Burning down the house
Burning down the house
Posted 3 years ago
Sila Eli likes to play with fire.
Eli, who besides doing missionary work in the Medicine Hat area is also a village chief from the island of Samoa, spun and tossed a club lit at both ends as he performed the fire dance at the Polynesian cultural night at the Quality Hotel Saturday night.
?You can feel it, but it doesn?t burn you,? he said of the dance. At one point, he passes the club underneath his back while lying on the floor and holds it aloft on his feet, but Eli says he?s immune to the heat.
?I grew up with it,? he said.
Despite performing the dance for years, Eli admits to being rusty, something that was evident Saturday night when he dropped the club a few times. ?It?s really slow tonight because I?m getting old,? he said. ?My team was laughing at me because I?m getting slow now.?
The dance traditionally happens in wartime, Eli explained.
?It?s a war club,? he said. ?When (the fighters) come back victoriously, they light the fire and they dance in front of the chiefs to celebrate victory.?
Eli?s dance capped a night of traditional island dances performed on Saturday by the Medicine Hat-based New Wave group and the local Polynesian dance troupe, the Rotuma Pua Mana Polynesian Dance Association.
?It?s to celebrate our culture and showcase what our kids have been learning,? said Saverina Peters, co-ordinator of the Polynesian night and instructor of the Rotuma Pua Mana group.
About 500 people came to the fifth annual event, which featured two hours of dances from Pacific islands like Rotuma, Samoa and Hawaii.
?They tell a story with their hands,? Peters said of the Tahitian dances. ?Most of the dances are talking about the beauty of the island, the beauty of the sunset and how much they love the island.?
Peters estimates there are about 10 Polynesian families in Fort McMurray, most of whom are from Rotuma, which is near Fiji. It wasn?t just Polynesians at the cultural night on Saturday, however.
In fact, Peters said the event is so popular outside the Polynesian community that a second group, South Seas, will be holding another cultural night on May 11. ?This community has such a big demand (for these events) that one night is not enough,? said Peters.
