St Margaret’s College provided an outstanding performance at the Inter-college Maori and Pasifika Concert for a packed out crowd.

On Sunday, 12 May, St Margaret’s College participated in the Inter-college Māori and Pasifika Concert. After many weeks of practice, the 13-strong group performed three items with grace and precision. Their performance was very well-received by the crowd. 

The group was co-led by Tessa Dalgety-Evans (Arts Rep) and Mee Hwa Atimalala who were very proud of the group, especially considering that the majority of the members had never done a Māori or Pasifika performance before. 

Tessa describes their performances below: 

Firstly, we performed a Samoan siva which was taught to us by Mee Hwa Atimalala who learnt it from her family dance troupe - "Palefuiono-o-Vaema-Tasalaotele". The song - "Samoa e maopoopo mai" - talks about how Samoans may travel far from the island but will always return home.

The second item we performed was E minaka ana, a waiata-ā-ringa composed by Pania Papa. E minaka ana calls us to be strong in speaking te reo to uphold the mana and wairua of te reo Māori.

Our third item we performed was the well-known waiata tira He Honore, a blessing we (Mee Hwa and I as co-leaders of the rōpū) dedicated to our group and to the St Margaret's College community.

Videos of these three performances can be viewed in the video gallery accompanying this story. Be sure to click on them; they are wonderful.

Approximately 400 people turned up to watch the performances on the evening, including students, University staff, and members of Dunedin’s Māori and Pasifika community. The evening was full of cheering, laughter, and amazing performances by 12 colleges.

The College would like to thank Tessa and Mee Hwa for their leadership of the group, along with Naioka Pavihi who volunteered her time and skills to sew the beautiful lavalava worn during the performance. 

(Story by the Dean of Students, George Connolly)