I went to my first kapa haka class with Te Ao Marama whanau. It was so awesome! Tanemahuta, the guy who’s teaching it, is such a honey, and he’s a great teacher. Very enthusiastic and encouraging. And very skilled. He’s just got back from Seoul, South Korea where he worked with De La Guarda, the high-flying physical and aerial theatre extravaganza.
I’m completely unco in the classes, but it doesn’t seem to matter, it’s a really supportive environment. We’re learning about tikanga Maori, as well as learning taiaha, poi, patu, titi-torea, and kapa haka forms. The idea is to get a grounding in traditional forms, and then to be able to extend that into the contemporary world. Te Ao Marama aims “To create and stage a theatre production that combines New Zealand Maori culture with breathtaking aerial theatre, pushing cultural performance beyond artistic boundaries to perform Maori legends in a way never seen before.” Maui flying through the air, that kind of thing!
Blog updates will continue to be few and far between, but to give you an idea what I am working on, here’s a very brief extract from the 5000 words I wrote today...
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I spotted a three-toed sloth swinging through the branches just above us. It was covered in shaggy fur, and the dark markings on its face gave it a sleepy appearance. For a long time I watched it swing slowly from branch to branch. It looked so awkward and out of place up in the forest canopy, I was worried at any moment it might crash down on us. I wondered if it would fall slowly. Climbing down a tree can take a sloth all day, so they only come down once every eight days, when they need to defecate. Coming down to the ground exposes them to predators, so at first it seems a foolish move; they could easily do their business in the safety of the canopy. But the sloth’s behaviour is a perfect illustration of the interdependence of an ecosystem. Each hair on the sloth’s body has a groove in which algae grow, providing the sloth with green camouflage. The algae also provide food for hundreds of insects that make their home in the sloth’s fur, including a certain species of moth. When the sloths make their slow journey to the ground, these moths jump off and quickly lay their eggs in the sloth’s droppings. The droppings also provide the tree with precious fertiliser. Then the moths jump back on for the return journey, and the sloth makes its sluggish return journey. Sometimes, however, sloths are too slow for their own good. Their digestive systems rely mainly on fermentation. In the cooler season, when trees are not producing new leaves, the older, tougher leaves can take days to digest. During this season, sloths have been known to starve to death, even with food in their bellies.
On the way back through the forest, a black and red snake streaked across the path causing Samantha to scream. Out in the sunshine we found a grassy spot to eat our sandwiches. We sat down and started to eat, while an armadillo snuffled around nearby. Suddenly I felt intense pain pricking into my legs. At the same moment Natalia leapt into the air.
“Ants,” she squealed. We dropped our sandwiches and fled.
I guess we'll forgive you for the lack of posts, then. This time, anyway. ^_~
Posted by: Hayley at October 14, 2003 12:17 PM