Vanuatu: The Rom Dance, Ambrym Island

A couple days later we had a very quick, boisterous14-mile sail from Pentecost Island to Ambrym Island, with winds gusting to 36 knots on the beam. Into Ranon Bay, which is more indent than bay, and anchored in 15 feet of water; in these black sand volcanic islands the water is so clear and we are looking at the bottom, but we can’t really “see” the bottom with it being so dark. It’s a new experience for us here in Vanuatu. Pangas went past regularly, big waves and smiles as I looked at them looking at me. A passenger/cargo ferry, which goes between the villages here just like in Southeast Alaska, drove closely by our boat, passengers waving and dancing, as we waved and danced back. I love the vibrancy of the people here.

We had arrived to Ambrym Island for the two-day Fanla Festival, an annual cultural celebration held in the kastom village of Fanla, showcasing traditional Rom dances, elaborate masks, music, storytelling, and kastom ceremonies that have been preserved for generations. There were about 15 sailboats that had gathered to witness the village’s celebrations. We had an early morning jungle hike up to the village of Fanla, where we drank coconuts and waited for the celebration to begin.

The children were “playing at” the art of sanddroing, beautiful symmetric patterns that tell cultural stories and are passed down.

I watched one particularly gifted young girl for a while, joining her sitting in the dirt as she did a few drawings with me mimicking her moves.

Then the sound of the massive tam-tam drums reverberated through the woods from the sacred ceremonial ground known as the nasara; it was time to begin. Tam-tams are traditional slit gongs carved from hollowed tree trunks that produce deep, resonant tones and have long been used across Vanuatu for ceremonies, dances, storytelling, and communicating between villages.

The men in their nambas sang and stomped a welcoming dance, the chief in the lead.

They proceeded through a series of songs, stomping, tam-tam drumming, and traditional magik tricks, the central clearing surrounded by jungle bush and massive banyon trees.

They demonstrated kava preparation, followed by a full pour tasting, very peppery, moreso than Fiji kava.

Touring through the village we walked through a gigantic banyan tree (the once present stash of human skulls having been removed) toward our snacks of fresh fruits and root vegetables. We purchased a carving from a local carver Jeffrey.

Walking back to the boat, I ran into a group of school girls and found a fellow Jennifer when I said, “Nem blong mi Jennifer” and she laughed and exclaimed, “Nem blong mi Jennifer!” then happily skipped along holding my hand until we turned off on our trail back to the boat.

The next morning, back for the second day of celebrations with the highlight being the Sacred Rom Dance. The Rom Dance, originating on Ambrym Island, is one of Vanuatu’s most sacred kastom ceremonies, featuring elaborately masked dancers who embody ancestral spirits and are closely associated with the island’s renowned traditions of black magic (sorcery) and powerful spiritual beliefs.

As the men danced in their intricate costumes, the stomping and beating of the tam-tam could be felt reverberating through the ground.

Rom dancers wear towering pointed headdresses, intricately woven masks, and full-body costumes of bark fiber, leaves, and vines that completely conceal their identities, transforming them into awe-inspiring representations of ancestral spirits.

There was also a “grading ceremony” where a man was taking the first step out of 13 toward becoming a chief, which involved payment to the Chief in both money and 4 pigs, one of which was held down and clubbed briefly before squealing off.

We felt lucky that our timing worked out to attend this annual Ambrym Festival.