BEHIND THE SCENES OF MISS TAHITI: BECOMING THE MYTH

The Miss Tahiti adventure started in 1960 with the election of the very first Miss Tahiti, Teura Bauwens. As French Polynesia prepares to elect its 51st beauty queen during one of the most important events in Tahiti on June 24th, I wanted to know what it takes to embody the exotic and mystic visions of the first explorers.

Make-up

The Miss Tahiti Committee was kind enough to let me follow the 16 candidates to the 2011 title behind the scenes of the preparations. Between dance rehearsals, photo shoots, filmmaking, make-up sessions... I got an insight into the way these young girls live their dream of becoming the beauty queen of our islands. In a month, one of these 16 uniquely beautiful girls will bear the title of the most beautiful girl in Tahiti and her islands and will go off to participate to Miss France while her two runners-up will go to take part to pageants such as Miss Earth.

Styling

Today the Miss Tahiti Committee has finally revealed the names and faces of the 16 beauties who will attempt to charm the public and jury on the night of June 24th. I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming Miss Tahiti so I can only imagine the rush of emotions they will experience that night. But is the pageant really all about magic, dream and glamour... is being Miss Tahiti only skin deep?

Photoshoots and filming

There is also a whole preparation and production leading up to the 2 or so hours that the election will last and nobody has any idea, if not previous contestants. During their preparation, they will discover the real meaning behind the crown and the title; they will learn the legacy and the long standing ideals it represents. Beauty, glamour but also generosity, strength, character, education, humility…these are but a few of the values they will come to embrace and attributes they will have to demonstrate.

Team bonding

I will not reveal what the committee has planned for their public on the night of the election but I can say that this year Miss Tahiti is getting a makeover and the theme they have chosen for the evening, “The Dream”, will hopefully answer the promise of inviting us in a trance between beauty and tradition. So save-the-date: June 24th at Toa'ta!

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" Eleanor Roosevelt

Many thanks to the Miss Tahiti Committee and contestants, Orama NOBLE (make up artist) and Matahi VAIRAA (photographer).


Note: All photos are blogger's own. 

DELOFFRE, A TRIBUTE TO THE BEAUTY OF POLYNESIAN WOMEN

photo @ Christian Durocher / Tahiti Presse

As I was reading about Gauguin, Brel, James Norman Hall and the many other artists who have contributed to the creation of the myth of a forgotten paradise I thought about today's artists who have come to Tahiti & her islands searching for their share of the legend. I realized that most of these artists are the witnesses of today's Tahiti, they are the Gauguins and Jacques Brels of the future. Tomorrow, history will recount that they built the myth, that they created the legend. 

on a bed of hibiscus 

Laureen

One of the artists who have captured my attention is Christian DELOFFRE. I have never had the pleasure of meeting him but I secretly dream that someday I will model for him... Indeed, I believe that, one day, Deloffre will be referred to as one of the 21st century artists who have cultivated the myth of the vahine. He who paints timeless Tahitian women draped in pareos in languid positions has two obsessions:  nudes and Polynesian women's hair.

photo @ Deloffre artblog

Rarahu

Today, Deloffre is one of Tahiti's main artist. He exhibits at the Reva Reva gallery in Papeete, so if you are in town, do not miss it, you will embark on a voyage through sensuality, rich colors and simple beauty.

photo @ Christian Durocher / Tahiti Presse - Christian Deloffre during one of his exhibitions

photo @ Deloffre artblog

BECOMING TAHITI'S BEAUTY QUEEN: FROM MYTH TO REALITY

"Polynesian beauties" - postcard from the 1940s

As I was on my way to the election of Miss Moorea (no, not as one of the contestants, as a member of the jury), I couldn't help but ponder once again on the mythical beauty of Polynesian women. 

That night, we, members of the jury were to decide which of the 6 young girls who have entered the contest would represent her island at the Miss Tahiti beauty pageant on June 22nd.

  

Mareva Georges, Miss Tahiti 1990, Miss france 1991, 9th runner up at Miss Universe 

I wonder if these girls who dream of becoming Miss Tahiti know that they will also become an icon of beauty. As the myth has survived until this day, it falls upon them to uphold the reputation of Polynesian women throughout the world. They too must be a figure of timeless beauty, a living representation of the myth. Tall lissom and delicate creatures with golden skin and long black hair cascading down their back, "strangely beautiful...a mixed race of Polynesian and white ancestry and the result is absolute perfection" (A. Sylvain).

Photo has been cut (shows nudity) @ Adolphe Sylvain

It is a great responsibility to be the face of your country, it is an even greater one to have to sustain a myth and compete with images of Paul Gauguin or the mutiny of the Bounty. As national beauty pageants may appear frivolous and useless to most, I believe that in a country which has built its reputation partly on the mythical beauty of its women, the choice must be made with great care. Indeed, our beauty queen now also partakes in international beauty pageants, so she is, more than ever, an ambassador of our islands.

Has there even been greater ambassador for Tahiti than the stunning Tarita Teriipaia who stole Marlon Brando's heart?

So is Beauty really all that is expected from a beauty queen…?

It is actually not that simple (and you thought anyone could do it !). First, there are the criteria set by the committee (height, age, etc.), pretty basic. Then there are the juging criteria and that’s an entire new game plan because you soon realize that even the most beautiful candidate might end up not getting the title. Huh ??? Well yes, being beautiful is one thing but Polynesian women are also renown for their smile, their prestance, their warmth…a combination of ingredients that will, in the end, seduce the jury and the people. 

As the face of our islands, she must be beautiful but also she must be someone the people will love and admire, a woman who will make every woman of the world wonder about Polynesian women's beauty secrets and every man dream of discovering a Paradise populated with beauties wearing flowers in their hair and shell garlands around their necks. 

She must epitomize our beauty and our values. A captivating, timeless, enchanting and unattainable beauty.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: PURE BLISS IN PARADISE

@ GIE Tahiti Tourisme - Grégoire Le Bacon

As I contemplate this photograph, I am transported into Charles Baudelaire's poem, Invitation to the voyage...and more precisely to one of my favorites quotes:

"There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure."

This photograph is a testimony of modern Tahitian women's beauty and it inspires serenity... Breathe in and enjoy this the peacefulness and luxury of a moment of pure relaxation.

The Beauty of Tahitian women...myth or reality?

Tahiti Tourisme @ Tim McKenna

In my post about Mono'i, I mentioned the myth of the vahine (woman in Tahitian). As Tahiti and her islands have long relied on the myth associated with the destination in the popular imagination to attract visitors, I ponder on one of its greatest myths: the vahine. For centuries, westerners have contributed to the myth of the beautiful, uninhibited, sensual, bewitching exotic creatures, relating encounters with free-loving women shedding their clothes in welcome. 

Two Tahitian Women, Paul Gauguin

Was it the myth of the beautiful Tahitian women that drew Paul Gauguin to Tahiti and her islands in the late 19th century or did Gauguin create the myth of a forgotten paradise where women are mysterious, beautiful and timeless? What most people are unaware of is that by the time Gauguin arrived in Tahiti, the French had thoroughly colonized and christianized the islands and women no longer walked around half naked, but wore missionary gowns.

@ Adolphe Sylvain

Photographer Adolphe Sylvain's black and white images are both a tribute to Tahitian women's spell binding sensuality and a testimony of their actual beauty and allure. Marlon Brando, the rebel lover himself, succumbed to the beauty of the mesmerizing Tarita Teriipaia during the making of the film Mutiny on the Bounty.

Marlon Brando and Tarita Teriipaia on the poster of mutiny of the Bounty

Until this day, one Tahiti and her islands' most alluring attributes remains without any doubt the myth of the vahine. In every foreigner's imagination, the Tahitian woman has long raven hair and soft golden skin. If the beauty of Tahitian women is undeniable, I wonder if visitors are deluded or even disappointed when they arrive in Tahiti and discover that the pure Tahitian sirene is no more and, thanks to modernization and the encounter of cultures and races, has been replaced by a generation of witty, alluring yet more modern European / Chinese Tahitians. If they take the time to look closer, they will find that a discreet exotic touch remains and that, as Cook described, "their eyes, especially, are full of expression, sometimes sparkling with fire, and sometimes melting with softness". They remain mysterious and exotic with a touch of modernity and westernization. 

@gregnagel.net 

Poster of Miss Tahiti 2010 featuring Puahinano Bonno, Miss Tahiti 2009

The legendary vahine survived civilization and the Tahitians take pride in the beauty of the girls of the south seas. Their beauty is celebrated every year as the Polynesian population searches for its beauty queen. The now 51 year old Miss Tahiti beauty pageant is the opportunity for one of the most beautiful girls of Tahiti and her islands to become the ambassador of Tahitian beauty and grace.

What do YOU think? Is the beauty of Tahitian women a myth or reality?