King’s gets it right with kapa haka
When I see a school like King’s College performing at the National Secondary Schools Kapa Haka competition, it gives me a good feeling.
To me it shows our Maori culture is now the norm, not the exception.
It’s the same whenever I attend a First XV schoolboy clash.
The challenge of opposing school’s haka – where the rugby team is backed up by their colleagues – is spine-tingling.
Watching King’s College take on Auckland Grammar is quite a pre-match experience.
I get the same feeling when the All Blacks or the Kiwis perform the haka.
I mention King’s College because my son attended the decile 10 Auckland school a few years ago.
I didn’t send him there because I could afford to – far from it in actual fact – but he went there to obtain the type of education and contacts our kids need in the world today.
Anyway King’s were exceptional at the nationals as were all the kura on display.
Kapa haka is alive and well and to see groups modernising traditional song and dance adds a new dimension to performances.
I overheard the live streaming of the event in the office during that time and I also heard a pop song melody that had been translated to Maori which was very cool.
That type of thing happens all the time now.
Composers are regularly interpreting contemporary songs into their presentations.
And kapa haka groups will also sing about issues of the day impacting on youth, politics, really anything of any interest in today’s society is presented on the stage.
Groups also like to challenge some of our traditionalists.
The Hato Paora boys from Palmerston North caused an uproar earlier this year with their use of the poi.
Some veterans and experts of haka were horrified by what the boys did and they very nearly didn’t get their opportunity to perform at the nationals.
But thankfully common sense prevailed and the boys got their chance.
They performed well – they didn’t make the finals but they had a bit of fun with a cheeky dig at the judges and their critics.
But back to King’s. They won entry for the first time to the kapa haka nationals after finishing fourth at last year’s ASB Polyfest.
That’s no mean feat when you consider who they are up against in Tamaki Makaurau.
And from media reports of their performance, they were outstanding.
That was confirmed when they received a standing ovation from the crowd, who also performed a haka back to the school.
That’s a wonderful mark of respect for King’s College.
I’m sure it’s a moment in time the young males who stood on the stage carrying the King’s College mana will never forget.