People deal with grief in different ways. Almost 2,000 New Zealand prep school young men chose to funnel their feelings into dance when the students performed a traditional haka dance at their teacher's funeral. The students of Palmerston North Boys' High School on New Zealand's North Island recently lost their physical education and math teacher, Dawson Tamatea. Tamatea, 50, died in his sleep July 20. Students decided a grand-scale performance of the haka dance would be the best way to honor their beloved teacher, so honor him they did.
Are you familiar with the haka dance? I honestly didn't know a thing about it until hosting an Auckland couch surfer in college. He was secretly a professional field hockey player — a thing he waited until half a handle of whiskey later on to reveal (or fabricate?) to all the housemates. The haka, he explained, was meant as an intimidation tactic and often performed before sports teams before the actual sports meeting. He showed us videos on YouTube and that was evidence enough: New Zealand athletes can be pretty scary.
But as it turns out, it can also be performed as a way of honoring a person. That's how the Palmerston students intended it, at least. And seriously? Seeing 1,700 young men throw down like that is quite the sight.
Right? But wait for the ending power pose...
POWER, I tell you. So in that sense, this has gotta be one of the boldest options for remembering a person you respect. See the whole video below:
Images: YouTube(3)
