Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua
National Secondary School Kapa Haka Competition
2-6 July
The Secondary School National Kapa Haka Competition is the second biggest Māori event in the country after Te Matatini. The 42 top groups from all over the country, who have qualified in their own regions to compete at the national competition. Only 5 groups qualify from the 3 South Island regions and sometimes only 3 or 4 actually make it to the national competition. This was the fourth time that we have competed at this level.
The benefit of the aspects of culture that you learn, te reo Māori, cultural understanding, whakapapa, history, stories, whakataukī, tikanga, and kawa is immeasurable. The skills that you learn, teamwork, perserverance, confidence, coordination, leadership, teaching, facilitation, critical thinking, time management, punctuality, and mental resilience help to embolden you in your life.
Te Tū - The Performance
By far the best performance that HWK has put on stage yet. Everyone stepped up and performed their hearts out. They all came off the stage absolutely buzzing. We were well received by our whānau and community and have had lots of good feedback from other notables in the kapa haka arena, i.e. Kingi Kiriona and members of Te Whānau a Apanui.
We placed 26th out of 42. Our goal in 2016 was to be the top placed South Island team. We placed 39 out of 39 that year. This year our goal was just to put on the best performance we possibly could. Having built again on the input and confidence from the regional competition in 2017, this team took ownership of the material and the movement and in the end that shone through in their performance.
You can watch the performance here: 'HWK Nationals Performance'
The Team
Kaitātaki
Tūmai Cassidy - As expected rose to the occasion and put on a stellar performance, the team lifted underneath him and he shone in his role as kaitātaki.
Makanihi Kitiseni - Performed and lead with strength and composure, she commanded a high level of perfomance and the girls rose superbly to meet her.
Te Kapa
The strength and confidence in the team was palpable, the experience of the year 12s and 13s who had performed on the national stage before mixed with the energy and enthusiasm of the first time nationals performers meant we lifted to put on our strongest performance yet.
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