Wahine Mātātoa – Drama trip

This week a handful of our senior Drama students had the opportunity to see Wahine Mātātoa at the Regent Theatre.

The show was written by Dunedin playwright Cindy Diver who is a descendant of Erihāpeti Pātahi; a high-born, high-spirited wahine. The narrative follows Elizabeth, who navigates balancing decisions while learning about the (mostly true) stories of Erihāpeti herself.

It was such a joy to witness local art created for a local audience, and showcasing tāngata whenua performers and stories. All of us were incredibly moved and grateful for the opportunity.  

First Arts Liaison Meeting

This week we got together for our first Arts Liaison’s meeting. It was a great chance for prefects Gabby and Molly to meet with them and talk about expectations for the role, upcoming deadlines for the Arts newsletter and Arts assembly, and to check in to see how we can support each other in different arts areas.

There are so many wonderful things coming up between Show Quest, Band Quest, school production, orchestra, Kapa Haka, Hip Hop, Shakespeare, Dance Showcase, Sings Hilda – there is no shortage of Arts activities. It was great to see our leaders discussing all of these things and how they can support each other and their fellow students in these activities. Mahi tika ana – great work!

Senior Dance Assessment

Our senior Dance completed their first Dance internal for the year with a contemporary piece performed to Overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent. The dance was originally choreographed by Maddison Gay for the Fringe production of Motion Sickness and used elements of sign language. The dancers did a wonderful job of embodying the message behind the song and telling story through movement. Our invited audience had a blast, and all of our dancers should feel incredibly proud of their hard work, completing their first Dance internal for 2025!

Year 11 Rock 'n' Roll

This week Year 11 Dance students completed their Rock 'n' Roll dance, which we hope to show off to an audience in the near future. It was a great starting point for discovering partner dancing and the basics of Rock 'n' Roll.

Tūhura Otago Museum Arts Excursions

This week our Visual arts classes have been visiting Tūhura Otago Museum. We’ve been learning about recreating the shapes and images of various animal species and cultural artifacts. Mrs Badcock and Mrs Pickering had a busy few days of travelling with students to observe the exhibition.

Ōtepoti Secondary Improv Club (ŌSIC)

Sign ups are now open for ŌSIC. Join ŌSIC for a weekly dose of creative fun with students from around Dunedin. Learn improv skills, level-up for Theatresports, and meet like-minded individuals. Instructed by Mārama Grant (& backed by Marea Colombo), from Dunedin's very own critically acclaimed improv troupe, Improsaurus.

Shakespeare Festival

The St Hilda’s team are gearing up for the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand Otago Regional Victoria University of Wellington Shakespeare Festival. We are taking to the stage next week!

There has been an awesome turnout of backstage support for costuming, make up and props. This is great to see ahead of our school production coming up too – keep joining in, we love having you all take part in making our arts projects even more exciting!

As well as being a fantastic learning experience and a load of fun, if our team gets into the showcase, then you’ll be able to come and watch them perform! The performance sessions and the Evening Showcase are open to the public, starting at 6pm in the Kings and Queens Performing Arts Centre. Door sales Adults $10 and Students $5. Cash only. No Eftpos.

Freaky Friday – backstage help and ensemble

We had a wonderful turnout for Freaky Friday auditions earlier this month. Those who auditioned did a wonderful job and the panel were very impressed with what they saw.

If you would like to help us with behind-the-scenes areas, then we are keen to hear from you! You can sign up for various backstage and front of house opportunities here:  https://forms.gle/eEw63nBbmDzwcqPv8

For anyone who missed out on auditions (we know you also have other co-curricular activities, maybe got cold feet, and some of you were sick) and would like to be considered for ensemble, please email artscoordinator@shcs.school.nzas soon as possible.

Please don’t be shy about joining in. It’s great to have something fun and positive like this during the winter months and only rolls around every second year. The deadline for this was Thursday 20 March but we understand that many of you have been working on balancing your commitments and may have missed this deadline.

Musicals in the Community

As we start preparing for our own upcoming performances, it’s great to stay part of the wider community and support our fellow artists. There are many school productions in Dunedin coming up over the next few months. These are opportunities for discovering further repertoire, observing what other young actors are exploring on stage and supporting the Arts in Dunedin.

• Shrek the Musical (Kings High School and Queens High School) | 1 - 4 May

• Evil Dead the Musical (Bayfield High School) | 7 - 10 May

• Chess (Musical Theatre Dunedin) | 15 - 24 May

• Prom the Musical (Logan Park High School) | 20 - 24 May

• Mary Poppins (Columba College) | 4 - 7 June

• Grease (Otago Boys High School and Otago Girls High School) | 10 - 14 June

• Back to the 80's (Trinity Catholic College) | 16 - 19 June

• Freaky Friday the Musical (St Hilda's Collegiate School) | 22 - 25 July

• Jesus Christ Superstar (Taieri Musical) | 18 – 27 September (our very own Miss Geary will be choreographing this one!)

 Chelsea McRae

Arts Coordinator