In The Zone
With Kidzone moving to Sky the ever-cheerful Kayne Peters is
on 24/seven. He tells OHbaby! about his tap-dancing, tangata whenua
and identical twin.
Imagine a four-year-old Maori boy sitting in the lounge of his
Mangere home. His Mum's cleaning, his twin brother's playing and
he's glued to the television and a film called Tap with black
American dancers. This was the moment Kayne Peters caught the
performance bug. "I remember thinking, 'Right, to be a movie star I
have to do that!'"
Kayne pestered his reluctant father to take him to tapdancing
lessons held at the church next door. For the next six years he was
a tap-dancer, travelling the country, even performing with the
Royal New Zealand Ballet. The tap-dancing didn't last. He gave it
up because it "wasn't cool" at St Kentigern's School, where he and
his twin brother won scholarships at the age of 11. Instead, he
took the sporty route - rugby league, athletics and martial
arts.
Around this time there was a big shift when he and his brother
had an initiation of sorts into their Maori heritage. He is part
Tainui and part Ngati Tuwharetoa which was the last iwi in New
Zealand with a paramount chief. The Peters boys would spend their
school holidays in a kind of boot camp, at their home marae at Lake
Taupo. It was similar to the lessons featured in Whale Rider, with
the elders teaching the new generation the old stories, haka and
waiata. They would spar against their cousins and uncles and "got
in tune with our Maori side".
After school, Kayne studied at the Toi Whakaari acting school at
Unitec in Auckland. His agent rang him offering him an audition for
"this new kids' show, Kidzone". His brief was to "sing a song and
to teach them something". So, Kayne made a chart of super heroes
and drew some shapes and on the morning of the audition he came up
with a rap song while in the shower. The next day he got the call
that the producers wanted him. Viewers of Kidzone will know Kayne's
rap songs are now a feature of the show. He says that and the te
reo elements are his contribution. A very talented team of writers
and producers create the rest.
"I get positive feedback from parents - they really love Kidzone
because it's safe and educational and it's uniquely NZ. "When I
first started I didn't want it to be just another naff kids' show.
I was inspired when I was a kid by Playschool and I wanted Kidzone
to be another Playschool." So, it was fortuitous that the first
season was filmed in the very Dunedin studio where Playschool used
to be made. Kayne takes having a public profile very seriously but
says when he's out and about without his famous yellow t-shirt,
it's mostly parents who recognise him - not kids. Of course, public
recognition is something his identical twin brother has encountered
too. Kayne says it's handy that his brother lives in Australia.
When Kayne's not filming Kidzone, he's studying towards a
post-graduate diploma in journalism, and hopes for a career that's
a little longer lasting than his dalliance with tap-dancing.
TVNZ Kidzone24 can be found on Sky Digital Channel 46 and will
continue on the free TVNZ Channel 7 between 6am and 8am until June
2012.
Published: July 2011