Steps to knowledge

There's a cultural give-and-take between the performers and the communities they visit.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Performers in Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre of New Zealand aren't coming to Trumbull County this week to dispel myths about their culture. There's little widespread knowledge about the indigenous people of New Zealand, so there's nothing to refute.
Group members like working with a clean slate.
"It's exciting to them," says Ataahua Papa, a former Kahurangi performer and tour manager who works for the group's artist management company, Bess Pruitt & amp; Associates of New York.
"They are able to go into a community that has basically zero knowledge ... and give them a taste of what Maori culture is all about," Papa said.
For many people who attend Kahurangi's free show Saturday night in Warren Community Amphitheater, the only thing they may know about the Maori is what they learned from the 2003 movie "Whale Rider." Young actress Keisha Castle-Hughes earned an Oscar nomination for her role as a stubborn 12-year-old girl who wants to succeed her grandfather as the village chief -- a post that traditionally has gone to males.
The film has raised the profile of the Maori, Papa said: "People say they saw the movie, now they want to learn about the culture."
That's Kahurangi's role.
Performances in Ohio
Kahurangi will perform in six Ohio communities this month on Ohio Arts Council's first Summer International Music and Performing Arts in Communities Tour, or IMPACT. Ohio Arts Presenters Network and Arts Midwest are tour partners.
"What we're really concerned about is, in the global community that we live in, that we recognize the wealth of culture," said Jami Goldstein, OAC's communications manager.
The uniqueness of Maori culture is partly attributed to the geographical distance between New Zealand and the rest of the world. For example, it's a 24-hour flight from the Midwest to New Zealand.
Maori culture also is historic, dating to the 10th century.
Maori dances
The Kahurangi program is based on Maori dances, which are set to original, contemporary music, Papa said. The dances and songs tell traditional Maori stories and history.
Everything will be performed in the Maori language, with English narration, Papa said. Maori, a Polynesian dialect, and English are the official languages in New Zealand, she added.
There are similarities in pronunciation and vowel sounds between the Maori and Spanish languages, but it's coincidental, Papa noted.
Kahurangi also distributes a written program before the performance to break down language barriers, she said. Afterward, audience members may meet the cast and ask questions.
Kahurangi means "cloak from heaven." One story that's still told to Maori children is about a God that climbed the heavens to bring back baskets of knowledge to the Maori people, Papa said.
A spiritual culture
There's an essence of spirituality to Maori culture that isn't necessarily religious, Papa said. The Maori believe in one supreme being but man deities who look after everyday life, such as the God of the Sea, she said. It's comparable to Greek mythology but, again, coincidental.
Maori people also believe in many heavens, each of which contains distinct gifts, Papa added.
Performers' costumes are authentic and handmade, Papa said. Traditional fibers are prominent, such as the flax, or swamp grass, skirts that dancers wear.
Kahurangi's North American group features six performers who travel throughout the continent year-round. The New Zealand group is larger -- there are as many as 20 performers.
All performers in the North American group are graduates of Takitimu Performing Arts School in Hastings, New Zealand, an accredited institution for preservation of Maori performing arts. Also, each has at least two years' experience as professional performers. Members rotate between the two groups.
The Maori population on this continent is very small. "There's a big pocket of Maori living in Utah, mostly because of the Mormon religion," Papa said. Los Angeles also has a Maori community.
Presenting diversity
As for what brings Kahurangi to Warren, "We do strive for geographical diversity" in programming, Goldstein said. OAC tours reach all regions of the state, but not necessarily just the largest communities, she noted.
It also helps when OAC finds "good community partners" to help with scheduling and promotion, Goldstein said, noting that OAC and Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County have such a relationship.
Kahurangi members are not only performers and educators, but recipients in an ongoing cultural exchange. "It fulfills a lot of needs for a person in terms of travel, meeting new people, encountering people with very different backgrounds. It helps them to develop as humans," Papa said.
shaulis@vindy.com