Stonefields Kapa Haka

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.   Excitin

This morning our kapa haka leaders, some seniors and our tutors gave an impromptu concert to try and encourage more of our learners to consider joining the group this year. Check out Miss Martin showing how good she is! In 2019, we'd like to have more members of our group as we have big plans for the year - more performances inside and outside school as well as enrichment activities (including a noho marae if we can get enough support). You do not need to understand the language - kapa haka is about finding joy in performing with the benefit of keeping a traditional NZ art form alive.  We share stories through singing and actions and always have a good time.  Anyone who has been thinking about joining kapa haka, now is the time! Come along on Monday 11 February, hub 6. Feel free to share this post with anyone who you think might enjoy kapa haka.

Kia Ora to our kapa haka whānau From next week (11 February), kapa haka will be on Monday mornings , not Wednesday. We are making this change because of the availability of our tutor group. We understand this may cause some upheaval and shuffling around for our busy families and we hope we still see you all on Monday. If you do struggle to make some Mondays, keep an eye out on this blog, especially the 'waiata' tab where we post songs and videos for the tamariki to follow along from home. As always, please get in touch if you'd like to chat with our tutors. Ngā mihi The kapa haka committee.