Kapa Haka Takes Indigenous Culture to the World
Tradition and Innovation in Maori Performing Arts
Jun 17, 2009
Kapa haka is a New Zealand Maori art form that combines traditional singing, dancing, and culturally significant facial expression and body movements, in choreographed and costumed performances usually to the accompaniment of guitar and body percussion.
Not all Maori musical traditions are included. However, as an example, the wiri, or trembling of the hands, often is. According to Maori.org.nz, "the wiri represents the world around us, from the shimmering of the waters of a bright sunny day, to the heat waves rising from the ground."
Various forms of the haka challenge, brought to international recognition by the New Zealand national rugby team the All Blacks, are also part of this many-faceted performing art. These might include haka with weapons, traditionally performed before battle; or haka with either specific or spontaneous actions. An example might be the ceremonial haka taparahi, which is never performed for war and always without weapons, but has set actions.
Maori Performing Arts in the Twentieth Century
Maori musical artforms have responded to international influences over the years. For example, the two World Wars inspired farewells and love songs, and elements of jazz, rock and hip hop have appeared. Kapa haka, which has been credited with enhancing the cultural health and wellbeing of young people who participate, often incorporates comment on current-day social issues.
Kapa Haka Tradition in the Modern World
The challenge for organisations and artists involved in indigenous forms in a global culture is to "keep it real" – to continue the exciting evolution of these arts, without losing sight of the roots or the reason for the tradition.
In New Zealand, a parallel debate is the modern celebration of the winter festival of Matariki. Dr. Paul Moon (New Zealand Herald, June 3, 2009) observes that Matariki has "undergone a cultural somersault", what was once treated "with a mixture of fear and awe" now being seen as a celebration. He is concerned that "in the well-meaning effort to make Matariki mean all things to all people, it could end up meaning nothing."
In kapa haka, traditionally the timing, footwork, and waiata (songs) have reflected the dialect and customs of particular tribal areas. In an essay on the evolution of the art form (in State of the Maori Nation. Auckland: Reed, 2006), Rita Papesch notes the differences between tribal performances in the early 70s and the more "nationalised Maori" approach of 2005.
New Zealand Tourism and Kapa Haka as a Festival
Te Matatini is today the organisation responsible for staging the two-yearly National Kapa Haka Festival, a hotly contested event of high-quality performances in some ways similar to spoken word slam competitions. The 2009 Festival, held in the port of Tauranga, attracted interest from cruise ship passengers and was simultaneously translated on FM radio.
It seems the debate on nurturing the iwi (tribe) in kapa haka while teaching the world about this unique artform is likely to continue.
