LAST EDITED ON 07-31-05 AT 09:43 PM (EST)Crushers Bar, Aitutaki, as real a place to enjoy Maori dancing as you get, where huge land crabs scuttle through the sandy floor restaurant. No fancy floodlights, no raised stage, a bit dimly lit, and no feeling of separation from diners to dancers.
The show goes on below after my "intro." I'm posting a series of photos instead of my "best of show" because my goal with this particualar offering (the Cook Island series) is to give a sense of the place, the journey, in this case the show ... which to me has to be done with an array of images rather than one standout shot.
These are Maori, sons and daughters of warriors (formerly cannibals), although Christianized, and their energy is not soft, not like Hawaiian hula. The energy is fierce, pulsating, highly charged, and full of attitude.
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Then they bring in the children, wearing the same costumes as the adults (in miniature)--because all these child dancers will eventually be the adults and this is their training ground. The children aren't that sure of their moves yet, and that's part of the beauty. The kids have attitude too. They don't put on a happy face unless they feel like it, as you'll see.
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The boys are less into this than the girls! I think that one boy may prefer to become a drummer.
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After the children dance, the children come into the audience and select people to join them on the dance floor. Finally the eye-rolling boy gets into the spirit of things.
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Time for a break!
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During the break, take a walk around Crushers ... this is the outer wall!
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One of the famous humongeous land crabs that aren't at all shy about cruising through the bar ... not a place to take off your shoes ...
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Another young man finds a smile ...
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This youngster is the only one who "gets" that they are taking a bow ...
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Drive safe on your way home now! (We walked).
PS. You're probably wondering what's up with the ugly date stamp ruining the photos. It can't be edited out (that I know of), and the feature was turned on without my knowing. See, I bought my first digital cam two days before I left on this trip. I later realized it had been previously purchased and returned, probably because the memory chip that came with it was bad. Whoever bought it turned on the date stamp. I thought the date info was part of the electronic display and didn't realize it was burning into the photos.
I decided to read the camera manual on the 6 hour flight. I almost immediately went to sleep. Said manual was lost forever when I rushed off plane and left it in seat back pocket. Basically, I was on my own with figuring out my new camera and the basics seemed easy, plus I was busy, so I never got to page 4 of the Setup menu to notice the date stamp was on. I was just sick when I saw it on all my photos when I got home. And that's the truth!
But date stamp or no, I still want to share them. Kia Orana! 
ETA the link to the full resolution photos that can be viewed as a slide show.
http://community.webshots.com/album/409727417IhQDKj
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