Easter Sunday Mass and Dance of Thanksgiving, Yap, Micronesia

Dance is an important mode of cultural expression in Yap, and has been incorporated into worship at Easter and Christmas. This dance of thanksgiving has been developed to convey what's sacred and deep about the Christian story. It was recorded in 2018 and is shared here, outside Yap, for the first time.

Thanks to Rev. Cuthbert Yiftheg and Elizabeth Ribilayan for the translation.

Learn more at https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/...

Westerners, among others, likely have to abandon almost all of their assumptions about what dance is about if they want to understand what it means to Yapese. In Yap, dance is not about breaking free from social norms. It is not about self-expression, romance or sexual expression. Nor is it a form of entertainment. Quite the contrary, it is a school for learning, expressing and reinforcing traditional values. Dance occurs on important days, and articulates the values and relations of the community. In a culture where men and women in romantic relationships do not express their affection in public, traditionally there are few frivolous or romantic occasions for dancing.

The women dancers wear grass skirts, garlands made from flowers and leaves, and rub their bodies in coconut oil and turmeric. For women to be topless, as they dance and in one sub-parish serve at the altar for the Christmas and Easter dances, is not an expression of sexuality or a source of anxiety for the predominantly Catholic population of Yap. Toplessness is the norm for women and men at special occasions like Yap Day, or at public and Catholic school graduations. In daily life, it was the norm until the 1970s, and although it is less common now for younger women, it is not unusual on the streets and among congregants at Mass.

This video is part of Catholics & Cultures, an initiative of the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.