Most of the big hotels offer "Tribal Dance Evenings", cashing in on Sarawak's primitive, headhunting past. Young Dyaks from several different riverine tribes perform some very exciting -- and certainly athletic -- dance routines to the accompaniment of an ethnic orchestra. Some of the dances entail the use of carved wooden spears and shields and portray both hunting and war-time deeds, some of which appear fairly violent. I'd say the closest thing I've seen to this kind of performance was the show at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu (Hawaii).

In terms of performance levels, I was quite impressed. These young men and women were both talented as well as enthusiastic. They really appeared to be enjoying themselves, which is often not the case in such milieus. I've seen some appallingly desultory dancing in places like Mexico and India, which was enough to put me off going to such affairs for years. This time, thanks to the encouragement of a Malaysian antique dealer I met in a shop who assured me that it was something I shouldn't miss, I went. In retrospect, I'm very happy I did.