Te Rakau Theatre Company Workshop

On Thursday this week, Drama students experienced a workshop facilitated by Director and Registered Mental Health Nurse Jim Moriarty MNZM at Trinity Catholic College. Using Te Rakau’s own Theatre Marae framework, students learned more about looking after themselves and their ensemble when working on theatre content. These are skills which students can take in to various other avenues of life too. It was an awesome experience and we look forward to working with Te Rakau again in the future.

Jeremy Beck Workshop - Senior Dance update

Senior dancers were treated to a choreographic workshop led by Jeremy Beck on Tuesday, 11 March. Ākonga were challenged by trying some improv and experimental movement, then creating short compositions at the end of the workshop.

Dancers loved being able to move in new ways, feeling inspired working alongside a talented choreographer. Senior dancers will travel to Oamaru on Friday, 14 March to watch one of Jeremy's shows - Modern God presented by Footnote Dance.

A special note about this workshop was that alumni student Trinity Maydon came along to support the teaching of the workshop. Trinity Maydon graduated St Hilda's Collegiate in 2020. Miss Geary loved seeing Trinity and is so proud of where she has taken her dance career. She is a real inspiration for younger rangatahi, demonstrating a career path in dance that they could also one day achieve. 

Miss Geary is excited to see what her senior students choreograph this year now

that they have had lots of inspiration.

Ugly Shakespeare Visit

Students watch Julius Caesar in the St Hilda’s Theatre.

Earlier this week we had a visit from the Ugly Shakespeare Company who presented Julius Caesar. Ugly Shakespeare is an Auckland-based theatre company, often described as Shakespeare-meets-Monty Python. The cast changes yearly, featuring new graduates from performing arts schools around New Zealand.

It was an absolute pleasure to host the Ugly Shakespeare Company and the students who attended had a great time. It’s always a win when Shakespeare can be made easier!

Freaky Friday auditions – well done!

A huge congratulations to everyone who auditioned for Freaky Friday this week. We loved seeing you all show what you can do and seeing some new students turning up to audition. Cast announcement coming soon!

Introducing our Kapa Haka Tutors for 2025

Bianca:

Kia ora, ko Bianca Falcão tōku ikoa and I’m really excited to be joining you all on your haka journey.

We believe kapa haka is such a powerful and fun way to connect with each other and your whakapapa, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Whether you’re new to it or have been involved before, I’m confident that we can all benefit from this awesome experience! 

Looking forward to meeting you all and seeing what we can achieve together.

Rīpeka:

Kia ora, ko Rīpeka Pōtiki tōku ikoa and I am here this year to help Bianca prepare you all for Polyfest this year! We are super excited to be a part of this and to teach you a few new items.

I have been around kapa haka nearly my whole life but only started competing in year 10 with my school group. I absolutely loved it as it was super exhilarating and exciting to be up on that stage in front of a lot of people. I won’t lie, it is extremely nerve racking but super rewarding! 

Nō reira,

Nau mai haere mai ki kapa Haka,

Tēnā koutou!

Arts Liaisons 2025

We recently announced our 2025 arts liaisons. What a difficult decision to make with so many talented and capable young people putting their hand up for the challenge. It’s a joy to see so many keen people with leadership qualities ready to step up for their St Hilda’s and Arts communities.

Nicola Erasmus - Orchestra  

Liv Hollard - Sings Hilda 

Annie Sinclair - Photography  

Estèe Farrow - Painting 

Madge Drummond - Drama 

Megha Sentilkhumar - Debating 

Olivia Priemus  - Kapa Haka 

Music - Jazz Allison and Sylvie Harper

Band Academy - Sylvie Harper and Lila Howley

Charlotte Cardno - Hip Hop 

Rosa Smith – Dance

Chelsea McRae

Arts Coordinator