Te Reanga Morehu O Rātana eye Te Matatini title with next generation in mind

Champion kapa haka team Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana are heading to Te Matatini 2023 national kapa haka competition later this month.

Champion kapa haka team Te Reanga Morehu O Rātana are vying for a top spot at the Te Matatini 2023 national kapa haka competition with a performance that will pay tribute to the late tumuaki, Harerangi Meihana.

The group of 40 members, based at Rātana Pā, 20 minutes south of Whanganui, have been practicing over six months to perfect their 30-minute performance filled with waiata, haka and poi.

Each group has a team of skilled and upcoming tutors, who work on everything from music and haka compositions, actions and choreography to wānanga whakapapa (group history and genealogy) and members’ health.

This year Te Reanga Morehu O Rātana head tutors Te Taepa Kameta and Te Oranga Tamou have drawn on the skills of the wider team to form their repertoire.

“Unlike previous years, this round I have opened the door for us as a collective of kaihaka to come together and utilise the skills among us. Te Oranga and I will be working with many people who we know have the ability and skills to help us reach our goals of reaching a taumata (pinnacle) at Te Matatini,” head tutor Te Taepa Kameta said.

The move to open the floor to a new batch of fresh, budding composers was to allow the new generation to form the lines and climb the ranks in an intergenerational affair.

The history behind the team and its purpose has been served over four decades.

“The history of the team and its success through the generations stretches back to the formation of the club under the original name, Morehu Youth Movement, in 1982 by one of the late leaders of the Rātana Church Te Reo Hura, who brought together the rangatahi within the church to participate in many activities, including kapa haka,” senior team member Tema Hemi said.

Some of the rangatahi and descendants of the Rātana church that were enlisted to help create and perfect the performance say that there were many trials and tribulations that they went through in creating, teaching and scrutinising their bracket, including the fallout of Covid-19 lockdowns, finances, travel and commitments.

“One of the challenges within the group were the sacrifices our members made when coming to practice, like leaving their children on the weekends to attend practices,” up-and-coming tutor Caitlin Hemi said.

Kapa haka competitions allow a maximum of 40 team members to stand on the Te Matatini stage, meaning there were some tough decisions to be made when the team starts with more than that number.

That usually means a pool of reserves, or ‘subs’ are made to help with the overflow and they are usually on call and required to still attend practices.

“This campaign was particularly hard, with high mixes of emotions and tough decisions to be made,” up-and-coming tutor Anamaraea Te Moea Lake-Hemi said.

“We still want people to stay close with us because, you never know what might happen.”

With the long-awaited competition drawing closer and practices heating up, depletion in energy within the team can be seen. But the kaihaka draw on wairua and special energy to get through. Covid-19 stopped Te Matatini twice, with it being postponed to this month.

“I think we’re at a stage now where we’re really knuckling down on the last touch-ups. The campaign has been a really different one, especially with the big break we had over Covid and just getting back on the waka,” tutor Chaeli Manuel said.

Te Matatini – Herenga Waka Herenga Tāngata National Kapa Haka Festival 2023 is set to take place at Ngā Ana Wai – Eden Park from February 22-25.

Tickets are on sale on Ticketmaster.