WWF Coral Triangle Blog  
© WWF-Canon / Jürgen Freund

Enuk Sing-Sing at Lissenung Island Resort, New Ireland, PNG

Share this page
 

9 & 20 June 2010

S2 39.879 E150 43.960 – Lissenung Island Resort

The strong culture of Papua New Guinea shines through during a sing-sing – a gathering of performers from a village who sing and dance to show off their ethnicity and their traditional rituals. It is powerful, as all earthy performances are and we have been so fortunate to see two performances from Enuk Village where all the local Lissenung Island Resort staff comes from.

A young boy from Enuk backstage, getting ready for a group performanceJacob from Enuk waits while the rest are getting ready for the group performance

Tame Punan, who runs a banana boat ferry service, leads a small group from Enuk Village whenever there are enough guests from Lisseunung Island Resort to merit a traditional sing-sing. He is a strong force with the kids and like the pied piper, has young boys jumping to his cue.

Tame applies lime powder on to the face of one of his performers backstageTame applies lime powder onto the face of Elias

Sing-sing of Laklakau in their own Tigak language is performed as a celebration. Laklakau is celebrated by a village in many occasions: during the end of a school year; when they have a certain thanksgiving; or when an important person comes to visit their village like, for example, their governor. Everyone since childhood learns the songs for Laklakau and the corresponding dance that goes with it.

The grand entrance starts with a blow on the big triton shell and everybody sings and walks towards the guestsThe grand entrance started with a blow on the big triton shell and everybody sang and walked towards the guests

In bright red sarongs, brilliant green leaves and the kids with head gears, their look was simply stunning. The drums – one made of animal skin and the others made of bamboo, were the accompanying musical instruments to their voices.  The children’s headgear or kangal were carved birds decorated with bird feathers. For the performance in Lissenung, they sang and danced 10 songs for everyone to enjoy. A sample two songs were the Mekaul or the paddling dance, and the Manga-manga, the parrot dance. Here are the brilliant performers from Enuk Village.

Tame leading the group of eight boysTame leading the group of eight boys The lead boy who had the loudest voiceLot, the lead boy who had the loudest voice (L-R Bradley, Lot & Anson) As he was the lead boy who was always in front, he had the most pictures!As Lot was the lead boy who was always in front, he had the most pictures! These eight boys make a striking image with their look, their voices and their dance These eight boys made a striking image with their look, their voices and their dance The one who was least shy among the boys was Peter, the son of Lissenung staff Damarisk and SinuasThe one who was least shy among the boys was Philip Robert, the son of Lissenung staff Damaris and Sinivas This shows that Philip Robert has a good time performingThis shows that Philip has a good time performing The camera loves a smiling face!And another one . . . just because the camera loves a smiling face! And the finale is the group pictureAnd the finale is the group picture And an earlier performance with the performers and the guests and hosts of Lissenung Island Resort with good 'ol Panda!A group portrait during an earlier show with the performers, the guests, the hosts of Lissenung Island Resort, Shrek the Eclectus Parrot, Missy the dog and good ‘ol Panda!

If you want to keep updated with our new expedition blog entries, please sign up to our RSS feed by clicking here or clicking on the “Subscribe to this blog!link at the top right of this page.

And to look up past entries, go all the way down and click into << older posts.  Or go to the Archives on the upper right column of this page.

Related posts


Comments