Rocking out at Rockquest 2012

Ms Webster, Cody Field and Jason Ireland have been working tirelessly with the Kuranui bands to get them ready for Rockquest, and it was an epic night.

We entered 3 and a half bands.... as Sciatica was made up of 4 band members, 2 of which came from Kuranui.  Korona joined Sciatica, along with Rockquest veterans Borderline Frequency and Amplifted.  As a school we were privileged to hear the bands play before the competition, and they were epic.

On the night, our bands performed particularly well, getting a great deal of support from the crowd.  Korona, our Junior Band, won the People's Choice Award, which was a big win considering the number of entries and the high calibre of the competitors, so well done to all the bands, especially to Korona members Bethany Patten, Joe Garratt, Daniel Aburn and Sarne McGillicutty.

Bethany Patten singing with Korona

Korona members from left:  Sarne, Daniel, Bethany and Joe

Luther McCullough, front man and guitar for "Sciatica"

The Cultural Awards 2011

Last Thursday night was the culmination of another fine year of the Arts at Kuranui College.  We hosted the 21st Annual Arts and Cultural Awards ceremony.  As has become the custom, school uniforms were replaced with the glitz and glam of Hollywood for a night.

Charlotte and Katie did a spectacular job setting up the auditorium and creating the atmosphere.  As hosts, they were amazing as well.  Adam was an excellent assistant in setting the stages and Oliver did a wonderful job on the sound and lighting.

While we gave many awards for outstanding commitment and service within the Arts, and for Academic Excellence, 4 awards are the highlight of the year- the greatest contribution to Art, Music, Dance and Drama.

This year our major award winners were:
Renee Cheesman for Visual Art - particularly with respect to her Photography
Jamie Howatson for Dance - choreographing 2 competition pieces this year with large casts.
Katie James for Drama - for exceptional skill and national representation
Alexandra Fleming for Drama - for service, performing, inspiring and all round participation and
Marlon Moala Knox for Music - Piano Accordian Extraordinaire.

Marlon is quite the find this year.  Not only did he win the Instrumental section of the Intercolligiate Music Awards, and Excellences in Music Level 1, he is also a junior student.  This is the first time a major award has been given to a junior student.

Congratulations to all the award winners, and a huge thanks to the Arts Department at Kuranui College, Roger Thompson (Art), Trish Webster (Music), Kirsten Price (Art), Gina Beecroft (Art), Annabel Heenan (Drama), Catherine de Croy (Dance), as well as the wonderful people who step up to make sure our awards evenings always run smoothly, Mary Phillips (Arts Co-ordinator) and Hilary Reeve (French).

Thanks and congratulations, from me, I am privileged and honoured to work with such a great department.

Cultural Leaders 2011

With the new year fast approaching, we had the privilege of interviewing 6 brilliant candidates for the position of Cultural Leaders 2011.

As announced at the Senior Graduation and Prizegiving, the Cultural Leaders for 2011 are Katie James and Charlotte Taylor.

Katie is a dancer with many years experience in Stage Challenge and Dance NZ Made.  In 2010, she also took part in Drama, performing in "Romeo and Juliet", "MacBeth", "The Wizard of Oz" and the theatresports competition.  Katie was selected to represent the region at the National Shakespeare Festival in Wellington.

Charlotte is also a dancer, picking up excellence awards left, right and centre.  She has been a strong supporter of Stage Challenge and Dance NZ made since its inception.  She is also an artist, more recently focussing on Photography. 

Both girls will no doubt do an amazing job next year, and it is wonderful to have leaders with multiple strings to their bow.

Charlotte and Katie

Dance NZ Made

Last year we entered "Dance NZ Made" - a competition for Dance schools to show off their skills and abilities to an audience.  This year they created a whole school competition for Dance NZ Made.  We entered with a whole stack of other schools from around the North Island, from Hutt Valley High, to Karamu High, to Palmerston North Girls High, to little tiny primary school kids, to really stunning dancers from Taupo.  It was a terrific bunch of people, and a lot of talent in the room.

The day began early, heading out from Kuranui at 6:00am.  Miss Pratt had already loaded make-up, costumes and props into the cars and bus, and the dancers prepared to nap their way to Palmy.  On arrival, and a bit of BK, we headed into the Regent Theatre to watch the rehearsals and participate in workshops on different dance styles.  Hip Hop was popular, as was Contemporary Dance and Stylised Dance.

When our rehearsal rolled around, we had watched so many talented dancers and cheerleaders on stage, it was nerve racking.  However, the kids held their own, and eliciting cheers from the crowd.  Our boys were a total smash hit, with their exceptional dancing and clever musical arrangement and comic moments.

When the competition was about to begin, we were surrounded by a fog of hairspray and bobby pins.  Miss Pratt was in full diamante mode, applying make-up and fixing hair non-stop all night.  I was put on French braiding and bun holders.  The girls were fantastic at getting themselves ready, helping others, swapping shoes and tights, and remaining positive.

The dancing went so well.  On the stage the kids just brought their moves alive.  They were infectious in their enthusiasm and compelling to watch.  While the boys brought the house down with their routine, it was the Open Grade girls' team that brought home a 3rd place for their James Bond 007 routine.  All in all, it was a long 18 hour day, but well worth it, and totally a positive experience for everyone involved.  Thanks so much to Mrs Bain and to Mrs Curtice who assisted the whole day, and especially to Miss Pratt who put in so much effort to choreographing, costuming and teaching the whole squad.

Miss Pratt helping with Lydia's lift for 007

Rehearsing the final sequence of the James Bond number

Aleisha Bain in the final moments of the Fame routine

Jasmine putting on her make-up backstage

Alena-Rose helping Cheryl-Kay with her hair

Some winning images

So, previous articles did miss these photos.  Due to the flu season, it has been so gosh darn difficult to get everyone at school...... not to mention with all the success, so people have been in the studio!

3 of the boys from "Sammy 'the wonderhorse' Dodges", who won the intercoll theatresports last week.  From the left:  James Owens, Barney Johnson and Dominic Hawke.  Absent:  Daniel Cameron and Louis Gray.

Barney Johnson, named "Best Musician" at the Regional Rockquest competition with his epic snare drum.

Epic Success!

This has been a blatantly epic week in the Arts.  Not only are Production and Dance NZ Made rehearsals well underway with casting well and truly in place, we have had a spectacular week for awards.

Last Saturday was the regional Rockquest competition.  "Artificial Sun", our senior rock band, have been working so hard all year to be ready for the competition.  They rocked the house with their original songs.  They took out 2nd overall, and the greatest achievement of the night was when Barney Johnson was named as the best musician of the night.  Well done Barney!  If you want to catch "Artificial Sun" in action, check out gig dates on their Facebook fan page, or check out the last Wednesday of each month at the Ascot Theatre in Upper Hutt, where they have been making routine performances to a packed crowd.

This week was the intercolligiate Theatresports Competition in Masterton.  We entered 7 teams in the 3 divisions, and had great success.  Monday night we had "The Pineapple Express" performing and coming 2nd in the competition that night.  The team was comprised of Kaden, Ale, Sian and Dan.  On Tuesday the Yr 9 team "Bad Ass Monster Truckers" also were ranked 2nd, comprised of Kate, Moana, Natalia, Isle, Camille and Aodhan.  Wednesday was a big night with 3 teams in the Senior Novice section.  "Alphabet Soup" (Wai, Zemira, Lexie, Jamie and Adam) and "Team Group Anonymous" (Alena, Chaedyn, Aaron and Jan) were ranked 3rd equal.  "The Costa Rican National Team" (Finn, Vale, Zoe and Jasmine) also competed, and despite giving magnificent performances, were unranked.

The final night was the biggie, with 2 teams in the senior open grade final.  "Neopolitan" (Arjun, Darren, Katie, Rowan and Donal) were hilarious and showed their true talent onstage.  Their word-at-a-time may not be their favourite game, but they were wonderful.  "Sammy 'the wonder-horse" Dodges" (Dom, Louis, Barney, James and Daniel) really pulled out all the stops and worked well as a team taking out the win.  This is only the 2nd time Kuranui has ever won this division, and with Makoura College, the only school ever to have beaten Wairarapa College.  Wai Coll have been such legends in the past, and really played well last night.  It is always a privilege to work with their senior students.

So it was a magnificent week, and no doubt we will all catch our breath shortly!  Well done students, and carry on the good work!

Junior Prizegiving

Congratulations to all prizewinners and graduates from the Junior College. Particular congratulations need to go to Kaden Saywell, Drama award winner and lead in the major school production, Jan Meyer for receiving the Drama award at Year 10, and to both Sian Dunlop and Amanda Trass for their Excellence awards as well as outstanding work ethic. To the performers, well done! Aaron van Zanten, Finn Harmon and Phillip Penney did a great rendition of "Numb" by Linkin Park, and Zoe Renor, who sang, "Reflections" from Mulan. It was a terrific morning, and great to see so many talented students gaining recognition for their hard work this year.

This does signal the end of the Arts at KC for some time. However, during the Greytown Arts Festival, the College is playing home to the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra, who will be performing on the 23rd of January. Watch out for a Ukulele gathering in the town, and the members of the KC Uke Orch who should be present.

School begins again in February, though staff will be onsight from mid-January. We should have the details of Stage Challenge, Rockquest and the Shakespearean Competition early in term 1, 2010. Have a great break, and be prepared for a busy 2010!