Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Hi everyone,
                   just a short note to let you know I have included a link to at the bottom of "Te Hokinga Mai" to a Youtube video clip. It is of St Joseph's Maori Girls College singing Te Hokinga Mai as part of a performance. It has great harmony and shows you what you can achieve when you practise. Especially look how all their movements are in time and mirror each other.

Ka kite ano
Mr Withers

P.S. Keep having a great holiday and remember to help out around the house, your parents need a break too.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Hi everyone (again),
                                I have just finished uploading the video of Cathy and Andrea performing the actions to part of Mataku Reo. The video can be found at the bottom of the lyrics to the waiata. Try and remember to practise the actions a little during the holidays so we have a good start next term. It was a great practice today, keep up the good work and have a great holiday.

ka kite ano
Mr Withers and Mrs Scott (used to be Miss Fewings but she got married on the weekend)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

New Waiata

Hi everyone,
                     we've finally got around to putting the words to the new waiata and haka on to the blog. I also hope to get some video of the actions to our current waiata, Mataku Reo on to the blog before the holidays start. This will let you practise the actions at home so when we come to performing we will look fantastic.

Also a reminder that in Term 2 we have two performances that we are arranging, both for kindergartens. One will be for the University kindergarten who will come to visit us during our normal kapa haka practice, and the second will be a visit to a kindergarten in Riccarton where we will only be able to take about 30 children.  Remember we will only be selecting the children who are really trying hard at practice, learning their words and actions and giving it a go.

Finally thanks for all your efforts this term. You were fantastic at cultural day and you performed to a very high standard. It was great to see so many of you in your national dress. We have made a great start to the year and things will only get better.

Ka kite ano

Mrs Scott and Mr Withers

Monday, March 11, 2013

Video Clips

Hi everyone,
                     just to let you know that I have started adding video clips to some of the waiata and haka and they can be found at the bottom of the lyrics. They are a mixture of video clips that I have found on YouTube as well as some from previous Ilam kapa haka groups. To make the video larger, just click on it and it will change to full screen.

There is a great clip of the haka 'Tahu Potiki'. Tahu Potiki was the father of the Ngāi Tahu iwi and all Ngāi Tahu communities can trace their ancestry from him. Ngai Tahu boundries cover most of the South Island including Christchurch (Otautahi) and Dunedin (Otepoti). The haka is special in that it is performed by Kings and Queens High Schools from Dunedin and was done expecially to support the people of Christchurch after the major earthquakes.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Links to Waiata and Haka Lyrics

Hi everyone,
                     great to see people taking a look at the blog and seeing what's happening, we've even had views from the USA, Germany and South Korea. The first addition to the blog are links to the words for some waiata and haka we've been learning at school. If you look to the top right hand side of the blog you will see a white square with the title "Waiata and Haka" with some titles underneath. If you click on any title it will automatically take you to the lyrics. We will add more lyrics as the year goes on and we will also post some YouTube clips of the waiata and haka we've been practising. Hope this helps you with learning and also helps you to become more confident with your performance.

Ka kite ano

Nicola Fewings and Mick Withers

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Welcome

Hi everyone and welcome to the Ilam School Kapa haka blog. Nicola Fewings and I have started a blog this year to keep you informed of what's happening in Kapa haka and also as a means of celebrating the achievements of the children. We are both looking forward to a fantastic year, building on the successes and hard work of 2012. With that we would like to thank Matua Maaka Tau and Elizabeth Minchington for all of their efforts during the last 12 months, culminating in an outstanding performance at the Christchurch Cultural Festival. Matua Maaka is back with us this year and looking forward to working with the children once again.

We have a  lot of new children trying out kapa haka at the moment which is great, as one of our key aims is to encourage children to participate  in a culturally rich environment, and have lots of fun along the way. Practices are every Wednesday from 12 till 1 pm (includes first half hour of lunch). In early March, after the children have attended the first three practices and decided whether they like performing kapa haka, we will send a letter home to parents and caregivers letting you know which children have committed to working with the group till the end of the year.

Both Nicola and I see 2013 as a year of consolidation, confirming what the children learnt last year, developing leadership skills among the children, and building towards the cultural festival of 2014. This year we will also look at continuing to perform at school assemblies and events as well as possibly performing at other schools. In fact, the Canterbury University preschool has already asked if they could come and watch us practise with the possibility of the Kapa haka  group visiting the preschool later in the year.

Finally, Nicola and I would just like to reiterate that we are both looking forward to a fantastic year of kapa haka where the children learn and have fun along the way!

Ka kite anō

Nicola Fewings and Mick Withers