Workshop Session A
The Wai Factor
‘Wai’ is a common term referring to waiata – Māori song and performance. Wai also means water, as such anything we sing or perform should be a reflection of how one is feeling encapsulated in the term ‘te wai i ataata ai ngā kare-a-roto’ the waters that reflect the depths of the soul. This workshop will teach a waiata while exploring the values that underpin the performance of waiata and haka and how the design of these values provide a roadmap to health and wellbeing.
Workshop Facilitator
Workshop FacilitatorS
Valance Smith
AUT
Dr Valance Smith (Ngāpuhi, Waikato, Ngāti Haina) has recently been appointed to Assistant Pro-Vice Chancellor (Māori Advancement) and leads the Mātauranga Māori Strategy at AUT. He provides cultural leadership to AUT, his whānau and abroad, this year accompanying the Pacific Mission Delegation to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands alongside Rt Hon Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. While his doctoral thesis looked at the role of contemporary Māori music in promoting te reo Māori (2014), his most recent research applies mātauranga Māori across many disciplines of research.
