Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana kapa haka group first up at Wellington nationals

Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana pictured practising for the national kapa haka competitions in 2017. Photo / File

When national kapa haka competitions begin in Wellington on February 21 the best group from our Aotea Region will be first to step onto the stage at 8.40am.

The group is Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana, and it has won every Aotea Region competition since 2008. Also competing from this region are Whanganui group Te Matapihi and Taranaki group Ngā Purapura o Te Taihauāuru.

They are among 46 groups that will perform in front of 60,000 watchers in the two-yearly kapa haka nationals, which run from February 21-24.

Te Reanga had been polishing its bracket, its male leader, Te Taepa Kameta, said.

The group is 50-strong. Its female leader is Te Oranga Tamou, and young people have some different roles this year.

"This time around we have not so much tutors but we have given leadership roles to younger members, as a means to the succession of the team," Kameta said.

He and Tema Hemi composed the bracket Te Reanga will perform. One of its themes is the long-standing relationship between the Ratana movement and the New Zealand Labour Party - cemented at present by Ratana descendant Adrian Rurawhe's seat in Parliament.

It's also pertinent, given the competition happens in Wellington and Labour leads the current Government.

The other theme is a perennial for Te Reanga - "expounding the gospel, the word of God the way that Ratana does it", Kameta said.

If the group does well it will perform again on February 24, as one of the competition's nine finalists. All the Aotea Region teams perform on February 21. Te Reanga is first on that day, Ngā Purapura third and Te Matapihi sixth.

• They can be watched live online at www.maoritelevision.com, or on a TV set tuned to Māori Television.