Haka fusion dance crew inspire

A talented Marlborough dance crew have made all the right moves to win a top national competition.

The troupe made up of mostly rangatahi from Marlborough won their section at the national Impact Dance Experience in Wellington last weekend.

Hawaiki Kura Haka Fusion, led by Creative Director Te Ao Mārama Nepia, 18, impressed judges at the national competition in with their innovative fusion of Māori performing arts, salsa and hip-hop.

Te Ao Mārama, a student at Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, created the unique haka fusion style and choreographed the winning routine on Saturday night.

“I created Haka Fusion to unite my love for salsa, hip-hop, and Māori performing arts,” he says.

“I started teaching Haka Fusion with my younger sister Māreikura at our rangatahi cultural leadership wānanga, which was a bit scary at first because I didn’t know how the other rangatahi would receive it, but they loved it.

“The Haka Fusion really resonated with our rangatahi.”

Recognising the potential power of Haka Fusion as performance art, Te Ao Mārama decided to put it to the test. Dancers entered the Impact Dance regionals in Nelson, qualified for the nationals and went on to win their category.

“It’s another way we can indigenise our spaces and showcase our creativity while exposing our rangatahi to new positive experiences,” says Te Ao Mārama

“For many of our rangatahi it was the first time they had entered into such a competition.”

"I have always envisioned Haka Fusion being showcased at conferences and wānanga as another means of empowering our rangatahi, particularly our girls while connecting them to the beauty of te ao Māori. I would love to take this international and explore what identity means to other indigenous youth through dance.”

The dance group consists of eight rangatahi aged 11 – 18 years, all graduates of Hawaiki Kura cultural programmes for youth.