LE BAL DU DIMANCHE AUX COCOTIERS NIGHT CLUB
Go there and contact
One of the institutions of Port Mathurin that was once open-air, a place where the generations of the island met
Once open-air, now covered, it is one of the institutions of Port Mathurin and our eternal favorite: a place where all the generations of the island, all social categories, all families, have met and continue to meet... and where to immerse oneself in the holy of holies of the local culture. One hundred percent intact and miraculously untouched by the passage of time, the place, under its village hall allure, distils a deliciously old-fashioned atmosphere. Admire the mural on the street side (fresco), cross the threshold, pay for your ticket at the counter, cross the courtyard and let yourself be absorbed by the semi-darkness of the room and the authentically offbeat atmosphere that reigns in this unlikely dance hall! In the evening, the current music takes the place of reggae or sega, and the place is rather frequented by young people who come to share a good moment of relaxation and to release themselves between friends on retro, modern or local music.
It's on Sunday afternoon that you should come, from 1pm to 5pm, when the elderly go wild on sega drum rhythms. The room is a bit stuffy, often crowded, the orchestra is on stage, the seats are made of Skaï and are placed around the central track with concrete pillars. The ladies are seated in onion rows, very elegant in their beautiful Sunday clothes: well-groomed hairstyles, chosen finery, a little compassed posture, incredible faces witnessing a life in the open air swept by the winds and the sea spray. The same concern for the dress code can be seen in most of the men: without being generalized, the suit is not rare, or at least the pants with clips, and one sometimes wears a hat, as it was still the case not so long ago... When the notes of the accordion and the drum are played, the social codes are displayed: this light hand gesture that the man sketches to invite a lady, and the waltz or mazurka that follows, cadenced, proudly accomplished, without even an exchange of words, with this simple pleasure in the eyes, and this pride in the eyes that meet the stranger's. It is the occasion to live a sincere, true, moving moment of the life of Rodrigues: this small Sunday ball where the curious travelers are welcomed as distinguished guests, invited to dance by the elders, and from which they leave as uprooted, disoriented, leaving a piece of their heart in the heat of a room at the end of the world..