East and Central Hub Cultural Festival
St James Senior School Kapa Haka group started the Cultural Festival by singing Wairua Tapu, a waiata related to Te Atua, a hymn to God. This was an enthusiastic group of performers who had been practising hard all term with their tutors Sonny and Tui. St James then sang Ka Poioi, a waiata which speaks about going back home to be with your people. St James then finished with an impressive Haka - Ake-Rautangi.
Next up was St Anne’s, whose kapa haka leadership group performed Tokorima Taotao. The group has been practising together for almost two terms and have been led by Hazel Garbes of Kāi Tahu, who is a teacher at St Annes. The waiata acknowledges the five primary hapū of Kāi Tahu.
Following this there was a Siva Samoa performance. This Siva Samoa is about coming together and giving praise and thanks to God. Ateliana Tiatia, a teacher at St Annes, has led this group to learn this song “Siva Laia”.
Finally St Anne’s performed a new school ‘aka. It is a mix of an ‘aka which is a Cook Island version of a Haka and a Pe’e. This ‘aka was written for St Anne’s by their tumuaki Dallas Wichman of the vaka of Puaikura, and Hazel Garbes of Kāi Tahu. The ‘aka speaks about the voyage of migration from the pacific to this land. It speaks of the courage that must have been needed to make this voyage, and the stars and signs needed to help navigation.
The next performers were from St Mary’s School. They started with their whole senior ‘Arataki’ team singing He hōnore. He Hōnore is a waiata written by Taina Piripi Ngarimu and its meaning is honour and glory to God.
Then their boy’s group performed a fa'ataupati (Samoan slap dance), which is said to have evolved from the moves involved in slapping away mosquitoes. This was taught to them by Aoraki Siataga, a former Shirley Boys High student. This was followed by a Siva ‘Siva tatou’ from an all girls group. ‘Siva Tatau’ tells the story of two sisters from Samoa who swam across the ocean to Fiji and learned of the art of tattooing on the women there, they swam back to Samoa and shared the knowledge of what they learned and this is how and when Samoans learnt about and began to get tattoos.
Lastly, St Mary’s finished off with a mixed performance of a fan dance called a Carinosa (pronounced ka-rin-new-sa) dance. It is from the Philippines. Carinosa in English literally means ‘loving or affectionate one’. This ‘romantic’ Philippines dance originated in Panay island and is supposed to be heavily influenced by the Hispanic culture. Female performers usually hold a fan and the male a handkerchief during the performance.
St Mary’s gave a big thank you to Zandra Ahjay Maepu who has helped a lot with learning about the Samoan culture, traditions and movements and also Tino Tuilagi who donated all of the costumes for the Siva girls performances.
The final group to perform were the Year 7 and 8 students from Catholic Cathedral College. They started with Te Iwi E, followed by the Samoan siva. Their finale was a lovely Waray Waray, a Filipino courtship dance. They then closed the cultural festival with an impressive haka.
This cultural festival was a fantastic afternoon of entertainment and a great way to connect all of our schools by celebrating our different cultures. Lots of happiness and joy was shared by all.
You can see our performance here:
