Thursday night, the Austrian girls and I were given free tickets to go see the annual "Mister Yakutia" competition, in which 24 of the most beautiful male Yakutians are brought together to demonstrate their talent and beauty. It was surprisingly entertaining.
The show began with the men being paraded onto stage, shirtless with traditional Sakha peasant (slave?) pants, following a man dressed as a wealthy toyon, or Sakha noble man, drums beating in the background. They performed a short dance/ceremony for us and then each came forward and introduced himself in his language of choice--about half spoke Russian, half Sakha. Most were university students, between the ages of 18 and 24 and many did not necessarily fit what you might imagine as the stereotypical beauty contestant participant. Some were tall and thin, others short and hefty, some super fit, others a little pudgy. There were stern, stoic faces and big, silly smiles. Most were Sakha ethnicity, but there were a few Russians in there as well.
After introducing themselves, they left the stage to change clothes and we were shown film clips from the previous days' sports competitions--almost all traditional Sakha sports like wrestling, pulling a stick (two contestants sit opposite one another, holding a horizontal wooden stick and try to pull it from the other's hands), long jumping and then, hopping on one foot.
When they came back on they were dressed as soldiers in the army, marched around the stage in a few formations and then one by one came forward and showed a little dance/kung-fu like move. Some were quited talented break dancers, others just did something silly. The best thing about the evening was that they all seemed to be taking the contest light-heartedly and even making fun of themselves a bit. The next number was a costume show--they each picked some kind of costume that showed off their style and sense of self. A couple dressed as traditional Sakha warriors, others dressed in sillier outfits--like a pirate, a sad clown, a doctor, a snowboarder, etc.
Finally, the "jury" left the hall to discuss the final results of the evening. We were kept waiting an hour or more and with the anticipation building, they came back in to announce the winners. First, each of the jury members chose one man as their choice--kind of as a runner up prize. Then, the top 3 were announced. The winner ended up being a young man from one of the provinces of the Republic who studied in the institute of physical education. He was given a hunting rifle as a prize (almost all the men in Yakutia are active hunters) and the opportunity to go to Moscow to compete in the Mister Russia contest.
All in all, the whole evening was surprisingly relaxed and fun, everyone enjoying the silliness of the beauty contest. Some of the men had their support groups in the audience cheering for them, but everyone was just up there having fun.
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7 comments:
Susan--I look forward to reading your stories of life in the frigid lane. You're such a talented and descriptive writer. Back here in Virginia, schools close virtually when a forcast of snow is the only proof of the event. But you know that. Thanks for your informative and entertaining blog posts!
Eric Moody via iPhone
My odd question: Do the Yakut not have a taste for starch in their food?
what do you mean by starch in their food?
The Yakut (among a few others) have been looked at as an example of continued/continuing human evolution. People with a diet that historically has been more protein and simple sugars (like fruit) have actually been found to have fewer copies of a gene that affects the taste and digestion of starch. Those populations that developed eating grains, tubers, and other starchy foods, have more copies of the gene.
I don't know about Sakha genetics in particular, but I can tell you that at this point, they eat a lot of starch. Today potatoes are an integral part of their diet...in fact, I would say they eat potatoes almost more than anything else. And they really like them. Of course, this is a relatively recent phenomenon, I guess beginning in the 19th Century, so I can't say what it was like before then.
Oh and furthermore, in relation to Sakha genetics...I have a complicated relation with population genetics as a cultural anthropologist. I tend to think its quite difficult to isolate distinct population groups, given the extensive history of interaction. (we can talk about that at another point if you want). But for the Sakha in particular, almost everyone has Russian or Polish ancestors today due to the extensive history of interaction between Sakha and other Eastern European ethnic groups that goes back at least 350 years. This is not to mention the Koreans and Chinese who have also ended up in the region and mixed more seamlessly. The point being is that if many Sakha did at one point lack this gene, the mixing that has occurred over the centuries has likely affected the genetic make-up such that it is a relative rarity to lack the gene today. I assume.
Hi Susan,
Somehow I'm in the loop for the discussion of Sakha genes and potatoes. Speaking of vegatables today is Thanksgiving so I want to give thanks for superb descriptive writing. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Eric
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