Polyfest: Culture fest with competitive twist

Maori performers at Polyfest. Photo / Supplied

"Pasifika's a lot of fun," I was told by someone in the know. "But overall, the performance standard's much higher at Polyfest."

I was surprised but I shouldn't have been - Polyfest performers may be high school students but it's a competition, with trophies up for grabs, along with lording your win over the school down the road. That's worth the years of disciplined practice. Even most of the "non-competition" sections are judged (but they're allowed adults on stage).

After last week's Polyfest, Hiva Moetaua, one of the six judges for the relatively small Cook Island stage, told me the quality was getting better every year. (Six judges! That's nearly as serious as the eight for Olympic gymnastics.)

So what defines "quality" Cook Island cultural performance? Moetaua gave me a crash course so I could start spotting differences between average and good groups.

You need drummers who don't tire - Moetaua can hear the difference between a decrescendo and a lagging musician easily. That criterion isn't culturally specific, but Cook Island drumming requires more stamina than most, as anyone who's gone to a Warriors game can tell you. Also universal: you need strong singers who don't go flat.

But - and here's where Cook Island specifics start appearing - you also need dancers who can move their hips from side to side, with their feet flat on the ground, knees bent, legs not too wide apart. At Polyfest, innovative group formations and patterns are OK, but no gyrations - this isn't the Hawaiian hula. And no hip-hop flourishes - Moetaua's sharp eyes spot those, too. "Being mindful of the purpose of the festival - to keep the tradition going - you can pick up these little things."

For the tua peu tupuna - myths and legends - section, the groups have to know which of the 15 Cook Islands their story comes from, so they can perform it in that island's dialect. (Impressive, and important as most Pacific languages are under threat, but rather impossible for me to pick out.)

The judges come from a range of the Cook Islands. Moetaua last moved from her island of Manihiki in 2000, after it was flattened by a cyclone, and she's been in New Zealand since. There is also a minister on the judging panel. For the imene tuki - the traditional "hymn", more staccato than English hymns - the schools competing this year composed their own songs based on the scripture reading of the day, a lugubrious passage about punishment from doom-and-gloom prophet Jeremiah.

Most of the schools had students from other ethnic groups performing with them, although possibly the St Cuthbert's group - who got a merit cup for their efforts - had the fewest Cook Island members.

Traditionally, festival hosts Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate have won the Cook Island stage but for the last two years the title has gone to Mangere College. This year, the two schools won three categories apiece, and I was imagining the six judges hotly debating their respective merits to decide the overall triumph.

But no. Moetaua tells me the judges are not allowed to discuss their opinions before the points are added together. This year the winner was - pau drum roll please - once again, Mangere College. But it was close. Tune in next year for some more thrilling performances.