Gifted Mōteatea at a Regional Festival
A Year 12 Te Ao Haka rōpū at a city school has 18 performers and six weeks until a regional kapa haka festival. Eight performers are first-timers, and the most experienced lead singer has been told by a GP to rest her voice for two weeks. Last year judges praised the group's energy but wrote that the programme had 'too many items at the same tempo' and 'little evidence of iwi-specific reo or dialect'. The kaiako has been gifted a mōteatea by a Ngāti Porou kaumātua, but most performers whakapapa to Tainui and the school's local marae is Ngāi Tahu. The principal wants a 25-minute set that will 'look impressive' and has suggested cutting the mōteatea because it is slow. Festival rules allow up to 25 minutes, with a two-minute penalty for overtime. The rōpū must decide what to include, in what order, and how to handle the gifted item.
1. Identify the main tensions in this situation and explain how you would decide whether to include the gifted mōteatea in the festival set.
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Separate three questions: permission, capability, and context. A gift is not the same as a mandate to perform at a competition. The kaiako should ask the Ngāti Porou kaumātua directly whether the mōteatea may be performed by this rōpū, at this festival, and how the source should be acknowledged. Because most performers are Tainui and the local marae is Ngāi Tahu, the group also needs to check local tikanga and ensure the reo and dialect are taught accurately. If they cannot pronounce or explain the kupu, performance would be tokenistic. The principal's 'look impressive' goal and the judge's tempo comment are secondary. If permission is limited to school or local use, do not take it to festival. If permission covers the festival, include it, but not as a slow filler: programme it to create contrast and show reo depth. The lead singer's rest is a separate constraint: redistribute verses rather than cut the item.
2. Recommend a 25-minute programme order and justify it in terms of tempo, stamina, and ritual shape.
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One defensible order is: whakaeke (4 min), mōteatea (5), waiata-ā-ringa (5), poi (4), haka (5), whakawātea (2). This gives a clear entry, a slower traditional section, a mid-tempo action song, a poi item that contrasts movement and reo, a high-energy haka, and a controlled exit. It answers the judge's tempo criticism without simply making everything fast. It also manages stamina: the lead singer can share mōteatea verses and preserve voice for the haka, while the kaitātaki carries the haka cues. The mōteatea is placed early enough to be honoured rather than treated as an afterthought, but after the whakaeke so the group is settled. The total is exactly 25 minutes, so the rōpū must rehearse transitions and have a timed run to avoid the two-minute overtime penalty.
3. Explain how the rōpū should acknowledge the mōteatea's source if it is performed, and what would make that acknowledgement more than a token.
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Acknowledgement should be specific and permitted. In a mihi or programme note, the group should name the kaumātua and iwi only if the kaumātua agrees, and explain that the item was gifted and is performed with permission. The group should use the correct dialect and pronunciation, keep the kupu intact unless variation is approved, and be able to explain the meaning and context to the audience and to the judges. A token acknowledgement is a name dropped at the end with no relationship, no reo accuracy, and no understanding. A substantive one includes ongoing consultation, correct attribution, and willingness to accept limits on use. If the kaumātua asks that the item not be recorded or not be used at competition, that boundary must be respected even if it weakens the set.