Te Matatini

“Except for Civil Aviation Authority prescribed announcements, the only language spoken by the pilots and cabin crew will be te reo Māori,” said the airline's ...

The airline says a number of their employees will be kaihaka / performers competing at the festival. “Our mahau is calling, arms outstretched, overflowing with aroha from across Aotearoa, and we will do everything we can to bring our kapa haka safely to Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata,” said Carl Ross Chief Executive of Te Matatini. “Through this collaboration we can align our strategic goals, and showcase our unique Māori language and culture, through the very best in kapa haka excellence.”

Other than Civil Aviation Authority-prescribed announcements, te reo Māori was the only language spoken by pilots and cabin crew on Flight 1236 into ...

The pin is worn by Araraurangi employees who have demonstrated fluency in te reo Māori. Other than Civil Aviation Authority-prescribed announcements, the only language spoken by pilots and cabin crew was te reo Māori. * / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki [konei](http://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/te-reo-maori/300811716/kua--a-araraurangi-ki-tna-rerenga-tuatahi-katoa-i-te-reo-mori).

In 2019 Marama Jones took two steps out from Ngā Tūmanako's front line and let rip. Her solo turn at Te Matatini, the national kapa haka championships, for ...

Ngā Tūmanako, kei runga noa atu, what I loved about her and all of our really on point soloists is that they're singing on their trunk, they're singing on their puku, they're connected to their body and that's one of the things that I want to keep... Tomorrow, it's almost here — a mass pōwhiri at Auckland's Okahu Bay for performers and supporters is set to kick the festival off. "To be honest there's a million things going through your head as a soloist, but I think first and foremost... drilling in to our groups is singing in a connected and supported way that you don't feel it on your throat." "It's absolutely the conditioning and pacing from cross fit crosses over to kapa haka for me helps with the breathing side of things and trying to maintain and now blow out and die." I've got a really high note to hit and there's thousands and thousands of people watching so that's probably the biggest thing in my mind, as well as just doing justice to the song."

In the spirit of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland welcomes Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata festival this week, the biggest ...

For the first time in 20 years, kapa haka will be broadcast to a mainstream audience, with live performances on TVNZ2 and on-demand viewing through TVNZ+. “As well as the official competition on stage, there is also a competition off stage to show hospitality to our visitors. “Kapa haka brings people of all ages and backgrounds together, and this week, Tāmaki Makaurau is the home of kapa haka. Festivities this week begin with the official Te Matatini pōwhiri hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Tāmaki Kapa Haka at Ōkahu Bay on Tuesday, 21 February. “Every festival brings a new standard of excellence and as artists we always try and push those boundaries,” he says. The festival will be held over four days at Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park, starting from Wednesday, 22 February.

In partnership with Te Matatini, charter flight NZ 1236 will bring 171 passengers from Te Whanganui-a-Tara to TÄ maki Makaurau for Te Matatini Herenga Waka ...

It identifies staff who are te reo MÄori speakers to Air New Zealand’s customers and is worn with pride and purpose. The festival is a place of community and connection for MÄoridom and Te Matatini is supporting kapa haka impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle to participate. Our people have really led the charge in owning their part of the experience."

HOP onto an Auckland Transport (AT) wrapped bus with a limited-edition card to attend Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata National Kapa Haka Festival ...

Top up your card online before you travel, and tag on and off an AT service to pay for your fare. This year’s festival is being held from 22 February to 25 February at Ngā Ana Wai Eden Park. Or the pahi to the poi?

Over 1,500 performers from 45 teams are getting ready to take the stage at Te Matatini this week. Tāmaki gym owner Jarrod Tua is playing a vital role in ...

It’s that community and connection that he says is the backbone of kapa haka too – but it’s not a community he has always felt part of. At Te Yard, kaihaka come to flip tyres, lift weights, practise bodyweight exercises and get in the zone before the performance of their life at Te Matatini. Tua has long-term plans to upscale, but is prioritising one thing at a time, and right now getting ready for his big performance at Te Matatini as well as running two successful businesses and preparing for a new baby is enough. Going over to Australia I thought that understanding kapa haka values wouldn’t help in my sporting career, but I didn’t know that those values would have brought success to my career.” It was in high school, when Tua’s future was being charted in the world of high-performance sport, that he began to let go of the ties he previously had to his culture. There’s no fancy electrical gym equipment, but what’s there is well loved, as evidenced by the worn tape and scuff marks along the walls – pull up bars are set up along one side of the space, a stack of wooden boxes sit ready to be used for jumps, various medicine balls, ropes and barbells with towers of weights make up the rest of the equipment offering. “You have to eat right, you have to mentally prepare yourself, you have to manifest what you want from your rōpū, from yourself and from your performances, you have to do regular training. As well as running his two businesses and training to stand for rōpū Angitu at their first Matatini, he has another pēpi on the way. When I was building I noticed that if I didn’t go to a training session, my attention span for my book work would be really low.” Going through your bracket, especially for the girls in the front, they’ll be on their knees, they’ll be up and down and doing small, controlled sprints. The physical challenge is an element of this level of kapa haka which, Tua explains, many people don’t understand the intensity of. The wind is howling outside when I first chat with Jarrod Tua over the phone.

Over 1,500 performers from 45 teams are getting ready to take the stage at Te Matatini this week. Tāmaki gym owner Jarrod Tua is playing a vital role in ...

It’s that community and connection that he says is the backbone of kapa haka too – but it’s not a community he has always felt part of. At Te Yard, kaihaka come to flip tyres, lift weights, practise bodyweight exercises and get in the zone before the performance of their life at Te Matatini. Tua has long-term plans to upscale, but is prioritising one thing at a time, and right now getting ready for his big performance at Te Matatini as well as running two successful businesses and preparing for a new baby is enough. Going over to Australia I thought that understanding kapa haka values wouldn’t help in my sporting career, but I didn’t know that those values would have brought success to my career.” It was in high school, when Tua’s future was being charted in the world of high-performance sport, that he began to let go of the ties he previously had to his culture. There’s no fancy electrical gym equipment, but what’s there is well loved, as evidenced by the worn tape and scuff marks along the walls – pull up bars are set up along one side of the space, a stack of wooden boxes sit ready to be used for jumps, various medicine balls, ropes and barbells with towers of weights make up the rest of the equipment offering. “You have to eat right, you have to mentally prepare yourself, you have to manifest what you want from your rōpū, from yourself and from your performances, you have to do regular training. As well as running his two businesses and training to stand for rōpū Angitu at their first Matatini, he has another pēpi on the way. When I was building I noticed that if I didn’t go to a training session, my attention span for my book work would be really low.” Going through your bracket, especially for the girls in the front, they’ll be on their knees, they’ll be up and down and doing small, controlled sprints. The physical challenge is an element of this level of kapa haka which, Tua explains, many people don’t understand the intensity of. The wind is howling outside when I first chat with Jarrod Tua over the phone.

Where to watch, how to attend, how does it work and other questions about this week's kapa haka festival, answered.

[this Youtube account](https://www.youtube.com/@haka-bro/videos) has videos of every performance from the last festival. If you’re keen to brush up on the competition that went down in 2019, - Poi: The rhythmic twirls and flutters of a poi often mimic elements of the environment – like water, insects or birds. Unlike other waiata performed on stage, mōteatea is unique in that the tune doesn’t adopt Western melody and harmony. - Mōteatea: The unbroken rhythmic chanting of mōteatoa is perhaps the most traditional item within a kapa haka performance. If you can’t make it to the festival, it will be live on TVNZ (the first time it has been broadcast by TVNZ in 20 years). The whakaeke often includes polished waiata, haka, movement and instruments from the group as an expression of who they are, where they are from and what their purpose is. The nine groups that will perform on finals day will be announced on Friday evening. Only the top three groups in each pool will qualify to compete on the finals day on Saturday, which is called Te Matangirua. On the last day, Haka Translate will be available in five additional languages: Mandarin, Tongan, Samoan, Fijian and Cook Island Māori, via the Matatini Festival app. It’s overseen an ever-changing approach to performance, sound and costume in the world of kapa haka. What started as the New Zealand Polynesian Festival in 1972, among the geothermal wonders of Whakarewarewa in Rotorua, has grown into a state-of-the-art biennial festival that’s hosted by a different iwi each time.

It's Te Matatini and more than 240 kapa haka performers from the Rotorua area will this week represent Te Arawa with hopes of being named among the top ...

However, the time and effort to prepare for Te Matatini was immense Maxwell said. The judges will be watching closely, marking them on te reo Māori skills and awarding points in different categories. Te Matatini is held every two years and showcases the best regional teams from 13 different rohe throughout New Zealand and Australia. Performing arts stalwart Trevor Maxwell from Rotorua remembers that event well. The rōpū include Te Pikikōtuku o Ngāti Rongomai, Te Hekenga Ā Rangi, Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Mātarae I Ōrehu and Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue. It’s Te Matatini and more than 240 kapa haka performers from the Rotorua area will this week represent Te Arawa with hopes of being named among the top performing arts groups in New Zealand.

Rooms are hard to come by as thousands flock to Tāmaki Makaurau, with the only rooms left costing as much as $995 a night.

* [Covid-19](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus). [Te Matatini postponed again, to 2023](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/300441642/te-matatini-postponed-again-to-2023?rm=a) [Ed Sheeran concert at Eden Park](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/gig-reviews/300804318/ed-sheeran-overcomes-technical-issues-at-incredible-auckland-show) were helping Auckland’s hotel industry recover. [Auckland hoteliers adopt 'survival mentality' as 76pc of rooms lie empty](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300493510/auckland-hoteliers-adopt-survival-mentality-as-76pc-of-rooms-lie-empty?rm=a) [Poi-twirling wahine Māori traffic signals go green for Te Matatini kapa haka festival](https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/131244786/poitwirling-wahine-mori-traffic-signals-go-green-for-te-matatini-kapa-haka-festival?rm=a) [50th anniversary](https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/128273133/te-matatini-to-celebrate-golden-milestone-with-a-waiata-each-weekday-for-10-weeks) of Te Matatini and 45 teams are competing. [Tāmaki Makaurau](https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland) to perform at the week-long event in Eden Park. [Hotels in Auckland](https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/experiences/accommodation) are fully booked or have limited rooms available as the world’s largest kapa haka festival, [Te Matatini](https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300811565/te-matatini-tainui-groups-to-bring-aroha-to-kapa-haka-stage-in-wake-of-cyclone-gabrielle), kicks off.

Some have travelled for the kapa haka festival from regions hit hard by the cyclone, determined to help lift the spirits of Māoridom.

"The main thing is that we send our love and show our love to the iwi, to the tribes that have been affected," Opotiki Mai Tawhiti's Ricky Mitai added. "We need something that's going to lift our spirits, lift the spirits of us as being Māori going through Covid, us as Māori going through the floods," judge Kimiora Webster said. "All of our thoughts are really with people at home, our whānau at home, those that have been affected," Whangara Mai Tawhiti's Anahera Higgin said.

What fuels a lifelong dedication to kapa haka? For Trevor Maxwell, it's a passion for culture, family, and fierce competition.

Maxwell says: “We were prepared to go to the edge, to go to the wire.” Maxwell and his late wife were there in the beginning, and he is still involved with Te Matatini today. “Try to relax, try to embrace the weeks leading up [to the event], and look after your most important instrument, your voice. Maxwell says this upbringing “built the passion” that propelled him into a new world of opportunity through Māori performing arts. That’s also clear to see in the two and a half decades he spent on the national Te Matatini committee. The pā kids, including Maxwell and his siblings, participated in waiata [singing] and haka practices at the marae every week.

As thousands across the nation gear up for the long-awaited biennial Te Matatini competition, for Howard Morrison jnr, better known as “Howie”, ...

The passion has also filtered down to secondary and intermediate competitions: kapa haka is now bigger than Te Matatini. Some kaihaka (performers) travel hours on end with their families to make the rehearsals. That crew also manages the group’s fundraising and finances. Kaihaka sacrifice their time and finances to participate in a kapa haka campaign and Morrison says “commitment is the biggest thing”. The first year had 17 teams. It included Māori, Samoan, Cook Islands, Niuean and Tokelau cultural dance groups.