New ropu Kōkō Tangiwai claimed first place at the Waitaha region kapa haka finals in Christchurch last weekend.
Swathed in green, the southern performers claimed the victory.
Their journey to Te Matatini — the Olympics of kapa haka — only started 13 weeks ago when tutors Junior and Kerrie-Anna Tana formed the group.
The group was a mixed bag.
"There was a lot of green in there and I don’t just mean the colour of our uniform" said Te Whakapūmautanga (Junior) Tana.
The ropu was quickly pulled together after an open invitation was put out to those the Tanas knew in the kapa haka community.
A total of 65 people heeded the call and after a few short weeks of training, the number was whittled down to 40.
"We’ve got a few newbies but we’ve also got a few veterans who haven’t performed for 10 to 20 years," Mr Tana said.
"They decided to dust off the old piupiu and give it another crack."
The group was also comprised of a swag of young people who had never been to the regional finals before and a few who had never competed at senior level.
Mr Tana believed it was a combination of the Kōkō Tangiwai "greenness" and the different levels of experience in the ropu which worked to their advantage.
"We obviously had less time than everyone else but we decided to just do our best. You get full commitment and full buy-in for a short period of time.
"Now I’ve learnt sometimes a short campaign can be a good thing" he said.
Despite their surprise first placing, Kōkō Tangiwai was encouraged more by the journey that got them to the competition.
"There’s definitely a responsibility now for our kapa to raise the bar for Waitaha and put the Waitaha name on the map."
Te Matatini takes place in New Plymouth next year.
By Nina Tapu
