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HERALD WEEKLY ISSUE 433 : 12 November 2008

Good Start to Takitumu Tour!

Cold, confused but nevertheless excited was the order of the day for members of the Auckland Takitumu Performing Arts Cultural Group as they combined with their families and fellow performers from Rarotonga during rehearsals for this weeks Takitumu Festival in Hastings. It was awesome to combine experience with potential talent said one of the dancers and it was great to see the expertise from our singers and dancers from Rarotonga. We are just thankful for the opportunity to be taught and guided from these experts that it is quite uplifting especially for us who were born in NZ and have not been exposed to our culture and performing arts first hand at this level. The musicians and leaders taught us to be proud of who we are and to be passionate about our culture and it was awesome.
Rangi Henry and Ngarima George provided good advice by encouraging the dancers to appreciate who they are and to believe in what they do with passion and commitment. They explained the background of this tour and how important it was for everyone to understand and appreciate that we are representing Takitumu and the Cook Islands. Its good to encourage our NZ born Cook Islands children to learn more about our culture and dance while at the same time, it was also equally important that they are disciplined as to the proper way of performing in public.
After a few moments of dance practice from the NZ dancers, the singers from Rarotonga rehearsed their theme song which will be launched during the Cook Islands performance at the Festival in Hastings. The song titled “ Te Vaka Takitumu was composed by Rangi Henry and is being sung by our very own Curly George, Tara Kauvai Vavia, Kathy Brown, Andre Tapena and of course Rangi Henry himself. Punanga Kaveao danced to the theme song which was an eye opener for many of the young dancers who were also given the opportunity to learn how to dance properly.
Pa Ariki also took this opportunity to encourage the NZ performers to learn from this experience as they will be representing Takitumu and the Cook Islands at the Festival. We need to be proud of who we are and when we are in the public arena, we need to go as a team to show everyone that we are united and that promoting Takitumu and the Cook Islands in Hastings must be our focus and that it must be done with pride and commitment.
So far, the tour has gone without any problems and group members are getting into the routine of working as a group and familiarizing themselves with the cold and the program. The group have delayed their trip to Hastings today to support and perform at the “Auckland Visions of Avaiki” Festival which is being held in Auckland this week. We are happy to assist our people when we receive requests to perform because it is our way of showing our support. It is also encouraging to see that our people are very active in promoting cultural arts and crafts activities.
One downside to the start of the tour was that the rauti brought over from Rarotonga for the Cook Islands performers was destroyed by MAF because it was infested. Although disappointed, it highlights how important it is to be vigilant and to understand and be receptive to the bio security measures of other countries borders.
Overall, the group is in good spirits and looking forward to travelling to Hastings this evening and readying themselves with what looks to be an exciting and challenging experience.

Herald Issue 433 12 November
- New Party to prioritise political reform
- Policies announced last week
- LA route discussions next week
- Good Start to Takitumu Tour!
-Taakoka Developer Seeks Legal Aid - Part 1