The Dance of Tahiti by Jane Freeman Moulin

The Dance of Tahiti by Jane Freeman Moulin. 1979.

July is one of my favorite months because it is Tahitian dance month. Well, at least it is in Tahiti where the annual Heive I Tahiti takes place. Kinda of the Olympics of Tahitian dance. Over the years I would try to figure out how I can watch as much of it online as possible. Things have gotten easier with youtube and now I follow a French Polynesian tv station on Instagram so I got to see clips all month.

My love of Tahitian dance was like all the things Polynesian that I am interested in, slow and evolving over the years. According to family lore, we went to Disneyworld when I was young (5?) and they said I could pick anything at the gift shop. I had a deep love of mice so they figured I would pick something Mickey. Well I picked a hula doll. I have no idea why. I was not the type of girl who ever, every wanted to play with dolls (except Barbie). I still recall what she looked like and seeing her at the store but then I no memory of ever seeing it again. Did my family go back and exchange it? I have no clue.

Then we had a trip to Oahu and Maui when I was in like 6th grade to slowly stoke the fires. But more recent (well 2002) they were offering Tahitian dance at my YMCA on Friday nights. I went and it was great. My teacher I later realized actually had her own Tahitian dance group and was kinda using the Y as a paid practice space. She even brought in live drummers. I loved the music and the drumming. I wasn't very good but didn't care.  She later told me about the annual Tahitian Dance festival in San Jose, the Tahiti Fete. My husband and I went every 4th of July holiday since I think 2003 for years. Then they sometimes moved it to Hilo and we fell of going. I went this year and got to see...the Tahitian Dance group who I use to be in perform at the Fete.

Sadly, my YMCA class ended and I was left without a class for a few years. Then one night while walking to get some food I heard the sound of the pahu (sharkskin drum) coming from a Russian Ballet studio. I peered thru the blinds and saw a bunch of girls in pareaus Tahitian dancing. It took me a few more months to figure out who this group was and then I emailed them and asked if I could join and told them of my "experience". They let me in and I had much to learn. We did 1 hour of hula and 1 hour of ori and aparima (both Tahitian dancing). I stayed with them for 3 years and even performed twice on stage at the Palace of Fine Arts. I made some friends and learned a lot. I then had to leave the group because I switched jobs and can't make it to their Wednesday night practices anymore. I still go to their events and was thrilled to see them at the San Jose Fete.

But this is suppose to be a book review so let me get back to that. When I started collecting for the Bibliotiki I always had a focus on Tahiti but I never could find books about Tahitian Dance. I did eventually find this book online for like a $100. I am cheap so that wasn't going to happen. Then years ago we went to a musty bookstore on Oahu and I saw it behind the counter for $20. What a steal! To my knowledge there isn't really any other definitive book on the topic. The book was published in 1979 and the author started her research there in 1973 and stayed for 3 1/2 years. She wound up dancing with many of the groups and formed a touring group.

Despite owning this book for like 6 years I didn't read it until now. Kinda wish I read it when I was in my dance group. It shed a lot of light on why we were doing certain things and terminology used.

She covers the history of Tahitian Dance (which is actually called Ori Tahiti my kumu would like you to know), breaks down the dance types, instruments and costumes. By the early 1820's the Church was outlawing traditional dance. It would continue in secret (just like the Hula). But in the 1950's Madeleine Mou'a formed the first professional dance group on the islands. It took some time but it finally regained its place in the culture.

The costume chapter was interesting especially since I got to make a little of my costume when I was in my dance show. Nothing like the photo below, more just braiding leaves. These skirts are called more and are natural fibers and dyed with natural dyes.



She talks about all the rules surrounding the annual Heiva I Tahiti competition. No man made materials allowed, dancers have to dance entering and exiting the stage, the size of the group and etc.

She does seem saddened by how the dance has changed a bit to accommodate hotel shows. But overall I think the book holds it own in 2017.

She even has diagrams of the movements for men and women.



And it has a lot of nice group shots.



Sometimes these groups can have around 70 dancers and it is totally choreographed.

The book also helped me understand my South Pacific record collection (over on the Phonotiki) better. I also focus on music from Tahiti and now I realize I have many albums from many of the mover and shakers of the late 1960's-1970's who were keeping the dance alive (Coco!). I also learned a little more terminology of certain dance styles that are on the Lps.

Have a look at some videos here and Full Videos  here.

And if you want to find out where you can see and learn Tahitian Dance click here.

Dr. Jane Freeman Moulin is a Professor of Music at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is currently working on a book about Tahitian music.

Tahitian-English Dictionary

Tahitian- English / English-Tahitian Dictionary published by Leonard Clairmont.

I had been looking for an Tahitian Dictionary for a few years and this one just fell into my lap. A friend who I buy many of my Polynesian records from just gave it to me, but he was unaware of my quest for it.

This is a very slim volume and by no means comprehensive. I assume it was aimed at the tourist to Tahiti in the 1960's but probably not super useful.







The table of contents covers the basics


It does have some nice photos though




And does include some phrases you might need.



And now I can say toilet in Tahitian! Fare iti

White Savages in the South Seas by Mel Kernahan

White Savages in the South Seas by Mel Kernahan. 1995

In my readings over the last few years about the South Pacific, I kept seeing references to this book. Some were dismissive of it and after reading it I can only surmise they don't like their idyllic view of islanders busted.

I greatly enjoyed this book. And since I like to focus on woman writes of South Pacific literature I found Mel to be quite the character. The first paragraph on the back of this book pretty much sums it up: 

White Savages in the South Seas is a book about Polynesia after the cruise ship has sailed, the jet has flown off into the sunset and the maitai curtain has dropped on a dream that was more performance than reality.

She has been visiting Polynesia since her first trip in 1959 and the book covers to 1992, which is a pivotal time period of change in that region due to the impact from the west. Before you had easier air travel, the amount of visitors wasn't so great. But then it all changed...

She starts off in Tahiti, going to the very first strip show in 1966. Apparently it was not a success.  You might think the book will just be a laugh but she quickly moves on to politics and nuclear testing that the French did in the islands. She does then lighten it up a bit with a story about Susy No Pants and dancing at the infamous Quinn's bar in Tahiti. I am always curious to hear about Quinn's since it is mentioned in many books and I have some LP's that were recorded there. It sounds like a total dive and kinda wonderful.

The middle of the book contains a depressing story of when Mel is back in California and stumbles upon a local spot visited by Tahitians who have moved here. Including one young girl whose island was pretty much destroyed by the nuclear testing by the French and her misery of having no home.

I was enjoying the book and then it really gripped me once she got the Cook Islands. I went to the Cook Islands on my honeymoon many years ago and always have an interested in them. Even though she was writing about the Cooks about 10 years before I went there, it brought back a lot of memories of what the islands were like especially with her part about staying on Aitutaki.

She has a chapter where she takes her dream boat ride on a cargo ship to another island. And then is sick as a dog due to a massive storm and seasickness. It is called "Damn you Robert Dean Frisbie". RDF is a legend in Polynesian literature which includes the infamous story of him tying his children to a coconut tree in a hurricane on an island in the Cooks. I too have a dream of taking a cargo ship to around to the island but now realize I would probably wind up like her, heaving over the side of the boat.

I will leave you with a quote from the book that really rang true for me and also would for those who love the "paradise" version of the South Pacific but know it isn't real. 

'Damn you, Robert Dean Frisbie', I say aloud, ' and all the rest of your motley crew of misfit dream spinners, including you, James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff; Beatrice Grimshaw and Frederick O'Brien; damn you Robert Louis Stevenson and W. Somerset Maugham - I wish I loved you less'...

 'Damn you for making such a glory out of unrequited love. Damn your  loneliness, damn your pain. Damn your longing, damn your books, your words, your sirens' words - which can be the only mates of people like us who yearn to belong to an image of the South Seas...'

Tahiti Holiday by Sydney Gorham Babson

Tahiti Holiday by Sydney Gorham Babson. 1943

I picked this up at the wonderful Powell's City of Books in Portland a few years ago on my first trip to Portland. I recall being overwhelmed by the breathe of titles they had in the Polynesian literature section. I guess my judgement must of been clouded that I choose this book. I know I also bought a book about headhunting as well, hopefully that title will prove a little more interesting.

My main problem with this book is, only about 1/3rd of it is about Tahiti. The rest of the book is about Bali and then a random collection of the author poems.

Poems.

Poems, despite having a best friend who is a poetess I have never been very keen on poetry. I blame too many Voodoo donuts on this choice.

It was signed so maybe that swayed my purchasing decision as well.



The part of the book that does deal with Tahiti was fine, if I bit emotionless. The author went to Tahiti in 1938, the first part is written a diary style format so we get a day by day account. He leaves from Pago Pago then to Fiji. Gets stuck in Fiji for awhile waiting for his next boat. Then goes to Tonga which he enjoyed more then Fiji. Next up is Samoa and then he finally makes it to Tahiti.

Now the book goes from diary format to just travelogue. He seems to have your usual visit to Tahiti in the 1930's, goes to Quinns, gets the hots for a local girl, swims in Loti's pool, briefly meets Zane Grey but misses meeting James Norman Hall.

He does make it to Moorea but the excitement of Papeete calls him back to Tahiti. He did get to meeting Charles Nordhoff but had nothing to say about it except they shared a lemonade.

The few decorations by Dorothy Goodwin Blodgett are nice.



Then it goes into his poetry inspired by his trip. He has a little more emotion over the local lady he had the hots for but that was about it.

Then the book goes into Bali and Java where there is much written about topless ladies. I did enjoy the illustration of the man with a huge leaf on his back as a rain coat.



And then we get about 50 pages of poetry that has nothing to do with Polynesia, Bali or Java.

Can't say this is my favorite idem in the Bibliotiki. Since space is getting tight, it might be going away.

I did look up the author and did find some interesting tidbits. Copied from this site. 

Sydney Gorham Babson born 1882 at Brooklyn, NY; died 11 Jan 1975 at Hood River, OR at age 92.

He was graduated After graduating from Princeton in 1902 he worked for a time in New York City with Sinclair & Babson, wholesalers of Portland Cement, and then with the Vulcanite Portland Cement Company. Sydney and his brother Rea then moved to Oregon where they cleared the forest in the newly-settled Upper Hood River Valley. They planted one of the first commercial apple and pear orchards in the area. Sydney devoted his life with single-minded purpose to these orchards for over 60 years. In 1960 he was named "Orchardist of the Year."

 Sydney was also a writer. Among the books he authored were Tahiti Holiday, Green Wave of Mexico, and Complete Poems. His poem Verdun was published in the New York Times of 29 March 1917.

Well, next time I have an apple in Portland I will think of him.

Planter's Punch by Margaret Curtis

Planter's Punch by Margaret Curtis. 1962  

I fear I will not be able to do justice to this fascinating woman's biography. I had never heard of Margaret Curtis, but I was at the Friend's of The Library Book Sale last year and the flowers on the spine of this book caught my eye. I had hoped the title was a reference to the tiki drink that is one of my favorites.  When I read the flyleaf and it mentioned "Tahiti" and "Nordhoff and Hall" I knew I was in.

I fear I might overuse the phrase "truth is stranger then fiction" on the Bibliotiki but gosh darn it, it IS! Pretty much the entire time of reading the account of this womans' life I was bowled over from how interesting and varied it was.

Any short period of her life would be a lifetime for others: "World famous opera singer." "Lived and ran a coconut plantation on Tahiti." "Spent time in an Italian jail" "Had a harrowing escape from Europe during WWII."

I mean COME ON!?!?! Where people just more interesting in the old days?





Plus look at her! Is that the face of someone who stole her husband away from the best Tahitian dancer on the island named Tetua. Apparently it is.

I finished this book about 2 months ago and have been trying to do some research on Margaret to add to my review and have just been coming up short.  I did find a clipping from December 28, 1913 New York Time's that mentioned she sang. Her stage name was Marguerite Valdi.

Sadly, since I waited so long to write this up I realized I have forgotten many wonderful things that happened in this book. As I flip thru it now, it takes me back to when I was reading it and how unbelievable I thought it was.

Here is just a brief outline of her life: She was born in Birmingham, England. Her father was a newspaper writer but due to his poor health they had to move to Australia. There it was discovered she could sing and studied with Nellie Melba, a famous Australian Soprano. Thru the magic of Google, I found out that Nellie is a character on Downton Abbey so there is a tidbit for you fans. Ok back to Margaret. She then went to study music in Paris, got famous, traveled the world, married a rich older  man, got tossed in an Italian jail, husband then died, bought a ticket to a ship traveling overseas, met and married husband #2 who owned a plantation on Tahiti, volunteered to help during WWII, had to quickly escape Europe, husband #2 accidentally dies, moves to San Francisco where she threw elaborate Tahitian themed parties. Phew. That is just the barest of outlines. You need to read the book if you want to fill in the details.

There are many copies of the book available online and many of them signed. My copy came with this card from the publisher so I am assuming mine was a review copy. Sadly, I can't even find Margaret's  birth or death date. If anyone has any info about Margaret, please email me. I am going to keep looking.

In closing, you can buy this book online for around $13 and I guarantee it will be a exciting, fun read. Or maybe you will luck out and find it at your library book sale.

Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz

Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz, 2007.

I came across this title in a University of Hawai'i Press catalog and was interested since it is a contemporary novel by an Tahitian author. I had read the Breadfruit trilogy years ago which is also by female Tahitian author but these books couldn't be more different.

Island is a doomed loved story that is highly critical of the French government and their nuclear testing. If you are looking for an armchair travel book about French Polynesia with their happy, nice locals and fun adventures, this is not for you.

In the Bibliotiki I don't just want to read 1930's travel journals by white men who go to Tahiti and fall in love with the beautiful local ladies. I want the full picture and sometimes that means the cold, hard reality of modern Polynesia and the history that got them there.

The book is translated from Tahitian and written in a more lyrical style that seems true to the Tahitian way of storytelling. It covers a few generations of a family and their frustrations, some from certain family members being of Tahitian-European decent and how that affects their lives. The book contains a story about a Tahitian-European man falling in love with a French woman on his island, who is there working for the government to build the first nuclear facility in French Polynesian. Talk about doomed love.

The book is translated by Jean Anderson and I think is the the only translated work by this author. From what I can gather from google translated websites from French, she seems to be a very passionate person about her culture in the modern world. I think this novel has many biographical elements to it, which makes it even more interesting.

I highly recommend this novel for those wanting a different view of the magic of Polynesia. If anyone has any suggestions of other contemporary others to check out, please feel free to leave a comment.

Nurse on Paradise Isle by Nell Marr Dean

Nurse on Paradise Isle by Nell Marr Dean, 1967.

Since my last book was by a female missionary, I thought I needed something a little more spicy. So I picked this book. Have I mentioned that I have a love of the pocket sized paperback? I think my love started at a young age with many visits to the local paperback exchange, the Book Rack (which now I see is sadly closed). I picked up all the hits there, A Clockwork Orange, New Stories from the Twilight Zone, Monkees go Mod..

The premise is a young nurse takes at job on a remote island in French Polynesia to run a hospital for the employees who are building a luxury hotel. She falls for the macho fella who is in charge of the project but there is competition from a local beauty.

Sounds pretty spicy right? Turns out, not so much. It wound up being a meditation on malpractice lawsuits  against doctors. Yawn. It made me realize that perhaps I don't need to keep every book that is in the Bibliotiki. Though I do like the cover. 

In researching the book I saw that the author was quite prolific in the romance genre. She wrote a lot books about nurses but she actually worked as a librarian. Now if this book was called Librarian on Paradise Isle, I'd be sold. She could have a card catalog in the outrigger.

One bonus with vintage paperbacks is you often get a list of other titles they publish. I might need to find Hounds of Hell and Agents of Chaos.

Well, it was nice to read some fiction from my collection, just wish it had a little more substance but that is par for the course with a 50 cent pocket paperback I guess.

Tupaia: Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator by Joan Druett

Tupaia: Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator by Joan Druett 2011

This book is why I prefer to read non-fiction, because you just can't make this stuff up. This book brings to life a Tahitian who is largely forgotten in the history of early South Pacific exploration but actually made a huge impact.

The large amount of research shines thru in this book but doesn't weight it down. I actually found the book quite humorous, though usually at the expense of the ignorant Europeans.

I am amazed at what she pulled together of early Tahitian life since they had no written record.

In a nutshell, Captain Cook's first voyage goes to Tahiti where they offer Tupaia a ride to Europe. Along the way he pretty much keeps the local Maoris and Aborigines from killing them. And sadly, he dies a painful death in Indonesia/Batavia. I always find it so tragic that these boats will make it thru cannibal infested waters of Melanesia but then so many people die in the malaria and cholera wasteland that was the Dutch owned Indonesia of the 1800's.

Tupaia was a master navigator, high priest, artist, politician and translator. The cover of the book depicts one of his watercolors from the trip and he also drew a famous map of Polynesia.

I just wonder if the Maori's minds where blown when he showed up and they could communicate. It is very telling that their legends speak of Tupaia rather then Captain Cook.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in exploration of that area, it is a quick read and not too long either.

Breadfruit Trilogy by Celestine Vaite

Breadfruit by Celestine Vaite. 2000

Frangipani by Celestine Vaite. 2004

Tiare in Bloom by Celestine Vaite. 2006

We were on vacation in Australia when I saw Breadfruit at a local bookstore. I came back home and interlibrary loaned it since it wasn't published in the US yet. The author is Tahitian and you don't see many women Tahitian authors who wind up with a successful book trilogy. Sadly, I can't seem to find anything new the author has been working on and her website link doesn't work anymore.

The books are based on Materena Mahi the family matriarch and professional cleaner. She is raising a child, trying to get her drunk boyfriend to marry her and likes to sweep a lot. I wouldn't call these "chick lit" but they are on the lighter side of fiction. It does give you a interesting window into modern Tahitian society. I probably liked the last book the best because it had more of the male character which at times was a more interesting character then Materena.

If you are a fan of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency then this is for you. Fun, light and exotic reads. Only wish the author would write something new!

If anyone has any good suggestions for contemporary modern Polynesian authors, please leave them in the comment section.

Tahiti Landfall by William Stone

Tahiti Landfall by William Stone. 1946

I found this book in the early days of the Bibliotiki and probably paid too much for it. Upon reading this Tahitian slice-o-life tale, I thought it was kind of a snooze. Mr. Stone talks about moving to Tahiti and his two live in helpers Teuru and her brother Tavae. Teuru is a teenage girl who appears topless in some of the photos included in the book. I did like that Quinn’s makes an appearance but if you are living in Tahiti in the 1940’s it better be. Eddie Lund also gets a mention.

Each chapter has a small pen and ink illustration, some nice, some unfortunate. Actually many unfortunate.

And has many cheesecake shots, er I mean photos of the natives.

Strangely, when I was trying to find out more about this book I saw that it was made into an Ester Williams movie called Pagan Love Song. The strange part is, that a day or so later I found this movie on VHS for sale at Goodwill. While the movie is not so great and doesn't follow the book that close (maybe not such a bad thing), it does have Charles Mauu, who is a famous Tahitian actor and musician. The movie also has Rita Moreno, playing a young Tahitian girl, which is just odd.

Another interesting fact, is one of the photos included in the book the adze man was also done in velvet by Leetag who was Stone’s neighbor.

From the book Leetag of Tahiti

Faery Lands of the South Seas by Nordhoff and Hall

Faery Lands of the South Seas by James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordoff. 1921

After I read Lure of Tahiti, I realized that Nordoff and Hall were a big deal in the world of South Pacific literature. I picked up Faery Lands for $15, 1st edition, no dust jacket at a local bookstore. Being cheap, $15 is about as much as I will spend but I liked the cover and wanted to read something by the fellows.

This is the first book they wrote together and in a future post I will review their Bounty trilogy, which is really what they are known for.

It starts with the authors in Paris at the end of World War I, dreaming of going to the south pacific. Somehow they made this happen because the book skips right into them about to make landfall on the island of Tahiti. At that point the authors went their separate ways but had made plans to rendezvous at a distant date.

One thing that is totally charming about this book are the illustrations throughout it. The one called Landfall precedes

different sections of the book.

Also included in the book are about 29 sketches in the book that really give you that island feel.

I am also a sucker for when you get a little illustration at the beginning of each chapter.

Content wise, some of the stories were really great and some kind of a snooze. The stories that Hall wrote I liked a little better. This book is great example of classic south pacific stories, though. If you want to read it immediately (and see more of the illustrations, but not the sketches) you can read it on Google Books. Or perhaps you would like to listen to it, well you can do that here.

If you want to learn more about James Norman Hall, click on the official site about him. One day I will make it to Tahiti for visit his museum.

And lastly, do you have a spare $17,500.00? If so then you can buy the whole collection of their books here. If anyone wants to buy it for me, I will write you a very nice thank you note!

Lure of Tahiti by A. Grove Day

The Lure of Tahiti : An Armchair Companion Edited by A. Grove Day 1986

I found this at the used book store down the street (marked down 3 times to $4!). This was one of my earlier finds for my South Pacific Literature collection and would prove to yield much bounty.

This book introduced me to the world of Mutual Publishing based in Honolulu which is still in business and very active. It is nice to see when you are on vacation in Hawaii you can pick up some of their titles at the local store or gift shops. It is an inexpensive way to introduce people to Hawaiian/Polynesian culture, since most of their book are paperback.

The Lure of Tahiti is broken into 4 sections: The Sojourners, The Travelers, The Missionaries and The Explorers. Each section has a story by a different author. It includes some heavy hitters of Tahitian fiction like James Norman Hall and W. Somerset Maugham. But also has some historical accounts by William Blight and Louis Antoine de Bougainville.

My favorite thing about these compilation books by Mutual, is that before each new story they give you a little background on each author. The other good thing about comps, if you aren't into the story you can skip to the next one.

Overall, it is a good collection and a great introduction (list price $5.95 from Mutual, still in print) if you want to get a taste of some classic Tahitian focused stories.