Kea1 The Gardens: Dancing With Mythology

On 10 June, our class and Huia 1 went on a trip to The Telstra Clear Pacific Centre for a programme called Dancing with Mythology. There we had three different sessions; dancing, kapa haka and drama.

Before we did any of the workshops, we were told about Pou Kapau, the totem pole outside. It had different Maori gods which were carved into it. Two other schools joined us in our experience and we were grouped with different students. In dancing, we worked in groups to create a short dance about the beach. We also learnt that there are four different elements in dance which were; energy, movement, space and time. After half an hour we moved to the next session, which was kapa haka. We learned three songs, all in Maori. The boys did the haka (after learning the song and actions) and the girls had to join in too.

We had morning tea and then we went to our last session which was drama. We got in a big circle and we had to introduce ourselves with a movement. After introducing ourselves we got into four groups and created frames of different objects like a motorcycle, Pou Kapau, lost in the forest and a day at the beach. Then we had to come up with a one minute performance and the other groups came by to watch. There were a few more performances and then we left the theatre to go back to school.

We enjoyed our visit there, and we would like to go back there again.