Google Me: School's out for this week's buzz words

JULIE MIDDLETON searches the worldwide web for a very New Zealand spectacle

In secondary schools all over Auckland, this week's buzz words are kapa haka - in Maori, it means "to dance in a troupe".

The 26th ASB Bank Secondary Schools Maori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival - let's stick to the website name, polyfest - starts today, with 14,000 students from around 50 schools performing.

Search for kapa haka on Google for New Zealand sites only, and 5830 pages pop up. Search the web worldwide and that figure rises to 7230. Kapa haka is flourishing.

The media resources section of the 100% Pure New Zealand site offers this explanation of kapa haka by two Italians who attended the 1998 Aotearoa Traditional Maori Performing Arts Festival: "There is not one thing that can be used to describe it, but many things. It is like a soccer match, a rock concert and theatre all rolled into one.

"The passion of the soccer matches, the roar of the crowds at rock concerts and the choreography, dance and drama of theatre all make up kapa haka."

The Government number-cruncher, Statistics New Zealand, even did a study on attendance at kapa haka events in 2002, estimating that 432,000 people, or 16 per cent of the population aged 15 and over, attended kapa haka in the 12 months before the survey.

A higher proportion of women (18 per cent) than men (13 per cent) went, and, overall, attendance declined with age.

Twenty-five per cent of adults aged 15 to 24 attended kapa haka events, compared with 5 per cent of people aged 65 and over.

It is a fairly recent development, but students' kapa haka achievements can be assessed as part of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement - a move which some greeted with cynicism. Training providers can offer students a national certificate and a national diploma in Maori performing arts, and universities such as Waikato and Te Wananga o Raukawa offer courses in kapa haka.

Various kapa haka groups have picture-filled websites. Check out the Gisborne-based Turanga Wahine Turanga Tane kapa haka group, whose history stretches back to the 1950s.

At NZ Kapahaka Whanau Online you'll find "the online hangout for all to do with kapa haka" - lots of pictures there too, and a strong sense of what kapa haka means to its performers.

Herald Feature: Polyfest

Official site: Auckland Secondary Schools Maori & Pacific Islands Festival (Polyfest)

* Thursday March 16 to Saturday March 20
(powhiri starts at 8.30am)
Manukau Sports Bowl