Kapa Haka

Kapa=To form a lineHaka=To dance

What is Kapa Haka?

• A performance involving singing and dancing and combines several aspects of the Maori culture– Haka (Maori War dance)– Titi Torea (Maori stick dance)– Poi (Maori Performance style)– Traditional Maori Music

Haka

• A traditional Maori war dance– Performed with the intention of intimidating

opponents. • Many sports teams perform this

• (Nora will go into more detail)

Poi

•A dance where you swing balls attached at the end of ropes around• Balls are often on fire

•. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IjdnMvBW_A

Other Aspects of Kapa Haka

• Performers may switch between soft choral music and intense war chants while performing and dancing

• May include traditional Maori instruments.• Often Titi Torea is included in performance– (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOfvTi0SaCk)

Full Kapa Haka

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLltt0vRhK8&feature=related

Origin

• The women’s only knowledge of what Kae looked like was that he had hideous overlapping teeth

• When they arrived at Kae’s village they put on a performance to make the whole village smile so Kae could easily be identified.

According to legend, a tribal leader named Tinirau sent a troupe of women to capture a man named Kae.

(Kae had eaten Tinirau’s pet whale)

How it connects to True Country• In True Country, there is a mission that

forced the children there to dance for the enjoyment of tourists. – “I went over to them. Alex wanted the boys

to change into the lap-lap things and be painted, to enter into the spirit of the occasion, he said, and not destroy the enthusiasm of the young ones. One of the boys said, Mockingly, ‘We should do it or we’ll lose our culture’.”

Kapa Hakas connect to modern day Corroborees in that they aren’t really done for traditional reasons anymore and are more for entertaining tourists.

The End

• "Kapa Haka - Maori Performing Arts: @ Maori.org.nz." Maori.org.nz Main Maori Site on the Net! Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.maori.org.nz/waiata/default.php?pid=sp34>.

• "Maori Culture." Kapa Haka. Web. 04 May 2012. <http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/features/maori-culture/kapa-haka-performances_feature.cfm>.