Cruise Report

Feb.1st

Today we heard from Guest Educator Natty Dolaissi, a musician from the Solomon Islands who now works to preserve traditional ethnic songs of the islands, and is now well-known for his work in visiting islands and meeting with elders to hear and preserve ancient traditional songs. Since 1995 he’s also been involved in a wide range of international activities from Australia to the Pacific Ocean including the South Pacific Art Festival, and the film “Siva Pacifica: Last Voices from Heaven”.

Today was Natty’s onboard concert, where he would be singing in 7 different traditional languages, and playing a wooden drum. All the songs he performed were traditional Solomon Islands songs he had been taught by elders, including songs that “representing floating in the ocean” and “the care and love towards children.”

Many people were not sure what kind of music this meant, but once the performance started the atmosphere truly changed. It’s difficult to describe exactly what kind of music it was, other than that it was something no-one had heard before. But with Natty’s voice and the rhythmic pounding of the drums, we were transported to another world.

Natty gave us the opportunity to truly experience the places we were visiting in the South Pacific, and everyone was very happy to have this new kind of experience.