We Yah Hani Nah Coastal First Nations Dance Festival in Vancouver, BC (Canada). Photo: Dancers of Damelahamid.
I couldn’t hold back tears as the Turanga Ararau Kapa Haka Maori group from Gisborne, New Zealand said their last thank you to the crowd. They had just finished a half an hour performance that electrified the audience and produced many kiwi cheers.
Maori Culture
A quick tour through Maori culture was shared with us through magnificent songs, Maori music, Poi, weaponry, short sticks and distinct movements. The men, representing Maori warriors, gave us their best bulging eyes and tongues (which was their way of showing us their ancestors), while the women also bulged their eyes at the audience.
The group softened up during the Maori music and songs, the women revealing absolutely stunning voices. In between each song, a member of the group would explain to us what the Maori songs meant and give us a background on their culture (as well as make me giddy: that New Zealand accent makes my knees weak!).
We Yah Hani Nah Coastal First Nations Dance Festival in Vancouver, BC (Canada). Photo: Dancers of Damelahamid.
I started Polynesian dancing when I was 2 years old and remembered many of the words the group sang. As much as I’m excited to be writing a book about dancing my way across Canada, I can’t wait to work on my second book, Dancing My Way Across the South Pacific…
We Yah Hani Nah Festival
Presenting Turanga Ararau Kapa Haka is the organizing group, Dancers of Damelahamid. They run the We Yah Hani Nah Coastal First Nations Dance Festival every year (this year it’s part of the Cultural Olympiad for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics). They performed the legends and stories of their people, Gitxsan from the Skeena River in Northwestern BC, just beforehand with “The Visitors Who Never Left.”
First Nations Dancing
And that was just the second half of the evening at Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver. The Chinook Song Catchers of Squamish/Nisga’a descent started off the night with traditional songs and drumming.
Colourful George Taylor then made a splash on the stage with his Le-La-La Dancers from Victoria. Their energetic dances are Kwakwaka’wakw and the name of their group means “Traveling from here to there.”
The Haida people were next represented by the Kwe Unglis Dancers and the signing, dancing and drumming of their Prince Rupert-based group.
Just before taking an intermission, the outstanding (and my favourite group from last year) Dakha’Khw’aan Dancers of the Tagish/Tlingit origin took the stage. They enter with a call and repeat drumming song where all of the dancers and singers descend the stage from the audience. The dancing is strikingly similar to the men’s Maori dancing, with the warrior men in their wide stances and stomping feet…
Cultural Olympiad
This year’s show far exceeded the size of last year’s festival. But the aboriginal dancing and music during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games is just beginning. George Taylor’s Le-La-La Dancers are performing a special show featuring 8 First Nations masks, called Spirit Journey: Encircling our Ancestors, from February 14-16, 2010 at Presentation House Theatre. The shows start at 8:00 pm each night.
Lori Henry is a freelance Travel, Health and Hockey writer based in Vancouver, Canada.
