That time we met with Gandalf

This year we performed "King Lear".  2 years ago, Finn was told he was too short to be in "The Hobbit".  This last weekend, our luck was in, and we met with the man who links both parts- Sir Ian McKellan.

Ian was in Carterton raising money to rebuild the Royal Theatre in Christchurch.  We were not far behind because we love a chance to talk Shakespeare with a legend.  A group of 10 of us headed out to see him on Sunday, sitting in the front row.

The highlights were many, but when we all had a chance to join him on stage, we thought all our dreams had come true!  He was superb onstage, humble offstage, and incredibly generous with his time with us.

We had a blast, and gained a new appreciation for a legend of Stage and Screen.

With Sir Ian McKellan from left:  Travis Brown, Oliver Healy, Mr. Buckham, Juanita McLellan, Finn Shepherd, Chris Buckham and Izabelle Brown.

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.

Scribe!

Carrying on with the run of cool people who have been to Kuranui, Scribe came last week.  Not only did he speak with the assembly about aspiration and following your dreams, despite challenges from home, from life and from your teachers.  He was highly inspirational, and a great speaker.  He also performed his latest rap, written for the Rugby World Cup, "All Black Everything".

Following the assembly, a group of students were invited to lunch with Scribe in Masterton.  He was particularly taken with the Kuranui students, as they had the confidence to speak with him, one on one.  Travis Brown lead the group of students, accompanied by Ms. Rutherford.

The Circus Challenge

Oddly enough, the Circus Challenge team LOVE coming in to Kuranui.  This year we had a blast with the boys, working on contact juggling, regular juggling, diabolo and plates.  We even had the chance to teach them a few of our cool tricks!

Toyah and Zoe working with the Diabolo Instructor

Zoe plate spinning

Contact Juggling Workshop

Murphy learning Diabolo

Nicky Carlisle learning to juggle Knives

Zoe working with Devil Sticks

"The Rubber Room"

Today the Year 12 and 13 Drama students went to Wairarapa College to see "The Rubber Room"

Our reflections on the performance can be found on the Drama homework blog.


Read our Reflections here...

The set of the play:

A little bit of Magic

Today we hosted a wonderful pair of German Magicians at Kuranui.  Tuturumuri School came out for a show and a workshop, followed by our students.

We saw some amazing feats, which left the audience spellbound and incapable of clapping.... and then learnt some cool tricks.

A small warning, watch out for disappearing coins, rubber bands and magic string when on Kuranui school grounds. :D

Nicky Carlisle learns the magic string trick

Lexie Fleming making multiple red balls appear

Dylan Johnson making balls disappear

Hirini Tamihana is amazed as he cuts a rope with magic scissors

Ashleigh Banks has her thoughts read

Anthony Faafoi monitors the use of giant bubbles

Lesley Wichman, Ryan James and Dylan Johnson watch the tricks carefully

To those traveling on Air NZ this month

Those traveling with Air New Zealand this month can enjoy the inflight magazine.... featuring our own Roger Thompson.  Mr. Thompson's "Green Car" that has been seen at Kuranui, will be featured on Waiheke Island as part of their sculpture exhibition.  Headlining in the magazine you can see his work on the full page and everything!  So check out the magazine, and check out the car if you are in Waiheke.  It looks amazing.

Mr. Thompson's "Green Car", part of the Waiheke Island Sculpture Exhibit

Booked for 2011 - Mana: The Spirit of Polynesia

2011 is already shaping up to be a big year in the Arts department.  Booked today, we have a show coming to Kuranui on Thursday July 14.  Basically the show is going to be a totally awesome story combining dance and drama, outlining the journey of identity.  Year 13 students should be thinking.... hmmmm..... that sounds like something we may do in class this coming year......

Either way, all Dancers, Actors, Te Reo Students and anyone else who is mad keen for it, can go and see it.  I'm already keen as.  The price will be $5 each, and the show will be an hour, followed by some question time.  Expect to miss 1 and 1/2 class periods.

Talking to Aurora today on the phone was great, and the show sounds totally amazing!

Here is what the website has to say about it. 

"Travelling through Polynesian cultures including Native American Indian, New Zealand Maori, Hawaiian and Samoan, Bernard discovers with each the idea of family, challenges and pride.

Mana The Spirit of Polynesia embodies dance, music, multicultural themes, history, geography, the importance of learning about heritage and the power of self belief and respect.

MANA is the inner strength and confidence that comes from a sense of identity. Bernard Mangakahia inspires everyone to discover their own MANA.

Bernard is very popular as an Artist in Residence, where he can come to your school for a few days or a week and work with the students towards a concert of amazing dances and songs."

Pop over and have a wee looksie for yourself:
Nexus Arts Australia

The last few weeks of Term 2.

So, it has been a long time since the last post.  Whoops.  Things have been THAT busy.

With Stage Challenge over, and well done again girls, and Shakespeare finally over, we have launched into the major Musical Production of the year.  We are doing "The Wizard of Oz" and the cast look amazing at this point.  The auditions were fraught with difficulty as I stupidly broke my ankle a week before the auditions.... but through the magic of technology, they happened in style.  Typical for the school we had auditions from people who knew they would be overseas (Catharina Wickman), have already graduated (Hugh Philip) and did not even go to the school (Owen Winter).... so all was entertaining to say the least.

Well done Alena-Rose Burt who has been cast as Dorothy, Barney Johnson as the Scarecrow, Dominic Hawke as the Tinman and Arjun Pathmanathan as the Cowardly Lion.  Other key roles went to Darren Dingle, Louis Gray, Kendall Charles, Ilse Botha, Waimarama Phillips and Katie James.  It is a very strong cast, and I am looking forward to working with them.  The show will be performed in 9 short weeks over 5 key performances.  It will be amazing.

However first we have theatresports in 3 weeks time.  This is the hotly contested event of August, pitting our comedy and improvisation skills against the best Wai Coll, Rathkeale, Solway, St Matts and Chanel have to offer.  We look forward to seeing what will happen.

Since the last update we had the privilege of holding a Drama workshop with Hollywood legend, and ex-pupil, Vincent Ward.  Vince came in and spoke about a life/career in Drama, and the need to be more than just an actor.  He was brilliant, and we all developed a little crush on him.  Thanks Vince for being so gracious with your time, intelligence, wisdom and experience.  He had great stories, fun activities and more than one way of entertaining a crowd.

 Vince Ward working with selected Drama students.

And we also were invited to entertain the Lions Club of the Greytown with theatresports... it was a fun night and the first time for the group to perform for an audience.  It was nerve wracking, but good fun.  Highlights of the night involve Darren Dingle skipping, Arjun grooming a llama, and Kaden Saywell not knowing Paul Henry's name!

And we hosted the Melbourne Circus at school, learning new skills in juggling, diabolo, plate spinning, devil sticking, and problem solving. It was a fun day, and a great opportunity.

The chaos of circus in the auditorium

And we spent 2 days on tour with the College Roadshow.  6 performances over 2 days was a big ask, but the performers did magnificently.  Thanks sooooo much to Ms Webster, Mrs Phillips, and Ms Pratt for all of their hard work, and the magnificent performers who were stunning over the 2 days.  Dance, Music, Drama, Art and Photography put out a good show, and really proved how talented they all are.

The Roadshow Crew

Echoa Performance Review

The French Dance company with their performance of Echoa was today at school- and was totally amazing!  Exploring sound and movement, their idea was simple, and elegantly put together.  With percussion instruments and dance, they told stories, entertained and were just hysterical.

If you are sitting at home wondering what to do tonight, GO TO ECHOA.  They perform tonight at the school auditorium, and the ticket price has been dropped to $25- well and truly worth the price.  After the show they are unpacking and heading to Te Papa for the rest of the festival season, and it will be a mammoth undertaking to move the large scale set.  (Starts at 7pm, so RUN)

Go..... you will not regret it.

Thanks to Gary, Jo, Wai, Zemira, Barn and Louis for all their hard work today, as well as Carly and the festival crew who put together an amazing performance.  Thanks so much for choosing to perform at Kuranui!

Greytown Arts Festival

As you well know, the Ukulele Orchestra played at the Greytown Arts Festival.  The weather was appaulling, but the crowds still came to listen to the groovy tunes.  We had an awesome turnout, and a crowd ready to sing along.

We even had an encore!  That is truly hitting the big leagues.

Shortly I will post a couple of the songs we played on Youtube and link them to here.  In the mean time, think about this..... maybe you too could join the KC Uke Orch?  Ukuleles start at about $30, which makes them fantastic value as an instrument.  They are also rated as one of the easiest instruments to play.  Our orchestra has all kinds of people with levels of interest and talent, from those lacking both, to having both in screeds.  As well as learning an instrument, it is a great way of getting to know some awesome people.  We had the chance to hang out backstage with the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra- and it was AMAZING--- we too shall be that cool eventually.

So, school is back next week.  Seniors, re-enrole on Friday.  And do this ESPECIALLY if you are an Arts student.  A number of senior Arts subjects are timetabled at the same time, so you will need to check up on your timetable and sweet-talk your teachers if there is a clash.