Sunday, March 26, 2006

Te Matarae I Orehu

Last Friday at the Festival Melbourne there was a Maori Dance Troupe called Te Matarae I Orehu and it was one of the best shows I've seen here at the festival.

The troupe is made up of 26 Maori kapa haka dancers both men and women. Check out these lovely Maori ladies, aren't they a pretty sight.

While the women sing and dance and swing their ball thingy in the foreground, the men played musical instruments and sang along with them. This is all too mellow for me...

...until the men started doing the haka! Kamateh! Kamateh! Ho! They even jumped off the stage and danced right infront of us!

Look how mean looking they are with their tattooed faces and legs even on their butts! I learnt that night that 'ha' means 'breath' and 'ka' means 'fire' so 'haka' means 'fire breath'. I didn't see them breathing fire though.

Each dance tells a story of some sort and not all stories are about war and killing your enemies, there were songs of love like what these 2 are singing about. Hmm...

Yay! More haka! This time they got their women to join in and they are just as fierce and mean as the men! I'm scared of Maori men and women liao!

Mine is bigger than yours! When they were swinging their spears around I was worried that they may drop them and hit someone in the audience! I'm so wimpy.

Well scary or not, they are one of the best performers I've seen here at the festival. Remember all performances and shows during the festival are free but you may have to queue a long time to see them but they're all worth it!

Before they finish up they grab some males young and old to join in the haka. Lucky I was spared! I would've look really stupid with my stiff joints and silly grin :).


Ok I just had to take this one when they were leaving the stage for all you females out there! 5xmom and Helen, your noses are bleeding so go have a lie down. Amelia and Che-cheh, don't get too sexcited and settle down girls!

Watch the haka below;


26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oii! I'm from Sarawak-lah! Already seen too many of those Iban men's butts when they do their ngajat...hahaha
I've always love to watch the All Blacks do their haka, ;)
Thanks very much for sharing the video & photos.

Anonymous said...

crap.. i'm supposed to go for this but i had a test.. again!!! argh!!! yeah i haf to agree wif amelia. the best part of haka is when the all blacks do it!! yaa!! Go ABS!!

5xmom.com said...

*pinching nose to stop bleeding...

Aiyor, I want to be their woman la. Can afford to eat fat-fat. Those tongues...and butts.

Helen said...

OkOK still can tahan... the bleeding had stopped.

But I dun think I will be as lucky if i see Wuching baring his butt in my face... :-P Gotta get ready some extra blood in case I lose too much....

My blood type is O... in case anyone wants to donate...

Wuching said...

amelia: i thot u'll never get tired of seeing naked men's butts!

alex: the all blacks r rugby players & they r very stocky & don't do the haka well..these r true professional haka dancers!

5xmom: yaloh, u don't have to worry about getting fat if u r their woman, eat as much as u like!

helen: haha! u will never see my butts lah so u r safe..for now!

FooDcrazEE said...

hehehehehhe

Anonymous said...

See only...cannot touch...also no use...make me frustrated only! hehe

Anyway, I watched the telecast of the CGames closing...really looking forward to your posting on it with ur personal touch... ;)

Thanks, mate. :)

Robin Wong said...

Wow..
good dances there.. never seen any tribal preformance in my time in aus yet.

Chin Kian said...

holy cow so many jakuns!

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha ha! Good one, wuching! Am sure QV also excited since he has this thing for prehistoric man! U mean u went all wimpy when u show those guys with their big sticks??? Inferiority complex? Ha ha ha ha ha!

Anonymous said...

I'm under controlled. No nose bleeding whatsoever. ;)

Wuching said...

foodcrazee: hehehehehehe

amelia: see only cannot touch but u can improvise..hoiyo, the Closing Ceremony..dissapointing lah, i'll write about it next.

robin: u know why? coz perth is so far away from everything else its like a country by itself outside australia!

chin kians: what's jakuns?

STP: i'm so insecure :(

che-cheh: very good girl, easy does it, steady..

Anonymous said...

Wuching..Surely you are not as insecure as some people we know :P anyway..can't wait for your posting on the closing ceremony.

STP errrr....did anyone say that the Maori's are prehistoric? Remind me to send your pictures over to them so as they can officially "Ban" you from entering New Zealand...besides..I think they have enough big sized man around there and they dnt need an import from Sarawak hahahahahahaha

Wuching said...

QV: aiseh* paiseh leh..;)

stargazer: u like too eh?

Anonymous said...

Wuching..update liao...cant wait for your views of the Closing ceremony :P

Anonymous said...

Wuching, sure you took those butt shots for ur female viewers? Or is it just an excuse? hehehehe.

Wuching said...

QV: i'm bloody at work still! can't update lah! do it tonight!

KNB: oops! u see right thru me! takes one to know one! haha!

Anonymous said...

Alamak!! KNB & Wucing?? U two look at guys butt ah....Die loh....

Wuching..okloh..check ur updates tomorrow then......glad to see you not catching snake today hahahahahaha

Anonymous said...

Haha... you love big size women! Anyway, I believe have to watch it live to enjoy the atmosphere.

Wuching said...

QV: don't know about the not catching snake part coz i went to watch another parade in the city this morning! die loh!

jacky: i love all women of all sizes & all colours!

Jeremy C said...

one thing that i like about the maori culture is the hakka war dance - i always get a kick out of watching it, esp prior to kick-offs at rugby matches - great stuff, mate.

Wuching said...

jeremy: that's what these guys were doing on stage! abd they're better than the rugby players!

Anonymous said...

Jeremyc, what "hakka" dance r u talking about? U mean the "khek lang" kah? And QV, if u go to NZ, sure the islands will sink...like Atlantis!

Anonymous said...

HAE U GUYS R GAY i FINK MATARAE R DA SHIT NO MATTER WHAT

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Anonymous said...

this is just strait disrespectful im fifteen and im offended by reading this , its kamiti" man is your going to even try make sure you get it right ! , strait disrespect im so offended and if this roopu read this they would be to !