were amazing.  They of course, wore the flower leis.  There was so much more.  The men wore flowers tied on their arms.   Most people had a circle of flowers, a garland, that fit on the head like a crown.  They had streamers made out of leaves tied on their fingers so when they danced that streamer flipped every which way.  The weaving was very interesting.  They might only use one petal from a flower as the back row.  The middle row would be a small flower, and then a bright colored smaller flower in the front row all woven together in an intricate way. This made up the garland to go around the head.  They presented all the couple missionaries a garland.  Mine was white, yellow then red.  They were so beautiful.  The palms leaves are used in so many ways.  They strip them into thin streamers and put them around the neck for a necklace.  They use them in skirts.  I can't remember all the ways, but my palm tree out front of our apartment contributed a lot to the decor of the dancers.

The different wards would make an original entrance to the center of the performance area.  They would come out one ward at a time to do their dance and exited in an original dance step.  Most of the people would chant and sing.  I'm not sure chanting is the right term, but maybe I could say a chanting song.  It was all in their native language. The men sang in their normal low voices.  The women would sing in a high shrill voice that sounded really good.  I wish I could be more accurate in my descriptions. There would be a row of men and boys doing the actual dance.  

Each Pacific Island had their own style of dancing, and we were seeing Kiribati's.  For the dance, the dancers never smiled because tradition said they saved their energy for the dance.  They would do a precision dance all exactly together.  The dance reminded me of what warriors would do.  I can't describe it.  Their arms were doing most of the movement.  The kept in step in moving in different positions.  I don't know what to say because I have nothing to compare it to, but it was fantastic.  I wish you could have seen it. Brent recorded it, but I don't know how to send it.  I don't even know if the recording is very good since this took place during the evening.

Preliminary Preparations  

Performers from the various wards arrived in all kinds of vehicles including trucks.  Many of traditional dress is made of local materials from trees and and other flora grown locally and needs to be prepared the day of the performance.  Many ladies came early to make leaf skirts, head dress and other parts of the traditional wardrobe.  So things were very busy on campus for a few hours prior to the festival. 

Dancers and their families arrived in cars, commercial transports, and trucks

Final minute preparations for the festival

A mother with her young child weaving her skirt in preparation  for the dance.  

The women behind her are making the colorful floral wreaths worn on the 

heads of the dancers.  These are some of the traditional skills learned by the

I-Kiribati women.  Most of the clothes purchased in Kiribati are second-hand 

clothing so some of the T-shirts worn by the sisters are interesting.  At the 

Relief Society Dance Festival a few months ago, one of the sisters dancing

on the front row had a T-Shirt that said: "24 work days a month, 24 cans of

beer in a case, Coincidence?  It did draw lots of smiles from some of us.

Ladies making floral skirts and head wreaths prior to their performance

Young man in native dress getting ready for his ward's dance performance.
His lava lava is made from coconut ponds that are tightly woven and then
pounded with a wooden mallet, similar to making ta pa clothe. He has the 
traditional banner and is holding his head piece in this hand.  The cordage
wrapped around his lava lava is also braided using coconut leafs

Men marching onto the basketball court to perform a traditional dance

Some of the wards including Moroni practiced morning and evening for several weeks.  The Moroni students would start each day with a swim in the ocean at 4:30 am to wake themselves up.  It is also part of the customs for some of the traditional dances.  Each morning as they exited the ocean they walked right next to our house and down our stairs to the basketball court where they practiced.  As they walked past our house, they didn't whisper, so if you weren't awake at 4:30 am, you soon were as you heard their loud talking and laughing.   But it was fun to see their enthusiasm and dedication as they practiced for the festival.

As they began their practice each morning and evening we could hear them chanting, singing, clapping and slapping their thighs as they practiced their dances.  Also loud whistles were blown to help them with the different dance parts.  It was fun to watch and hear them each morning, but it is also good to sleep in a little longer, now the practices are over for the year. 

The Moroni East Stake Dancing Festival

This group from the Eita 2nd Ward marched with military like precision.   Even while sitting waiting to perform, they sat erect as if at "parade rest" (military term).  Not once did we see a smile on any of the faces of the men during the three hour long program.  Their performances were very impressive.  The ladies entered from the opposite end of the court.  It was obvious they had spent many many hours practicing.  The ward take the competition was very seriously and practice for weeks in preparation to dance each year.

Some sisters exiting the court after finishing their performance

Each ward had from 50 to over 100 people in their performances.  All ages were represented from young boys and girls to older men and women

Each dance tells a traditional story of Kiribati and there are intricate hand and arm motions involved.  It was good to see some of the oral traditions and culture being preserved among the Saints of the Tarawa Stake.  The position of the hands and arm motion can symbolize fish swimming, and birds in flight as well as other imagery in telling traditional stories through dance.

This Branch won the competition, their performances were spectacular.  It rained during the early part of the festival but they kept on dancing, while many of us ran for umbrellas for our spouses

Nearly every ward had at least six or more dancers in the attire shown in this photo

Each dance usually had two to three men or ladies who would shouting out short commands

Hand and arms are used to tell the story

Exiting after their performance

The performers came in all ages and sizes, but each knew their parts very well.  If this young man takes his future Priesthood responsibilities and school work as serious as learning and performing this complex dance routine, he will do very well in life.

Each ward was assigned a position around the court to sit while waiting their turn to perform.
So they entered and existed from many different directions

Entering and existing the performance is also an important part of the dance and was done with precision row by row

Some of the performers had ribbons and streamers tied around their arms and wrists to tell the story of the traditional dances

As part of this dance these ladies tied the woven lava lava on the men
during the performance as if in preparation for the men to go into battle.

The men make loud slapping noise as they hit their lava lava and also they clapped their hands and stomped their feet during each performance

This is the winning team showing straight rows and precision in their dances.  Judging includes precision of movements and how close the performances are to original traditional dances

During the first dance the men were out front of the performance with the women behind.  During the second dance the women were up front with the men behind

As it got darker, the photos are not as clear

While those up front perform the other dancers both men and women sit and sing

Each wards dress was different and unique, and lots of work went into preparing their costumes for the dances

Even though this ward placed last in the competition, their performance was wonderful and they were all winners for our point of view

Moroni High School Students performing, they had the largest group number wise and spend weeks practicing both morning and evening.  Even though they took 5th place we were all very proud of their work, effort and performance

The dancers from Moroni Ward were all students at Moroni High School and they took the dance very seriously and did an outstanding job.  We were all very proud of their performance

After the first performance by each ward, the honored guest were fed.  It is always somewhat embarrassing to being treated like royalty, while all the performers and the rest of the audience sit and visit while you eat.  There were two visiting missionary couples:  Elder and Sister Badger from the mission office in Majuro, Marshall Islands and Elder and Sister Finday who are here in preparation for an immunization clinic for the children next month.  The Finday's served at Moroni High school as missionaries 15 years ago and were very excited to return.

These three people had the most difficult job of the evening - Selecting the traditional dance winners.  They ranked the wards from last place to first place.  After the judging the announcer told the score and the placement (last to first) of each ward

Sisters performing their traditional dances with arm and hand motion and hips swayed similar to the hula

During the second dance performance the women were up front and the featured dancers, note the streamers tied to their arms and wrists telling a traditional story about Kiribati

Close up of one of the ward sisters traditional dress

Traditional dance wear for men is shown

Men sitting while beating on the large wooden box platform used as the drum while others perform.  The leader standing up put on quite a show as he moved around and gave commands to the performers who would respond with clapping, chanting, and drumming.  The wooden box used for a drum is made of plywood and is about 6 x 8 feet in a rectangular shape.   The drum beat helps the dancers keep rhythm as they perform

As the women perform the men are sitting around a large wooden platform that is used for a drum to keep rhythm as they sing and chant while the women dance

The winning team is from a branch that is now large enough to be made into a ward, which should soon occur

Men sitting beating the drum while the women enter the stage to perform up front

Many of the performers were in very close proximity to the guests and judges as part of the dance.  It was a very enjoyable evening and the performers all cheered and supported each other