It’s hard to believe that Kura Te Waati was once a reluctant kapa haka performer who would blush, stand with drooped shoulders and feel whakamā as a child. She sits for an interview in front of the camera with both confidence and elegance and credits her success in the performing arts arena to kapa haka legends and founders of premiere kapa haka group Te Waka Huia – Dr Ngāpo and Pimia Wehi. She performed with Te Waka Huia for the seventh time at Te Matatini 2017. “I always had a passion for kapa haka obviously through the whānau Wehi and Te Waka Huia as a child I aspired to be like some of the aunties that are still standing in the ranks these days,” Kura says.
“Anyone can do kapa haka but it was more so the tutors that I had to teach me because I was so shy, they pulled something out of me, that I couldn’t see for myself and I’m very, very grateful.” Since 2012, Kura’s been pouring her passion for kapa haka and theatre into transforming the lives of her tauira who attend the Certificate of Māori Performing Arts - Haka Theatre based at The Auckland Performing Arts Centre in central Auckland that sits under the umbrella of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWOA). Haka theatre is new indigenous art form that combines the fundamentals of kapa haka, Māori movement and theatre. She’s loving teaching at TWoA and gets a kick out of seeing the difference the tertiary provider makes in the lives of its tauira during the 36-week programme. “The biggest thing for me is that their self-esteem has gone through the roof, that and being able to make sound decisions on what they want for their own lives.”
Interested in joining Kura and Beez’ programme in haka theatre or performing arts? Come and see us at our Te Wānanga o Aotearoa stand (at the Māori stage or near Gate 2).
HUAREWA / 2017
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