Grace Joel Cultural Performances

After weeks of practice for our cultural groups and even days of practise for some, we put those practises to use and made our way to the Grace Joel rest home. The reason for this was because we wanted to give thanks to those who took their time off to come to Glenbrae school to offer us breakfast. So in return we wanted to show our appreciation by performing cultural items for them.

First off we had the boys in the Kapahaka group perform a fierce haka which was very entertaining to watch. The boys did an awesome job and really out doesn't themselves. As the boys finished off their haka the girls and the remaining of the boys in the Kapahaka group walked in and sung their waiatas. They sung Te aroha and Purei nei.  Their singing was loud and graceful, I had enjoyed their singing.

After the Kapahaka groups performances, it was time for the Tongan group to perform. The Tongan girls performed first, doing a Ta'o lunga to the song Tevita Latai maumi. I was quite nervous performing in front of everyone but I managed to finish the dance off. Our costumes looked beautiful and elegant, though our Ta'u valas were quite tight. After our Tongan dance the Tongan boys took over and danced. They were very energetic and entertaining.

Next up was the Samoan Sasa group. Their costumes were very bright and beautiful. Their Sasa was very in sync and most of the time in unison too. I had enjoyed their performance also, they were also entertaining aswell!!.

Last but not least we had the Cook Island girls perform their slow dance and their fast beat dance. During their performance, we had a couple of the boys from our school stand up and dance along with girls aswell as a co-worker at Grace Joel. The girls were dressed beautifully in black and orange and they're dancing was exquisite too!.

My highlight of today's event was when the owner of Grace Joel's rest home asked individuals from each group questions about the dance. It was funny and gave us the chance to explain the meanings of our dances. I had fun today and the Grace Joel staff said that they would really love us to come back another time.