Arts Liaison Reports

Dance - Lulu Grimond

The Year 13 dance class has been working on their student choreography, in preparation for their draft performance at the end of term. All of the choreography is looking stunning, I am very excited to see everyone's final performance at the dance showcase in Term 4. The Year 12's are finishing up their choreography for presentations, starting in Week 5. The joint class has also begun their exam study, which is focused on a dance choreographed by Javier De Frutos, a famous choreographer, and performed by The Royal New Zealand Ballet academy. The dance is very eerie and edgy, yet holds a deeper meaning that we have not yet looked at. The soundtrack compliments the dance beautifully, whilst also making the audience uncomfortable simultaneously.

Hip Hop - Connie Bennington

This term hip-hop looked slightly different at St Hilda's. Instead of doing the NZ Schools Hip Hop Competition, we incorporated hip hop through Showquest, NZ's biggest performing arts competition. Over the term, we taught students from Years 7-13, of all different abilities and experiences, a hip-hop set which was then performed within the show in Invercargill. It was a new approach to hip hop, but seemed to work really well. The final product looked amazing and it was such a great time with some well-earned rewards!

Music - Chole Wu

Hello I am Music Liaison representative Chloe Wu. In music lessons, we completed the group performance at the start of Term 3. We performed in a form of a band with singers, guitarists, and pianists. The Year 11’s have been doing a research project on New Zealand music, while others keep working on their own compositions and next solo performances. We are all busy making music individually but we will share our thoughts and progress together and have checkpoints throughout the term.

Orchestra - Ella Hodgson

It has been another productive term for our orchestra. We’ve gained 2 new members this term which has been awesome. We’ve been continuing to work on a range of pieces from last term, as well as beginning to learn 2 new pieces - In The Hall Of The Mountain King and Pirates of Aegean. We’re hoping to share what we’ve been working on at the end of term and are looking forward to being a part of the Carol Service next term.

Madrigal Rouge - Madi Kaan

Madrigali Rouge has been busy this term with a variety of amazing opportunities. In June, we attended the Big Sing Regional competition and were lucky enough to come away with the John Leslie trophy for Choral Excellence in Category 3 - Other Styles, for our song 'You Will Be Found'. A couple of weeks later we received the exciting news that we had been invited to the South Island Cadenza. 

In preparation for Cadenza the girls held many extra student lead practices in order to learn two new songs for our recital. The trip to Timaru was super exciting. Over the course of two days we attended workshops, performances, and an evening gala concert at the Sacred Heart Basilica. For our recital we performed three songs, Lunar Lullaby, Sanctus, and You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen. We were awarded a Korimako (silver) award for our performance. Looking ahead, we are looking forward to other upcoming performances at Eucharist and St Hilda's day.

Kapa Haka - Summer Cooper

Kia ora, this term the students have been under the guidance of Ana our new tutor. We have been learning different beats to practise poi to and have started learning a waiata with the poi. We have been finding this very challenging but a lot of fun, and it's great seeing everyone attempting the movements and then getting excited when they finally nail the action! 

We have some further excitement coming up...! On the 14th of September, it has been confirmed that Polyfest will be going ahead. Our students are now getting prepared and we are thinking of ideas for what we could perform, along with having more purpose behind our practices - which is great fun. In preparation for Polyfest we are starting to have Sunday afternoon practices held at school. This is great for our group to come together and get to know each other better, as well as nail down on our performance pieces. At these practices we also bring some money for kai, which is earned after all the mahi! This term has been off to a great start and I look forward to the group growing throughout the next term facing different challenges, but ultimately gaining experience and a further passion and understanding for why Māori performance is so important to continue taking part in.

Ngā mihi nui, Summer

Painting - Heidi Platt

Art is going very well this term, with every year group doing tremendous amounts of work for their art boards. Many girls are working on scholarships for art and entered the Otago Polytechnic Art Competition, that started nearer the end of July. Girls were keen to put a piece of art into this competition as the first place prize was your second year free at Polytechnic Art School - which is a fantastic prize. We can’t wait to hear back from the competition to see who won some awesome goodies! 

Some girls are trying out new surfaces to paint on, including one Year 13 student who is painting on the wall in the art room. It looks super cool, and we can’t wait to see them complete it. All around the senior art students are pushing through with their art boards to get the last few pieces completed. It is a wee bit stressful, but everyone is doing amazing work and we can’t wait for the feeling of relief when the last piece is completed and our boards are handed in.

Photography - Hannah Lawrence

Photography at St Hilda’s is tracking along great this year. Both Year 12 and 13 students who take photography as their subject of choice, are working away for their internals and final folios for their externals. A number of photography competitions both regionally and nationally are coming up, so students from the entire school can display and showcase their work, whether they take photography as a subject or not. The use of photography throughout the school is greatly appreciated, as when events happen such as Quad or fun mornings in the archway, the community is able to have a sense of involvement and see what is going on at our school through photos and social media.

Debating - Anika Texley

St Hilda’s debating teams finished this year’s debating with the final round of DSD, where unfortunately none of our teams made it to the finals. However, St Hilda’s 1 placed second overall in the Winter Quad tournament, where Lily Knox received the best speaker prize!