Update from Matua Bryan - 18 February 2019

Today we were thrilled to see both new faces and familiar returning members to our kapa haka practice.
Over the last couple of practices we have been learning two waiata:

• Waiata mihimihi
  The purpose of the waiata is offer greetings and acknowledgments to all. Warm and welcoming. Is a slow but powerful waiata.
• Toia (mai te waka nei)
  The purpose of this waiata is to bring the rōpu together and a signal of change for the better. There is a lot of energy in this waiata. We want our rōpu to really work on actions, singing and the haka.

Everyone did a terrific job today.  I saw our senior leaders taking the younger ones under their wing and it was great to see the new learners already becoming confident with the songs and actions.  

Practicing at home will reinforce what we are doing in between practices. Use the resources on this blog to help.  Playing the audio and videos from the blog at home will build confidence and allow us to focus practice time on new learning.  

Exciting news - Stonefields Matariki concert announced

Today Miss Martin shared with us that Stonefields will be hosting a Matariki Concert in June (date to be confirmed). We have invited 4 other schools so far with more to come - aimed at schools that have a developing kapa haka group like ours. We are incredibly proud to be able to lead this initiative for our community. 

This announcement means our rōpū (group) has something to work towards - which means every opportunity to practice is really important, both for us to showcase what we can do, but also to embed our connection as a whānau and community.

I will be looking at key milestones before June that will help us prepare and will communicate accordingly.

Ngā mihi

Matua Bryan.