I saw the poster for Te Manahua in the window of the local ice cream parlor. A Maori Cultural Arts Competition? Right here at the Polynesian Cultural Center? I really have died and gone to heaven.
Nothing moves me like Maori music. There's a power in their voices unmatched by anything I've ever heard. They also get to throw sticks and swing things around at the end of a string, and instead of mom saying, "don't do that, you'll break something!" it's considered a cultural art.
This performance from the Poi-E competition on Friday night by Tongariro High School was my absolute favorite. Who would have thought you could do so much with a ball and a piece of string?
This morning I took my five children to the Pacific Theater to watch the 2010 Te Manahua. Excellent, excellent performances. Exciting hakas, graceful poi twirling, thrilling harmonies, I loved every minute. The concessions stand was selling New Zealand-style food too - oooh, that meat pie was to die for.
The last group to perform opened with a song about how La'ie is the eye of a needle. The threads of all cultures pass through this place. It is a village where all the tribes of the people dwell together in peace. After sharing in a day of beautiful Maori culture, I couldn't agree more.
4 comments:
Wow! Am I jealous, or what??? You ARE in heaven, you just didn't have to die to get there ;-) I feel closer to "home" when I'm in Hawaii than any other place I've ever been here on earth.
very fun - so awesome that you get to experience this whenever you want - so jealous.
Wow! I LOVE the end when they start really swinging those yo-yo things around! What fun! Soak up every experience and revel in it!
Oh, that video was awesome and what great times you'll have there in Hawaii. My heart is there and has been since we went nine years ago. Funny thing, my kids and I learned poi balls a million years ago, here stateside (and my sister in law was born in New Zealand and is half Maori). My hat's off to the beautiful people in the video who really know how to do it. Thanks for sharing the fun!
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