Te Matatini "the many faces"

I have had an amazing time on my journeys, beyond amazing, I just can't think of a word right now, and I am only about at my month mark. So there are more thinggs to come of course. The last 4 days have been exceptionally special for various reasons but one is that I was invited my friends in Te Teko to attend the Te Matatini Kapa Haka Competition http://s552.photobucket.com/albums/jj346/playakua/?action=view&current=MVI_4028.flv.

Now I will try to upload a video because if you have never seen Kapa Haka then you really will appreciate a glimpse, of course you could always youtube it:) the above should be a direct link to my photobucket account but i will try to uplaod also directly on here. Well this competition (Te Matatini) only comes every 2 years; so I was so glad to be here during it. Anyway I went with Zandra and Mina, who are the main organizers of the Te Teko Community Upliftment Project that I volunteered with. They are such fun! So we made our way to the crowded stadium (about an hours drive away) and found a snug spot to settle in near the cameraman pretty close to the stage, the families around us actually made room for us too. Now one of the first things I noticed was that there were free tubes of sunblock available!!! and that there was no smoking or alcohol. And the performances were so moving, the strength and clarity in the voices was profound and really gave me the chills. Though there are many groups performing, each group still seems to captivate the audience. And the poi dancing is spectacular, very different from what I have seen and what I do- I taught myself how to poi dance off of the internet in 2002 after I saw it done at Burningman, and when I thought that I would need another hip surgery; I wanted a way to exercise and specifically dance, at least with my upper body, well I didn't end up getting the surgery but now I have a new fun usually crowd pleasing skill) Zandra's adorable niece tried to show me some traditional moves the next day but I was having some trouble . But these dancers were flawless. I was left in awe at the Te Matatini event. The performances are done by various Kapa Haka teams from NZ and Aus. Kapa Haka is a powerful and creative form of dance and song that conveys stories, histories, issues, victories, concerns ...that impact the Maori community. I still struggle with finding the words to describe it. oh it looks like the video worked, the link to the other video is above and that is the one with men performing.