Our homegrown 2023 production.

In Week seven, 95 students took the stage for Mai i te Tīmatanga - our 2023 school production. Earlier this year Whaea Brie and Whaea Lena had decided that this was the year to write our own show. This work was homegrown, building on the Aotearoa Histories research our students had been conducting into the history of Newlands. Diving deep into the oral and written histories of our local (and slightly wider) area, Mai i te Tīmatanga brought together our Kapa Haka students, dancers, Poly Club performers, Band, musicians, singers, cultural dancers and actors in a joyous celebration of who were are as a kura and community.

Despite the hard work, our students and teachers had a blast and (we might be biased but) we think this was one of our best shows yet. Below are some of our students and staff highlights from the show:

Pippa (Dancer, Kapa Haka): "I think it was pretty cool because there were a lot of people that I wasn't really friends but then after the production practices I had so many people I knew. I think performing in Ice Ice Baby was my favourite."

Lucy and Emily (Backstage): "I really like helping out with the costume. It was really fun seeing how it all works backstage"

Jia (Cultural Dancer, Actor): "I enjoyed everything about production. It was really fun. I liked the Bollywood dancing because I like showing people about my culture. I was also a 2000s teen and it was my first time acting in front of an audience and I'm pretty sure the audience enjoyed it."

Whaea Lena (Co-Director): "The highlight was seeing the diversity of students involved and how they all contributed to telling our story."

Neve (Dancer): I enjoyed the thrill of the costume changes and trying to get on stage in time. My favourite dance was the Nga Atua one."

Maddie (Kapa Haka, Actor): "I enjoyed learning the new songs for Kapa Haka and the different poi."