Local kapa haka groups sharpen up for nationals
When national kapa haka competitions begin in Wellington tomorrow the best group from our Aotea Region will be first to step on to the stage, at 8.40am.
The group, Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana, have won every Aotea Region competition since 2008.
Also competing from this region are Whanganui group Te Matapihi and Taranaki group Nga Purapura o Te Taihauauru.
They are among 46 groups to perform in front of 60,000 fans in the two-yearly kapa haka nationals, which run until Sunday.
Te Reanga’s 50 performers have been polishing their bracket, says their male leader, Te Taepa Kameta.
Their female leader is Te Oranga Tamou, and young people have some different roles this year.
“This time around we have not so much tutors but we have given leadership roles to younger members, as a means to the succession of the team,” Kameta said.
He and Tema He mi composed the bracket Te Reanga will perform.
One of its themes is the longstanding link between the Ratana
This time . . . we have given leadership roles to younger members. Te Taepa Kameta Te Reanga male leader
movement and the Labour Party — cemented at present by Ratana descendant Adrian Rurawhe’s seat in Parliament. It’s also pertinent, given the competition is in Wellington and Labour leads the Government.
The other theme is a perennial for Te Reanga — “expounding the Gospel, the word of God the way that Ratana does it,” Kameta said.
If the group do well, they’ll perform again on Sunday among the competition’s nine finalists.
All the Aotea Region teams perform tomorrow. Te Reanga are up first, with Nga Purapura in the third time slot and Te Matapihi sixth.
The teams can be watched live online at maoritelevision.com, or on a TV set tuned to Maori Television.