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Artist Profiles

Tania Fraser, Cultural Performer

Meet the young performer who finally got her chance to sing.

[10.15am, 12.15pm, 3.15pm]

As the birthplace of tourism in New Zealand, the Rotorua region and its peoples are known as the tribe of hospitality. It is their trademark and the performing arts are their speciality.

Stories of old soar to life again through song. Poi and stick games reveal how favourite past times were, in fact, training for agility and co-ordination. For everything there was a purpose. Yet the learning was fun.

The spirit of Te Puia’s daily Maori Cultural Performances, Kapa Haka, is to learn, to enjoy and also to be uplifted. Maori performers will sense the weary and focus their energy intently. It is irresistible.

Where there is movement there is life. Where there is song, there is healing.

From the first step on to the Marae, the focal meeting place in the Maori village at Te Puia, the journey begins.

Midday Concert

“We don’t have a bad day,” says Kapa Haka leader Josephine Scott.

“If someone is feeling low, the rest of the group will pick them up, make them smile again so by the time we go on stage all is forgotten. Coming to work is our medicine. That’s worth sharing.”

The midday concerts at Te Puia are an easy and exciting introduction to the culture. Visitors simply gather outside the main entrance to the Marae.

A traditional welcome marks the start of 45 minutes of song and dance inside the sacred meeting house.

Here, surrounded by the carvings of ancestors, visitors are treated to perfect harmonies, the seductiveness of the Poi dance, the ferocity of the haka, (war dance) and the complexity of Tititorea, the stick games.

At times, eight batons fly from four different directions. The receiver must deftly catch and flick the batons on and do so in timing with the song. It is a dance within itself.

Such is the discipline of the performing arts. A simple twist can take years to master and while professionalism is absolute, there must always be room for laughter.

“I’m determined to make visitors smile,” says performer Nero Panapa.

“By coming here maybe people will see that deep down we are really comedians,” he winks.

Mai Ora Evening

It happens every night. Visitors, who begin as shy strangers, end up queuing to get on stage with performers.

It is the only moment during the Mai Ora evening when precision and timing take a back seat to new friends meeting their favourite artists.

Te Puia’s Mai Ora evening is a premiere cultural experience.

A banquet is provided from the traditional Hangi, where food is steam cooked by hot rocks in the earth, to contemporary cuisine. Guests are invited to see and photograph the Hangi being lifted before sitting to dine.

It is part of the experience of both learning and participating in traditions still followed by tribes throughout New Zealand today. Feeding the people, for example, is regarded an honour and a sign of a tribe’s hospitality and standing. Young and old will work voluntarily and around the clock to ensure guests are cared for.

Mai Ora is a relaxed evening and begins at the Marae with the sound of the war trumpet, blown to alert the host tribe that visitors are approaching.

From the traditional welcome, with a challenge by fierce warriors, guests begin to appreciate this is not a standard show.

Te Puia truly is the land of our ancestors. Our stage is the earth beneath, the natural geothermal wonders and the sky above. Real history embraces.

Inside the sacred meeting house, guests are treated to a polished performance of song and dance and are invited to learn and join in alongside performers. Their efforts are rewarded by the best of New Zealand’s food fare before the evening concludes with the spectacular lighting of the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley.

Mai Ora is a feast for the mental, spiritual and physical. But it is also a warming and unforgettable bonding of friendships. “I came for some quick entertainment,” says Moira Jackson from the United States. “I didn’t think it would affect me like this, that I would love the people. It’s the one thing I’m taking home with me.”