* Islands Business Exclusive
"The meke, performed only by men and held in high regard by the villagers, is called: 'Maravu Levu', which literally translates to mean: 'The Great Calm', but in the context of this dance is the name of a so-called 'waqa ni meke' or 'the ship that carries dances'"
by Dionisia Tabureguci
Thu, 5 Oct 2006
SUVA, FIJI ---- Spectators at the official opening night of the 3rd Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival were treated to a rare performance of an over 70 year old meke (dance) by an 80-member group from Nakelo village in the province of Tailevu, central Viti Levu.
The meke, performed only by men and held in high regard by the villagers, is called: “Maravu Levu”, which literally translates to mean: “The Great Calm”, but in the context of this dance is the name of a so-called “waqa ni meke” or “the ship that carries dances”.
The dance is of historic significance which the village elders recall as being the meke composed and performed initially for the Duke of Gloucester, the late Prince Henry William , when he visited Fiji in the 1930s.
...Nakelo men performing 'Maravu Levu'.
Village elder Necani Mate is a grandson of one of the composers and explained that this meke is significant because it was composed with the help of the “other side” or the spirit world, at a time when all of Fiji had supposedly subscribed to Christianity.
“The Duke of Gloucester was the first member of the Royal Family (of Great Britain) to set foot on our shores and while all the preparations were being made, the one thing missing was a meke. The governor sought the assistance of the then Vunivalu and Tui Kaba, Ratu Popi Seniloli, to help find a meke for the entertainment of the Duke of Gloucester.” The title of Vunivalu and Tui Kaba are conferred to the high chiefs of Bau island, traditionally the seat of power over the province of Tailevu. The bearers of the titles commanded great respect from areas in Fiji that had political alliances with the islet in pre-Christianity Fiji. This link is still acknowledged today.
“Ratu Popi decided to ask the Tui Nakelo (high chief of Nakelo) for a meke and this was how it became a task during my grandfather’s time for a meke to be composed to entertain the visiting royalty,” said Mate.
He said the composers had run out of ideas so they decided to ask the spirit world for guidance. To achieve this, they performed a sacred ritual to the “other side” which resulted in the “sighting” of the “Maravu Levu”, a seven-decked ship in the Ocean of the Spirit World that supposedly carries “all the dances in the world”. “The captain of the ship told our elders that the ship had run out of dances and the only one left was the dance that tells the story about the ship itself. And this was how this meke made its way into this world,” Mate related.
The unique thing about this dance, he added, was that it could not be performed by people from other parts of the country as the choreography of movements is very complex and is only known by its Nakelo guardians.
“Other areas work on body movements. This meke works on feet movements.
One wrong move and the dancers could be clubbing each other instead,” Mate winked.
...village elder Necani Mate.
The actual performance, said the village elder, is supposed to reflect every aspect of the ship as it sails through the waters of the Spirit World and this was the reason why there are seven traditional dance accessories being used by the seven subgroups of dancers where each subgroup represents a part of the vessel.
Mate said a “full-strength” dance would have to feature 1200-men as this would enable a “reconstruction” of Maravu Levu in its entirety. But this, he stressed, has never been witnessed by anyone as it has never been performed before.
“The one that was danced for the Duke of Gloucester was made up of 800-men and even that has not been repeated because there are not enough people. I must say that the complete set of seven major movements have never been performed before.”
Mate said if the Maravu Levu was performed in its entirety, it would take over an hour.
---
NOTE: This article was published on Islands Business on-line (www.islandsbusiness.com) as: "Nakelo Men revive old meke.”
Date of on-line edition: Thursday October 5, 2006.
***
"The meke, performed only by men and held in high regard by the villagers, is called: 'Maravu Levu', which literally translates to mean: 'The Great Calm', but in the context of this dance is the name of a so-called 'waqa ni meke' or 'the ship that carries dances'"
by Dionisia Tabureguci
Thu, 5 Oct 2006
SUVA, FIJI ---- Spectators at the official opening night of the 3rd Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival were treated to a rare performance of an over 70 year old meke (dance) by an 80-member group from Nakelo village in the province of Tailevu, central Viti Levu.
The meke, performed only by men and held in high regard by the villagers, is called: “Maravu Levu”, which literally translates to mean: “The Great Calm”, but in the context of this dance is the name of a so-called “waqa ni meke” or “the ship that carries dances”.
The dance is of historic significance which the village elders recall as being the meke composed and performed initially for the Duke of Gloucester, the late Prince Henry William , when he visited Fiji in the 1930s.
...Nakelo men performing 'Maravu Levu'.Village elder Necani Mate is a grandson of one of the composers and explained that this meke is significant because it was composed with the help of the “other side” or the spirit world, at a time when all of Fiji had supposedly subscribed to Christianity.
“The Duke of Gloucester was the first member of the Royal Family (of Great Britain) to set foot on our shores and while all the preparations were being made, the one thing missing was a meke. The governor sought the assistance of the then Vunivalu and Tui Kaba, Ratu Popi Seniloli, to help find a meke for the entertainment of the Duke of Gloucester.” The title of Vunivalu and Tui Kaba are conferred to the high chiefs of Bau island, traditionally the seat of power over the province of Tailevu. The bearers of the titles commanded great respect from areas in Fiji that had political alliances with the islet in pre-Christianity Fiji. This link is still acknowledged today.
“Ratu Popi decided to ask the Tui Nakelo (high chief of Nakelo) for a meke and this was how it became a task during my grandfather’s time for a meke to be composed to entertain the visiting royalty,” said Mate.
He said the composers had run out of ideas so they decided to ask the spirit world for guidance. To achieve this, they performed a sacred ritual to the “other side” which resulted in the “sighting” of the “Maravu Levu”, a seven-decked ship in the Ocean of the Spirit World that supposedly carries “all the dances in the world”. “The captain of the ship told our elders that the ship had run out of dances and the only one left was the dance that tells the story about the ship itself. And this was how this meke made its way into this world,” Mate related.
The unique thing about this dance, he added, was that it could not be performed by people from other parts of the country as the choreography of movements is very complex and is only known by its Nakelo guardians.
“Other areas work on body movements. This meke works on feet movements.
One wrong move and the dancers could be clubbing each other instead,” Mate winked.
...village elder Necani Mate.
The actual performance, said the village elder, is supposed to reflect every aspect of the ship as it sails through the waters of the Spirit World and this was the reason why there are seven traditional dance accessories being used by the seven subgroups of dancers where each subgroup represents a part of the vessel.
Mate said a “full-strength” dance would have to feature 1200-men as this would enable a “reconstruction” of Maravu Levu in its entirety. But this, he stressed, has never been witnessed by anyone as it has never been performed before.
“The one that was danced for the Duke of Gloucester was made up of 800-men and even that has not been repeated because there are not enough people. I must say that the complete set of seven major movements have never been performed before.”
Mate said if the Maravu Levu was performed in its entirety, it would take over an hour.
---
NOTE: This article was published on Islands Business on-line (www.islandsbusiness.com) as: "Nakelo Men revive old meke.”
Date of on-line edition: Thursday October 5, 2006.
***
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