Kapa Haka on Fiafia Night For Me Was Sooo.....

   With our school senior kapa haka group first to perform, the beginning of our 2013 School Fiafia night was about to start. All my nerves were crashing in my stomach like rough waves colliding against humongous old rocks.
   Awaiting on the side of the stage, I turn my head towards the crowd and at that moment I wanted to run away. Imagine yourself standing all confident and then you look out to about 2-4000 people. Now how would you feel? well I felt like the worlds smallest thing compared to that humongous crowd. 

  "Now can we all give a big hand to the senior kapahaka group. Take it away guys"(or something like that), the host Mr Burt announced. Striding on to the stage, all my nerves and butterflies slowly escaped my stomach. Its like the moment went from agony to ecstasy. The first chords of the guitars strums just click me into kapaz mode. All our practises built up to this one performance.

   I was singing my little heart away and then all you know is our first waiata is almost finished. "O te motu, tena ra koutou nga iwi o te motu hei ha!", we finish our first song with. "Hope(translation: ho pe", I call as the kaea, (Leader).

  " A tenea wheua!", the other kaeas call starting off the girls haka. While they're saying that I'm saying to myself in my head, "HAKA HARD, HAKA HARD!!!" At the start of the haka I forgot most of my action but who cares about actions so I said to my self, "Kia care". All I wanted to do was go hard and... HAKA HARD!!, which I did. Mostly because hakas mainly about the kupu. "KIA U TONU NGA TIKANGA TUKU IHO, AUE HI HA HI!!!" I bellow giving it my all.

  It was then all the actions came to me. "Arai hia ra nga tama tane kia puru, kia puru ai I aha ha!" "I'll put a pukana here and a pukana there", I say in my head as bellowing the haka. As the wahine haka finished it felt my breath was taken away from me after screaming and yelling the haka with all my strength and heart. Luckily us girls got a brake while the boys did their haka.

"Tahi rua toru", I count in my head. "HI!" , and the boys finished their haka off strongly and with kaha. (As usual). It was time for our entry song for the junior kapa. While we finished the first first bit of the song we start the second bit and the cute little ones walk on stage singing along. While the young bucks did their thing we stayed on stage to give them company.

  "Tahi rua toru wha PUKANA!!!",  We all ended with. What a performance. That is one I'll never forget. Man Whatta Night it was.

What I Love!!!

 
   Every practice we get more confident and stronger. Kapa haka is one of my favourite things to do at school. On Mondays with Whaea Sophie and Whaea Raewyn and on Fridays with Miss Tito. I started loving it when I was 10.
 
   My mum found out about a kapa haka group that started at our marae,(Tumutumuwhenua), in Orakei. When I found out, I wanted to go. But not alone, so I pulled my friend Kaycee into it. Ending up at kapa haka every Wednesday afternoon, I would get our waiata, (songs), stuck in my head for the rest of the night. It was annoying but it all paid off. why? Well because after weeks of practice we went down to Ngarawahia for Koroneihana.

   Koroneihana is a celebration for the Maori King. By the way Koroneihana means Coronation. After performing in front of everybody down there and watching other groups, my confidence in kapa haka gained a lot. And I mean A LOT!! It went from performing with my cousins from Orakei to being a Kaea at the age of 11 for our prize giving opening.

   Ever since prize giving  I've all ways wanted to be in kapa haka and plus my Te reo Maori has gained a lot to. I'm picking in Maori language a lot. When I grow up I would like to be a Kaea of an international Kapa Haka group. This is where my passion and love goes to.