Where are they now?

After nearly 3 years in the Arts Department at Kuranui, it has dawned on me that the place is magical.  Stressful, exhausting, thrilling, tedious, annoying, exciting, amazing and talentful.  I'm not even sure if the last one is even a word.... okay, so I KNOW it is not a word.

Anyway, the Arts are really demanding subjects.  As I have been reminding my Senior Drama classes, in English you study a book, in Drama you study it, memorise the whole thing, perform it in front of an audience, and everyone knows how much work you put in instantly.  Pouring your heart and soul into something and then hearing constructive criticism is hard, for anyone, any age.  Yet, our Arts students put themselves through the rigor and pain involved, all while hearing from other students that the Arts are chill-out subjects.

We have had some very talented students passing through our metaphorical halls.  Some have gone on to careers in the Arts, and some have chosen another path.  On a random 'as-and-when-I-feel-like-it-basis' we will be throwing in a 'Where are they now?' post, because we are very proud of our students, ex and current.  It takes a great deal of guts to do what we do, and we love to see how our students run with it after they leave.

So, watch this space.... intently ;)

Private Peaceful

This post is long overdue.  Back in the International Arts Festival, we played host to the touring company, Scamp Theatre from the UK.  They set up shop in our auditorium for the day to perform "Private Peaceful" in the evening.  It was a packed crowd on a hot night, and the show was amazing!

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.

During the show he used over 20 different accents to create all the characters- totally magical and compelling.  Our students had a great time interacting with the company during the day, and helping out in the evening.

National Certificates

Last year we had great success in the Arts Department.  The Dominion Post has all the NCEA results published in it today, which is timely.... but actually, we had more success than even we planned on. 

We offered a "Performing Arts" course last year- a programme focussing on the technical aspects of performance.  What we didn't realise was that students taking the course suddenly became able to attain National Certifications.

We had 3 very successful Performing Arts Students.  Zoe Renor, Alena-Rose Burt and Alexandra Fleming all gained the National Certificate in Drama, and Alena-Rose Burt also attained the National Certificate in the Performing Arts.

To gain the National Certificate in Drama, students needed to complete 30 credits in Drama and 10 credits in a supporting subfield, which was the Performing Arts course for all 3.

To gain the National Certificate in the Performing Arts, Alena had to complete 45 credits in 3 areas of Performance, which she did with Drama, Dance and Performing Arts standards.

Zoe Renor and Alena-Rose Burt

Wordless Wednesday: Strumming the ol' Six String