On June 9 students competed in the school competition ShowQuest NZ which is Aoteroa’s biggest performing arts competition, showcasing Art, Music, Dance, Culture and Technology for Years 1-13.

Our school competed in the open section for the Bay of Plenty region. Katikati College came 3rd overall and received awards for:

- Best use of Drama

- Best use of Costume

- Best use of Lighting

The theme of our performance was on the effects of dementia.

We chose this theme to bring about an awareness of dementia, as it is usually a subject that is brushed over, especially in our age group.

We wanted to show that it is more than just an old people’s disease as everyone knows someone with it or is affected by it. Dementia has major effects on everyone involved and everyone needs support.

We broke the performance into the five symptoms of dementia.

1. Memory Loss. This was represented with a drama which included a grandfather and his family and a waltz from his wedding.

2. Communication and speech deterioration. A contemporary dance portrayed this by splitting up a conversation.

3. Focus and concentration loss. This was shown by switching between dance and music genres using ballet and contemporary alongside our live musicians playing rock music and classical violin.

4. Reason and judgement. This was shown through acting when our grandfather refused to believe he was ill.

5. Visual perception distortion. Visual perception was portrayed by a change in costumes and a fast-paced dance. In our final scene, all of the family members came together and embraced to represent their support for one another.

During all of the performance, we had an audio-visual backdrop which enhanced the storytelling.

We pulled together as a fantastic team and learnt that we can rely on each other.

A huge thank you to our teachers who supported us, Mrs Dean and Mrs Bullot, all our student leaders and captains Ella Bullot, Natalia House, and Christina Hewett.

Check out our performance here: https://tinyurl.com/kkcshowquest2021