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Regional | Dance

Teaching music and dance of yesteryear to today’s youth

For the past ten weeks students at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rāwhitiroa have been learning a wide range of dance styles from their grandparent’s time.  They will showcase their newfound skills to their elders and the wider community.

The revival of dance styles from the time of Fred Astaire and Jean Kelly like the waltz, the jive, the foxtrot, the gay gordon and the quickstep is being relished by this generation.

Mokena Ngakuru Peeni says, “The real dream is that they cleave to and retain these skills forever as they go out into the wide world and they will be successful no matter what they do.”

To the age of rock and roll and disco it's not only about beautiful dance but addressing the issue of violence amongst our people in the modern age.

Huri ki Tua Peeni says, “If we teach them from babies to care for one and another and not be violent by adulthood it's normal.  And we know that it's in our children if we just let them express themselves.”

“They now know about the sacredness and respect of the body and the spirit no matter who the person is and the sacredness of their own bodies.  And by going back to that we now see them helping each other and assisting others when they're in trouble,” says Mokena.

The teaching of dance and music is the gift from the whānau Peeni to the students of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rāwhitiroa.  The word is that tickets for the two concerts have all being sold out.  Here students will get to celebrate with some of the top dance bands of the district from the era of their grandparents and great-grandparents.

“We wanted to instil the great love we have for music and dance in our children and we are definitely seeing it in them,’ says Huri ki Tua.

“Dance music and sound are skills that have been passed down through the generations of Māori from our ancestors and this generation has it,” says Mokena.

These children know the power of kapa haka and now they know the power of these forms of dance.