Don't try this at home

Don't try this at home

I finally got to see the act that everybody’s been talking about. The Narasirato Pan Pipers of the Solomon Islands did their “formal” show at the Orange Court during lunchtime on Saturday under an overcast sky and in front of lively, good-sized crowd. By formal we mean they wore their native duds, which nevertheless looked improvised for modesty’s sake. Very happy to be here, they danced and piped and sang with enough energy to light the festival ground, though they still seem to have a way to go before they master stage protocol.

The leader/emcee kept asking “Are you still with me?”, as if he were afraid people would be texting duing the show, though I’m sure he was simply acknowledging that he was with us. His English was spoken so fast that even I didn’t understand half of what he said, so I’m sure the Japanese audience didn’t know what he was saying, but they responded positively in the appropriate places. So I’m fairly certain the songs about “the politics” and “social leadership” went over their heads as well. The only line I could make out from the former song was “Don’t tell me what to do tomorrow.”

But all this verbal communication was unnecessary because the non-verbal communication was crystal clear in both directions. The music rocked (I would actually characterize it as pop) and so did the bodies on stage: how those guys can pipe and dance like that simultaneously is beyond me. And during the mandatory singalong segment, the crowd did better than could be reasonably expected considering how difficult it was. And the mud fishing dance was a trip.

photo: Koya