Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Boys at Dance NZ Made

We were amid a throng of girls chorusing the ol' chant, "We wish the boys at our school would dance!!!!" when our boys team walked onto the stage.

Crowd pleasers from the start, the boys put on a great performance.  Travis Brown choreographed the routine.  His dancers were Wiremu Aitken, Eli Thorenaar, Dallas te Rangi, Anthony Prince and Setty Sammonds.  We thought we should share their routine entitled, "Taniwha o te Ao" (Monsters on Earth).

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

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.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Dance New Zealand Made

This was the 3rd year that we participated in Dance NZ Made, and again, we had a great time.

The event is held in Palmerston North, and focusses on Dance, unlike Stage Challenge which also includes Drama and set design elements.  We entered 4 teams in the competition this year.  Ms. de Croy choreographed 2 of the dance routines, both in a contemporary style, the Year 11-12 "Sensations" and the Year 12-13 "Darkness and Light".  Travis Brown choreographed the boys' Hip Hop routine, entitled "Monsters of the Earth".  Jamie Howatson followed in her Stage Challenge role as choreographer and put together, "Our Toy Story".

All the routines were well receieved by the audience as well as our competitors.

While we were unplaced in a competition of many, many schools and routines, the students all had a fantastic time and performed and behaved admirably.









Wearable Arts 2011

We were thrilled when Mr. Thompson said he was organising the 2011 Intercollegiate Wearable Arts awards.  Even more thrilled to find that we were hosting the event at Kuranui College.

Mr. Thompson, Ms. Price and Ms. Beecroft worked tirelessly with Art students to create the Wearable Arts for display.  And we were not short of talent! 

Mr. Thompson saw the event as a chance to showcase the whole of the Arts.  Ms. Webster was cheif D.J. and Maestro, Ms. de Croy supplied and danced on stage, and the Circus troupe from Drama had another opportunity to shine.  Oliver Healy and the set crew boys constructed the stage and a series of picture frames that the dancers and performers did their routines in and behind.

Some of our talented students took out major awards, including Renee Cheesman, Marcus Patena, Eilish Hogan and Isabelle Brown.  Jess Swan took out an X-Factor prize for her overall look.  Several students included prizes for the way they moved on stage in the Artworks.

Ariane, Ms. de Croy and Jashanna preparing to dance onstage

Some of the creations preparing to walk the catwalk

Chaedyn Dukes modeling Jess Swan's "White Rabbit"

Travis Brown on stage


Theatresports 2011

With the intercollegiate Theatresports competition always a highlight on the Arts calendar, a little snow may have postponed the tournament, but did not cancel it completely.  This year we were the most represented College, with 13 teams entered into the competition.

Our junior teams performed admirably, and were stunning to watch.  Stand out performances by Civic Cruz - completing the full splits on stage, Cameron Hawke weaving a wonderful storyline in Pop-up Storybook, Walter Barber and Emma Jenkins's Hands Interview.  The juniors definitely have raised the bar on what is possible in the next few years.

In the Senior Novice division we had our most nervous groups, the Year 12's and Year 11's.  Most of the teams had never performed before, but did a wonderful job.  Mikaela Osborne held her team together nicely, Connor Henare will not be forgotten for his dolphin training any time soon, and the spontaneous rap by the Year 12's was insane. 

In the Open Division, we had 3 teams, "Oops Crazy baby did it again", "Power Cheese" and "The Boogiemen".  While the Boogiemen got off to a fantastic start with their team introduction, and energetic performances in Stunt Doubles, the judges scored them lowly.  Choruses of boo's were heard from the crowd.  The boys were unperturbed, as they were the reigning champions from 2010.  Power Cheese were well prepared and had a great get-on-with-it attitude. 

Each of the Open Division teams knew they were likely to have to challenge each other in the competition, so preparations were kept secret.  Each team had 2 specialist games that the other teams did not know about.  The Year 13 boys played energetic physical games - Stunt Doubles and Human Props.  The Girls team played more subtle, highly specialised games - Ballet and Madrigal, and the mixed team worked with their own particular strength with words - playing Hands Interview and Song.  They each brought something special to the table, and entertained a crowd, as well as their own classmates.

At the end of the day, only one team can be victorious, and the winners for 2011 were "Oops Crazy Baby did it Again".  The team consisted of Zoe Renor, Chaedyn Dukes, Lexie Fleming, Sara Morasurat and Julia Dahlgren.  Sadly, only Zoe will remain at Kuranui next year to defend her title.

Dom Hawke and Callum Moore

Jan Meyer, Jasmine Turner, Oliver Healy and Finn Shepherd, in Atlantis

Swedish Julia, Zoe Renor, and Italian Sara in Gibberish Interpreter

Jan Meyer, German Julia, Finn Shepherd and Jasmine Turner in Hands Interview

Italian Sara in Props.