Dance Officer 2018

By late autumn, Keoua has emptied her basket of rain and so she must return to heaven to fill it again.  With his favorite playmate having gone home, the mighty river rests and his dancing waters settle into quiet lagoons.  For many in the Upland Villages, this is a lazy time, a period of tranquility before the busy doings and solemn observances of the winter season. 

In a scant few weeks, however, a series of important festivals will take place.  The first of these, Kaikeoua, or “asking Keoua,” is essentially a plea from the People to the Daughter of Father Sky.  Its centerpiece is a grand community dance whose purpose is to thank Keoua for the gift of rain and to remind her that all the land awaits her return.  As the first Great Dance of the new year, it also marks the official debut of the village’s junior dance officers.  These young people have been in training for the previous half-decade and for them, the next few weeks will be no lazy time.

Alanioua has been practicing hard, for she will be leading an entire wing in concert with three veterans.  Her job is to direct the dancers by means of her painted dance wand, which she must wield with flawless poise and precision.  Naturally, she is scared silly, but Shaman has reminded her that while the body may stumble, a true heart is ever perfect before the gods.

Pithy aphorisms can provide only so much comfort, so Shaman has also prescribed a little magic to help Alanioua feel more confident:  “The smooth stone is lovelier than the rough one, for it has learned grace by dancing with the river.  Go then and wade in his waters, for the river, with his beautiful white feathers, was dancing before our first parents could walk.”   And so, gamely donning her regalia, Alanioua has gone to the river to receive his wisdom.  As she repeatedly executes the complex set of ritual attitudes that make up her part of the Great Dance, she slowly, but surely begins to feel better about the prospect ahead.  She smiles with the knowledge that she has won the river’s blessing and the good fortune that comes with it.  Surely this will be a great dance indeed.