With many schools across the country now back, it seems that most people have returned to their normal routine after the summer break. There has been no respite for us, as we have been as busy as ever during August, and indeed for the entire summer.
The last few weeks have provided a nice mixture of events for us to deliver, including football freestylers, beatbox workshops and bar flarers! These have been alongside lots of our most popular activities, such as drumming, boomwhackers and, as the photo shows, Haka.
Today’s participants got the shock of their lives when our Head Haka Master burst into their meeting room. This London medical practice has one day every year where the entire staff get together and just have fun.
Mouths hitting the floor, gasps of breath and the shaking of heads were direct evidence that this really was a surprise and unlike anything this group had done before.
As ever, our client wanted to keep the whole thing a complete surprise so we were met secretly in the car park and rushed in along disused corridors to avoid meeting any staff arriving early!
Once in the make shift dressing room, our Haka Master stayed well hidden. A six-foot man wearing feathers and adorning full face tribal markings, as you might imagine, would give the game away that something different was up.
I simply addressed the expectantly waiting group with one question – “Are you ready for this?” The room replied with a resounding “YES!” That was the cue for the door to fly open and our Maori warrior to enter. After the first passionate performance of the Haka, the group got to hear about the fascinating history of the Maori people and how Haka is used now and has been in the past.
This particular section of the event is sometimes overlooked as people simply imagine that everyone is up on their feet and experiencing the physical side of the activity. By sharing where Haka comes from and its context, participants get the full intensity and power from the activity, which translate into total engagement. The importance of Haka to this tribal system relates effortlessly to team building and leadership.
Today, we had a predominantly female audience. Participants were particularly happy to hear that, in Maori culture, women are held in high regard. Women dominate within the spiritual mythology and hold very important tribal roles.
With summer now out of the way, there has definitely been an upturn in enquiries and, in turn, confirmed events. Coming up in the next few weeks are Thriller events, huge drumming sessions, live DJs and a house band to entertain a conference! I look forward to reporting on some of these in future blogs.
For more information about our events, please Contact Us.
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