Polynesian tango

Every February Easter Island hosts the Tapati Festival, consisting of numerous Polynesian cultural performances and competitions. It's Easter Island's single biggest tourist draw (en route, we noticed the festival schedule and brochure were placed in our airline seat pockets). Luckily we had made our hotel reservations last July: almost every room on the island was booked for the month.

Competitions (surfing, turtle races etc) were held during the day, but in keeping with Hanga Roa's semi-nocturnal lifestyle, dances and performances didn't take place until well after 10pm. I fought my latenight exhaustion and wandered down to the fairgrounds on two separate nights. The main stage was decked out in classic Polynesian kitch (and anyone who knows me, knows I'm a complete sucker for Polynesian kitch). Looking very Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos, the two emcees arrived with great fanfare. Imelda was decked out in a glowing chartreuse mumu and feather boa; Ferdinand wore a classic tropical combo of white slacks/hawaiian shirt with a massive feather headdress. Throughout the night they addressed the exuberant crowd first in Rapanui, then in Spanish. A few cursory sentences in English were offered to those of us gringos in attendance.

It was impressive seeing dozens of people on stage, drumming clapping and stomping, performing variations of the Hakka in perfect synchronization. It was also interesting seeing the degree to which South American music had influenced the local culture: the island-wide tango competition(!) was a big deal to the locals. The dancers' moves were formal/traditional tango, and though the music's tempo and rhythm were perfect for the tango-dancing couples, the instrumentation (guitar etc) was explicitly Hawaiian. Islanders had also adopted the bandoneon; this accordion-like instrument gave a strange zydeco feel to many of the dances and musical numbers.