Dream Team! Success for Titus Andronicus at The National SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre!
Over Queen’s Birthday Weekend it was an absolute pleasure to support the incredible talents of Y13 students’ Hattie Salmon, Amy Morrin, Nimah Maher, Sienna Davidson, Sian Azariah and Grace Thevenard as they took to the stage at Wellington’s beautiful Michael Fowler Centre for the National SGCNZ Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival. Their incredibly moving performance from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus had the audience encapsulated for fifteen minutes as they showcased a challenging compilation of scenes. Robert Pollock and I, the girls’ families and supporters who travelled to Wellington were blown away by their efforts, direction, team work and talent. The Awards Ceremony on Sunday night acknowledged their amazing piece of theatre. Titus Andronicus was awarded:
Most Original Choice of Play Award donated by Christopher Finlayson in memory of Rosalie Coyle
Titus Andronicus, Western Springs College – Nga Puna o Waiorea
Outstanding Individual Tragedy Role Award donated by BartonRoss Ltd
Harriet Salmon, Titus Andronicus, Western Springs College – Nga Puna o Waiorea
Assessor Award – Terence Crawford
Ennobled a difficult and limited text
Titus Andronicus, Western Springs College – Nga Puna o Waiorea
Speak the Speech Award
donated by the Gaskin Family in memory of Dr Ida Gaskin
Amy Morrin, Titus Andronicus, Western Springs College – Nga Puna o Waiorea
Photography of their performance: Western Springs College – Nga Puna o Waiorea: Titus Andronicus – Compilation
For five years these six students have given everything to theatre and drama at Springs’. Their friendship and team work, growth in performance and support for the Arts is outstanding. All have participated annually in the Auckland Regional Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festivals and also at a National level. I’d like to personally congratulate them on their every success in every part of school life over the years.
Well done Hattie, Amy, Niamh, Sienna, Sian and Grace!
In other news we head towards productions at school and are proud also proud to be visiting Ponsonby and Pasadena Intermediate Schools’ in Week 8 with a selection of students to represent activity in the Arts at Springs. In the middle of an incredibly busy year for us all students’ take great pride in visiting these schools to showcase their talents and personal growth in Dance, Drama, Music and Art so watch this space for performance pics to come.
As we prepare to move into new buildings very soon students collectively continue to support eachother and teachers’ in anticipation of our exciting new space and classrooms.
Thanks to Freya Kemp – 13Art Design – for her illustration and ArtsNews Heading in this issue.
arts@wsc.school.nz Kirsty Britton – Arts Coordinator
Drama News
You may have seen the article in the Weekend Herald Canvas on Silo Theatre’s next production, Wolves. The cast of nine young women includes our very own Queenie Samuel and Akinehi Munro, who was with us in 2017. It’s fantastic to see two talented young performers working professionally. Queenie already has several Film credits and Aki first performed professionally with Massive Theatre Company in 2017 before going on to work on Shortland Street.
The other news of the term comes from The University of Otago, Sheilah Winn Festival held in Wellington over Queen’s Birthday Weekend.
We had six performers, selected from the regional festival to represent Auckland West with their 15 minute scene. This was a beautifully and skillfully edited compilation from Shakespeare’s brutal tragedy, Titus Andronicus. The piece was directed by Amy Morrin and Hattie Salmon, who performed it along with Niamh Mayer, Grace Theverard, Sian Azariah and Sienna Davidson. They flew to Wellington, midday Thursday, only to have the plane turn around and fly all the way back because of gale force winds. They then had to fly to Palmerston North and from there bus to Wellington.
This is a truly fabulous festival. Each year some 5000 plus students around the country take part in 24 regional festivals. From each of these one 5 minute and one 15 minute scene is selected to be performed at the National Festival in Wellington. The organisers stress this is a Festival and not a competition, so there are no first, second, third prizes. Instead there are a range of awards celebrating all aspects of the work.
Myself and Kirsty Britton were proud to be there to watch these young women deliver an absolutely outstanding performance. They nailed it on every level, from their concise, articulate and deliberate delivery of the text to their innovative, imaginative and superlative staging. The feedback from other teachers I spoke with was that the work was simply stunning! This was reflected in the awards ceremony with the girls receiving the following awards:
Most Original Choice of Play
Speak The Speech Award to Amy Morrin (playing Titus Andronicus)
Outstanding Individual Tragedy Role Award to Hattie Salmon (playing Titus’s daughter, Livinia)
Assessors Award – given at the assessor’s discretion for outstanding work.
To receive four awards is exceptional and a testament to the efforts of these exceptional young performers!
HOD Drama – Robert Pollock
YouDance!
Dance students are preparing for the YouDance Festival again! Three pieces of choreography from Year 12 Dance have been selected for YouDance, the Auckland youth dance festival. Amethyst Clay, Meshach Tepaki, Amy Fox, Olivia Gemmell Rangi, Grace Hemingway, Kahurangi Kay, Artem Kechemaev, Louis Lowman, Baijleiy Morunga, Thi Quynh Nguyen, Lilly Raukawa-Heslin, Te Hei Simpkins, and Alejandra Silva Patarroyo will showcase their choreography and performance skills to a public audience in the Raye Freedman Arts Centre, alongside schools from all over Auckland.
YouDance is a celebration of excellent youth choreography and performance in a collegial, non-competitive environment. It is an opportunity for students to share their NCEA dance work with peers from other schools, to extend their performance and choreography skills further, to value diversity and to perform in a professional setting.
Four Year 13 Dance students have been working with students from three other Auckland schools on a collaborative project, reinforcing YouDance’s key values of collaboration and learning from others, rather than competition. Harriet McCarthy, Rebecca McGraw, Maya Murray and Bella Peddie-Booth, will perform a dance choreographed by Perri Exeter, Rutherford Dance teacher and co-founder of Trip the Light, alongside students from Mt. Albert Grammar School, Mt. Roskill Grammar, and Rutherford College.
WSC-NPoW students are performing on Tuesday 11 June at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from iticket.co.nz
HOD Dance – Chloe Davison
Trombones in Concert
What a treat it was to have Aucktet come to perform for us!
This group of eight trombone players came to us via our connection with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Even though they were one member down there was a mighty sound from seven trombones. The players were professional, funny and entertaining. Around 100 students enjoyed a fantastic concert with one bit of feedback saying “You are a great inspiration to me – I REALLY enjoyed the concert”. Next group to visit will be a Jazz Combo!
Performance Evenings
This term’s level 3 music performance evening has been changed due to our strike action. These assessments will now take place during class over the next two weeks.
The Level 2 evening will be on June 19th
The Level 1 evening will be on June 26th
Families are very welcome to attend these performance assessment events which run from 5 – 7 pm in the music room.
HOD Music – Margaret Robertson
ARTroom Activity: 10Art painting with Roy Lichtenstein – Pop Art Comic Portraits
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