Taane Mete: Pōhutukawa

Sun 10 Jul 2022 1 – 1.35pm and 2.30 – 3.05pm

Performances

event Details

Mātakitakitia te kaitito nekehanga me te kaikanikani a Taane Mete (nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāti Koroki Kahukura) mō tana whakatautau i hangaia mō Matariki, Pōhutukawa.

Ko Pōhutukawa tētahi whakaari e toru ōna wāhanga. He kanikani o nāianei, ko Taane Mete kaiwhakaari. He titonga waiata hou, ko Taisha Tari te kaiwaiata. Ka mutu, he kōputu titonga waiata, ko Stephen Small te kaitito, te kaiwhakatangi anō hoki. I tito te kōputu waiata mō The Story of a New Zealand River, 2001, nā Michael Parekōwhai.

Join renowned choreographer and dancer Taane Mete (nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāti Koroki Kahukura) for his performance conceived especially for Matariki, Pōhutukawa.

Pōhutukawa is a performance in three parts, contemporary dance performed by Taane Mete, original composed waiata performed by Taisha Tari and original musical composition performed and written by Stephen Small on The Story of a New Zealand River, 2001 by Michael Parekōwhai.

Please note this event has limited capacity.

Hero image credit: Matt Gillanders

Image credit: David St George

Date: Sun 10 Jul 2022
Cost: FREE

Taane Mete 

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāti Koroki - Kahukura.

I whānau mai, ā, i tipu ake a Taane i Ahuriri, Aotearoa. Ko ia te pōtiki o ngā tamariki tokowhitu, ā, he wairua māhorahora, he tamaiti kaipaoe anō hoki. I whakamōhio atu a Taane ki te ao kanikani mā te kapa haka ki te taha o tōna whānau me ōna hoa. I wheako ia i roto i te Dupree Jazz mai i ōna tau 15, ā, i konā, i para i te huarahi kia tīmata i ōna akoranga ōkawa ki te New Zealand School of Dance i Pōneke. Ka whakapōtae ia ki te tohu hōnore mō te kanikani o nāianei. Kua whakaatu ia me te katoa o ngā tino kāhui kanikani i Aotearoa, ā, kua neke atu i te 40 tau ia i roto i ēnei mahi. Ko ngā mahi katoa a Taane, he tohu mahara ki ōna mātua mō ngā taonga me ngā akoranga i tuku ki a ia. Kua aweawetia ia e te mātauranga Māori me te ahurea o Aotearoa. Ko tōna whakaputanga auaha, kua morimori i te ao Māori me ōna tikanga whakarite wairua, hei kaikanikani, hei kaiako pū-āio, hei kaimirimiri anō hoki. Koianei te tūhonotanga o te toi whakaora.

Born and raised in Napier, Aotearoa New Zealand, Taane is the youngest of seven and was a free spirited and wildly nomadic child. Taane was first introduced to dance through kapa haka with whānau and friends; his experience of Dupree Jazz from the age of 15 initiated his pathway toward formal training at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington, where he graduated with honours in contemporary dance. He has danced in all the major dance companies in Aotearoa and has sustained his performing career for more than four decades. Taane and his life’s work is inspired by his late parents in remembrance of the gifts and wisdom they taught him. Influenced by mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and the rich cultural tapestry of Aotearoa, his artistic expression is steeped in te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) and his embodied spiritual practice experience as a dancer, yoga teacher and massage body worker brings together ‘the healing arts’.

Image credit: Pete Rees Photography

Taisha Tari

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāpuhi

I whānau mai a Taisha Tari i Maraenui, Ahuriri. He tamāhine ia nā Remana rāua ko Dawn Tari, ā, koia tētahi o ā rāua tamariki tokorima. Tekau mā toru ōna pakeke, ka wehe a Taisha i te kāinga ki te whai i te ao pūoro, te mātauranga me te ao. Kua 30 tau a Taisha e mahi ana i te ao waiata me te pūoro, ā, kua whakaatu ia ki te whenua nei, puta noa ki te ao hei kaiwaiata, hei hoa mahi tahi anō hoki. E toru tau ki muri i tata mate ia, i riro hoki tōna reo. Ko tōna kī taurangi, ki te hoki mai tōna reo, ka kore e moumou te taonga i tuku ki a ia. Ka whakamahi a Taisha i ōna taonga ki te whakaora i ngā momo e kore e kitea, engari e rāngona ana i te ngākau. He whakapono nōna ko te ao pūoro te rongoā mō te wairua.

Born in Maraenui Napier, Taisha Tari is the daughter of Remana and Dawn Tari and is one of five siblings. At the early age of 13 Taisha left the whānau to pursue music, education, and life. With a singing and music career extending 30 years, Taisha has performed nationally and internationally as a leading solo vocal artist and collaborator. Three years ago, Taisha experienced a health scare which nearly took her life and which also stole her voice. She vowed that if it were given back, she would not waste the gifts she was carrying. Strongly believing that music is medicine for the wairua (soul), Taisha uses her taonga to connect and heal those parts of us that are not seen but felt through the heart.

Image credit: Dan Molloy

Stephen Small

He kaipūoro, he kaitaki, he kaitito anō hoki a Stephen Small o Tāmaki Makaurau. He nui āna tūranga auaha, ā, he whānui ōna toronga i ngā momo waiata. Hei kaiwhakahaere pūoro, kua tāpoi ia i te motu ki te whakaatu ki te taha o Kitaro, nā tērā i hua te tautapa Grammy, Kitaro: Symphony Live in Istanbul, ā, nā te Singapore Symphony, te Russian Philharmonic me te Polish Radio Orchestras i tautoko i ngā whakaaturanga. Kua tātaki a Stephen i ngā rangi o te kaitito oro tāhiko, a Michel Huygen, mō tētahi rikoata me te London Symphony Orchestra, anō hoki i ngā rangi waiata o Sonbol Taefi mō tētahi rikoata me te Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Hei kaitito, he kairikoata a Stephen mō Domo Music Group o Karewhōnia. I āna waiata whakaemi ko Kotahi Te Wairua tētahi. He mahi ngātahi me ngā kaitito, ā, ko Gail Tipene rātou ko Sharon Emirali, ko Anthony Grey. He kōrero mō Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku. Kua tito rangi ia mō tētahi wāhanga o te Latin Mass i te reo Māori mō te tira puoro me te rāngai pūoro. He mātanga whakatangi piana, e mōhio whānuitia ana i Aotearoa, i te ao anō hoki. I kuraina ia mō te piana ki te Guildhall School of Music i London, ā, he tohu kairangi ōna i te ao pūoro me te tito.

Stephen Small is a musician, producer and collaborative songwriter from Auckland who inhabits a variety of creative roles and works across many genres of popular music. As a music director he has performed extensively on tour with New Age music pioneer Kitaro, which yielded the Grammy-nominated Kitaro: Symphony Live in Istanbul and included performances with the Singapore Symphony, Russian Philharmonic and Polish Radio Orchestras. Stephen has orchestrated and conducted the music of synthesist Michel Huygen for a recording with the London Symphony Orchestra as well as the music of Sonbol Taefi for a recording with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. As a composer, Stephen is a recording artist with California-based Domo Music Group. His album releases include Kotahi Te Wairua, a collaboration with composers Gail Tipene, Sharon Emirali and Anthony Grey that re-tells the myth of Ranginui and Papatūānuku. He has composed a setting of the Latin Mass in te reo Māori for ensemble voices and orchestra. Stephen is a highly experienced pianist who is renowned throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad. He studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and holds doctoral qualifications in musical arts and composition.

Image credit: Stephen Small

Ngaronoa Renata

Ngāpuhi nui tonu, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa

I tipu te aroha i roto i a au mō te toikupu mai au e pūhou ana. I taku utu tuatahi i a au e rangatahi ana, i hoko au i tētahi kape o Roget’s Thesaurus ki te āwhina i taku tito toikupu. Mai tēnā ka tipu te whakamatemate ki roto i a au mō ngā reo tāukiuki, pēnei i te reo Māori, Sanskrit, Hīperu me te reo Ārapi.

I te tau 1989, i hūnuku mātou ko tōku punua whānau ki Waikato mai i Kaeo, i Te Tai Tokerau. Tōku whenua rangatira.

I uru atu au ki te wānanga, He Tuatoatanga, me tētahi mystery school tauiwi. (he kaupapa pīnakitanga), kei Waikato ēnei kura. I reira, ka para au i te huarahi ki te wānanga i ngā reo tāukiuki me te māramatanga pūtaiao.

E mahara ana au ki tōku pāpā e whaikōrero ana i te marae, i roto i te reo. I tangi pai au i te rongohanga i te tangi o te reo, titi tonu ki te ngākau.

I ahu mai a Pōhutukawa i ngā akoranga tohunga.

Ka whakanui au i tōku whakapapa Ngāpuhi mai i a Tuhikura me tōku whakapapa Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa mai i a Turikatuku.

From an early age, I developed a love of poetry and words.

When I received my first pay as a teenager, I bought a copy of Roget’s Thesaurus to assist my own poetic writings. That led to a curiosity in ancient languages such as Māori, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic.

In 1989, our little whānau moved to the Waikato from Kaeo, Northland, my Ngāpuhi ancestral home.

I joined the Māori Spiritual Warrior School and a Western mystery school (Foundation for Higher Learning), which are both based in the Waikato. There, I took a journey of in-depth study of ancient sacred languages and wisdom science.

I remember clearly when my father spoke on our marae in our reo (language). I wept when hearing the sound of our reo – it touched me profoundly.

Pōhutukawa, comes from those esoteric teachings.

I acknowledge my Ngāpuhi lineage through Tuhikura and Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa through Turikatuku.

Image credit: Nina Reed

Rosemary Whitehead

Kua whakangungua a Rosemary Whitehead hei kaihoahoa pūeru. Kua 35 tau ia e wheako ana i ēnei mahi i ngā taumata teitei o te ao kākahu me te hoahoa pūeru. I kuraina a Rosemary ki te New Zealand College of Fashion Design, ā, kā whakapōtae ia me ngā tohu huriao, Pōkairua Druleigh me te Pōkairua mō te waihanga pūtaketake. I ako ia ki te waihanga kākahu koere i te Wimbledon School of Art and Design, ā, ki te waihanga momo pōtae i te London College of Fashion Design.

I Rānana, ka mahi a Rosemary hei kaiāwhina whakaputa mō tētahi tino kaihoahoa pūeru i Kensington, arā ko Ritva Westenius. I muri i tērā, ka tū ia hei kaiwhakaputa matua mō te umanga Events Bridalwear. Haere te wā, ka mahi ia hei ūpoko kaihoahoa mō Chrisanne Clover, te umanga huriao matua mō ngā kākahu kanikani, ko tōna aronga matua ko ngā kākahu mō te kanikani ōkawa me te kanikani o nāianei. Ka whakakite ai ngā mahi a Rosemary ki te puka Bridal Vogue me te hōtaka Come Dancing. I Rānana, i hanga, ā, i whakaāhua i ētahi kākahu mō ngā whakaari.

I Aotearoa, kua mahikuhu a Rosemary hei kaihuatau mō ngā whakatairanga pouaka whakaata. Kua mahi anō ia hei kaihoahoa kākahu whakaari mō ētahi kiriata huriao pēnei i a The Warriors Way. Kua whakakite ia i te pouaka whakaata i te hōtaka Home Front, hei tohunga whakarawe, anō hoki hei kaiwaihanga pūtaketake mō te New Zealand design companies Workshop me Sera Lily.

Ko te umanga o Rosemary, ka aro atu ki ngā kākahu mārena, whakaari, motuhake anō hoki. He kaitohutohu, he kaiwaihanga anō ia mō te umanga Yvonne Bennetti, he umanga mō ngā kākahu hāneanea mō te wahine. Ka aru a Rosemary ki te whakakākahu i te tangata kia māia, kia taiea.

Rosemary Whitehead is a professionally trained couturier and dress designer with 35 years’ experience working in both the high-level fashion and costume design industries. Rosemary trained at the New Zealand College of Fashion Design, graduating with the internationally recognised Druleigh Diploma and Diploma for Pattern Making. She also studied corsetry at the Wimbledon School of Art and Design, and millinery at the London College of Fashion Design.

In London, Rosemary was employed as a production assistant for high-end Kensington couturier Ritva Westenius, after which she was head of production for the Events Bridalwear company. She then worked as head designer for Chrisanne Clover, the leading international dance wear company, specialising in ballroom and modern dance. Rosemary’s works frequently featured in Bridal Vogue, and on the famed television show Come Dancing. While in London, Rosemary also developed and designed for theatrical works.

In New Zealand, Rosemary has freelanced as a stylist for television commercials and has worked as a costume designer for international films including The Warrior’s Way. She also appeared on Television New Zealand’s Home Front make-over series as the furnishings specialist and worked as a pattern-designer for the New Zealand design companies Workshop and Sera Lily.

Rosemary’s business specialises in bridal wear, costumes and bespoke wear. She also advises and designs for luxury womenswear company Yvonne Bennetti. ‘Rosemary is consistently striving to give people the confidence to look and feel great.’

Image credit: Rosemary Whitehead