On Friday 23rd September, the Breens Kapa Haka rōpū and Pasifika group performed at the Waimairi-iri Kāhui Ako Cultural Festival. It was a great opportunity to see all of the hard work these tauira have put into their practices throughout the year, and both groups were Bold and Brave in front of a public audience.

Kapa Haka adapted well to a smaller stage and were strong in both their actions and vocals, and the Pasifika group were as beautiful as their new uniforms. For Kapa Haka, it was also a great trial run for the Tūhono competition next term, and we hope to have more opportunities for both groups to perform again later in the year.

Here is what some of the tauira had to say:

Harley - It was good. I liked it. It was good to do the Breens haka because I’ve always wanted to do the Breens haka and I didn’t mess up, so it was really good. Pasifika was amazing and great and everyone gave it a go. Some people had trouble in practice but were awesome on stage, so that was cool.

Kobe - The Kapa Haka performance was good, even if the stage was a bit small. It’s hard to pick a highlight, I enjoyed the whole thing so much.

Olive - It was great as my first performance with the group. It was so nice to see everyone confident with themselves and looking great.

Iris - I was surprised with how well we did and how well everyone came together as a group.

Diamond - It was interesting to see so many people and watch the different performances. I think everyone did really well and it was all really good.

Cialla - It was really fun to have the opportunity to perform and inspire the little kids who were there to do Kapa Haka and Pasifika, and to try hard and tūwhitia te hopo (feel the fear {and do it anyway}).

Isaak - I think most of us did a lot better than we usually do in practice, opening their mouths more, stronger actions, and great facial expressions. I enjoyed having fun with friends.

Tiaki - I’m pleased with how I performed the haka and how everyone else performed.

Juliette - It was really good seeing the smaller children doing different cultural performances. The highlight for me was that it was the first performance that we’ve done as a full group, and it was really good to be on stage in front of an audience.

Grant Cattermole - Kapa Haka Supporting Teacher