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National | Disability

Kapa haka helps those with learning disabilities

Next Wednesday, December 5, Te Anga Pāua o Aotearoa will host the inaugural National Kapa Haka Festival for people with intellectual disabilities at the Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton.

Fifteen teams from around the country will showcase the talents of those supported by IDEA Services in the competition.

Kapa haka creates a sense of identity through connecting those involved to their whānau, hapū, iwi and marae.  It also improves motor skills through actions and choreography as well as mathematics through counting and following beats.

The items tell some hard truths of feeling excluded, being invisible or experiencing discrimination and how the art of kapa haka has transformed these experiences.

This festival will also give performers and tutors the opportunity to experience Māoridom through the medium of performing arts.

Date: Wednesday 5 December
Start time: 9:30am, doors open at 9:00am
End time: 4pm
Place: Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton