Members of Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana rehearsing at Ratana Pa on Sunday afternoon. PHOTO/NATALIE SIXTUS
Members of Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana rehearsing at Ratana Pa on Sunday afternoon. PHOTO/NATALIE SIXTUS
They perform not for their own glory but for the glory of the Ratana Church.
They are Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana - the senior kapa haka group based at Ratana Pa - and they are preparing to compete at the finals of Te Matatini, the biennial national kapa hakafestival. This year it will be held in Hastings starting February 22.
When it comes to kapa haka, Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana are completely dominant in the Whanganui-Taranaki region. They have been the regional champions every year since 2008, and have competed at Te Matatini six times previously.
What makes their dominance even more remarkable is that the group's members come from a wide geographical region. While many live in Ratana Pa and Whanganui, others travel from Otaki, Wellington or Rotorua for the intensive rehearsals.
"We're unique among Te Matatini groups in that we're not associated with an iwi - we're pan-iwi," Kamaka Manuel, chairman of the Ratana Kapa Haka Trust, said.
"The common thread that draws us together is the Ratana faith. All our compositions when we compete reflect the philosophies of the Ratana Church," Mr Manuel said.
He said to compete at the highest level of kapa haka required "a lot of personal sacrifice" for the group's members.
"We have been training intensively for Te Matatini for six or seven months. But we also had to qualify for the finals through the regionals. So it has been two years of commitment for our members," Mr Manuel said.
Te Reanga Morehu O Ratana have not placed at the finals - yet - but at the 2015 finals they came third in the waiata tira [choral song] section and third in the kaitaataki wahine [female leader] section.
The group is led by tutor Te Taepa Kameta, tutor and female leader Kerrianne Tamou and male leader Tema Hemi.
