Bye Bye Drama Room

With the end of term came the had over of the drama room to the ever expanding construction site within THS. On Monday the Performing Arts teachers were in at school doing paperwork when the headed out for lunch. By the time we got back the entire drama room had been demolished.
AFTER PIC:

THEIR REACTION:

Kawerau Christmas in the Park

On Saturday the senior Tarawera High School band performed a set of songs at the Kawerau Christmas in the Park. It was a great way to end the year with a mix of new, old, fast and slow songs. Here is a video of Tania and Tioney singing 'Tomorrow Never Comes'.

Year 10 version of The Christmas Story

As a last lesson project with a festive theme the year 10 performing arts academy were challenged to create their own version of 'The Christmas Story'. First we had to go over the story to make sure we didn't forget anything. Here is the video f what they came up with in 60 minutes.

Senior Prize Giving

Last week we farewelled our year 13 students at the final prize giving for the year. It was a great opportunity to celebrate students achievements from year 7 through to year 13. Our senior band accompanied the full school singing of 'Lean On Me' and The National Anthem and also performed an item Stan Walker's 'Inventing Myself'. A mix of junior students through to year 11s also performed a song, 'Take It Easy'. Prize giving was finished off with a stellar performance by the entire THS staff. The staff performed 'I Lived' by OneRepublic as a memento for the senior leavers. The video can be viewed below: 

Two nights to remember for Tarawera High School Performing Arts Academy students

While most senior students in New Zealand are at home on study leave, students at Tarawera High School are still gaining internal credits. The senior Performing Arts Academies are an excellent example of that with their performances of A Midsummer Nights Dream and Animal Farm last week.

The year 12 and 13 Performing Arts Academy performed two back to back performances of Animal Farm on Friday. Animal Farm is one of the most controversial and studied political commentaries. The show is a re-telling of George Orwell’s classic novel in which a group of animals enact a revolution against their terrible master and create a society of their own. The animals strive for a utopian sort of communism, where each works according to his capacity, respecting the needs of others. It all ends badly however, and Animal Farm ends up being a dictatorship of pigs who turn from being ‘comrades’ to ruthless dictators. To create the farm atmosphere, director Danielle Hocken brought in a full scaffold platform and covered the entire stage with three trailer loads of dirt. The students did an outstanding job of portraying their animals to the audience with twitchy movements aptly and comically mimicking their animal roles. For many of the students this was their their last drama performance at Tarawera High School before they leave for tertiary study. What a great way to finish the year with such a thought-provoking theme and exceptional performances by the cast.

The previous evening the year 11 Performing Arts Academy performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream to family, teachers, students and members of the elderly community.A great deal of work clearly went into the production, from its comical music cues to its hilarious characters and costumes. The students’ performance of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy made Shakespeare easy to follow. A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays the adventures of four young lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with woodland fairies and a duke and duchess. The play takes place in mythical Athens and an enchanted forest. There is a handsome fairy king, a misguided parent, star-cross lovers, a weaver who’s transformed into a half-donkey, wood sprites and elves. Overall these students did an excellent job especially considering this was their first time performing Shakespeare. All students involved in either production were gaining NCEA credits for their performances.

Level 2 & 3 performing a contemporary dance to 'Howl'

Level 2 & 3 Dance Performance

This afternoon the level 2 and 3 students from performing arts academy performed one of their completed dances. The dance was performed to Florence and the machines 'Howl'. We invited our future PAA students from the year 9 and 10 performing arts classes to be our audience. The hall was set up as a traverse stage with audience either side of the hall. Here is a few pictures and watch this space for a video of the dance also. Tino pai ākonga!

Improving ourselves outside of class time!

A group of level 1 students from the performing arts academy and select few senior students have started learning music theory at homework club! We are meeting every Monday and Thursday in C3 to work on a fully online course designed especially for our students. To sweeten the deal at the Monday session there is even cookies and milo provided by generous members of our community! Come along if you want to learn something new or need a (relatively) quiet place to work after school. Here are some pics of our students this week.

Year 10 prepping for performances

Our year 10 performing arts academy are focused on their group performance assessments in music this week. Here are a few pics of them making some sweet sounds.

Contemporary Dance Tips

Some hot tips on contemporary dance from contemporary Eric!

One final celebration with the cast of Grease

On Thursday evening more than 40 of the Grease cast, crew and whanau headed into Whakatane to have one last meal together. Thanks to Javaman for the delicious kai and for opening especially for us! Here is a few pics from the cafe, Hei konā mai.

GREASE

Two weeks ago 40 Tarawera High School students performed the musical Grease four times over three days to over 1500 members of the Kawerau community. To try and summarise the work put in by all of the cast and production team is very difficult. As directors of the show we aimed to set a high and professional standard for the cast in order to produce a finished product: they, their whanau and the community would be proud of. Without question the students rose to the challenge. We are immensely proud of what the students achieved and thank everyone who made the show possible. Here are some thoughts from the cast looking back on the show- Mr A Pritchard, Miss D Hocken & Miss T Hoskins

“From day one of Grease we have loved the experience, we have got to know a lot of people. On the first rehearsal it was full on and a bit scary but we loved it. Our first evening performance was so scary, we were all so nervous but al the rehearsals paid off. We have learnt a lot from all the teachers and cast and would love to do production next year.”- Kimiora Tahana (Yr 7), Mania Keepa & Kalani Ruri (Yr 8)

“I felt the production was a fun, exciting and enthralling experience. Our cast was picked perfectly, and our directors were very positive throughout the show. The show taught me that patience is a virtue, and that with positive forces we can achieve great things if we all work together.”- Rhys Jones who played Sonny (Yr11)

“I really enjoyed playing Eugene because it was a different style of acting for me to try. The cast were all supportive and amazing and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”- Samuel McCarthy who played Eugene (Yr 11)

“Being part of the Grease Production was a great experience. Playing in the band was an absolute joy, being able to contribute to the last ever production performed in the hall before it is demolished. Over all, it was a great time being able to work alongside the cast and crew.”- Bless Maxwell- guitarist for the production band (Yr 12)

“I am truly thankful for the experience that was given to me. Grease has made my last year at Tarawera High School so memorable. I am also thankful for the great cast I worked with; every member of the team will never leave my heart. ‘Kaua kia kawea mai tetahi mea a koutou ki raro I te mea aroha koutou mahi I”- Jaz Wiremu who played Sandy (Yr 13)

“I’ve been very nervous in the past to talk and act in front of others, but Grease has given me the confidence to be on stage. Grease has given many of us the opportunity to make new, close friends with people we wouldn’t normally talk to around school. This experience has brought both seniors and juniors closer together.”- Darryl-Lea Greenfield who played Frenchy (Yr 13)

“The production of Grease 2014 was a very enjoyable experience. Not only has my overall confidence been built up but specifically my confidence at singing in front of people. I have become a lot closer with the people who were in the production, people of all ages and this makes school a lot better. This was my first experience of being in a big production and it was amazing and I would like to do more. It has helped me so much.”-  Connaire Alcock who played Kenickie (Yr 13)

“Grease was amazing. For me personally it was the people involved with the show that made the whole experience life changing. It was worth all the hard work on opening night. I fed off the energy the crowd gave me and they fed off the energy I gave to them. Performing live is like a hard core cross fit workout. I love this type of challenge and I love the fact that I can provide quality entertainment for the families of my community to enjoy. With all the confidence, friendships and leadership I have gained from my experience with production I know that I have an awesome bunch of old and new friends that will support me just as much as I will support them. I will never forget my experiences in THS, and most of all I will never forget the experiences and friendships I have made in production.”- Kath Frewen who played Rizzo (Yr 13)

“Being part of the school production has been such a mind blowing experience. Forming tight relationships with people I have never socialized with in my time at school was really something different. I started off trying to avoid rehearsals but after a while my character grew on me and then I experienced the thrill of performing to a live audience. I have come to the realization that trying something different may have been the best decision I could have ever made.”- Asa Wimutu who played Danny (Yr 13)

T.H.S Music Department at Kawerau 60th Birthday Celebration

Our student band 'Bromundos' joined in the Kawerau 60th birthday celebrations at Prideaux Park earlier in the year. Here is one of the many tunes they performed, this is their cover of 1814's version of 'Ring of Fire'.

Hairspray Flash Mob at T.H.S

Remember when the level 2 & 3 performing arts students treated the entire T.H.S whanau to a flash mob style performance of 'You Can't Stop The Beat' back in term 1. Here is the video for anyone wanting to reminisce.....

Theatre In Education at Kawerau South School!

At the end of last term the level 1 performing arts academy took their original drama pieces to Kawerau South School to perform. The students had to come up with their own idea for the script that had a lesson for the children they were performing them too. There were lessons from road safety through to bullying and the importance of brushing your teeth. All of the performances also featured original songs that the students had wrote. Here is a few pictures of the performances.

Nau mai ki te Performing Arts Academy Blog!

This is a place where the Performing Arts Academy team will share info on what is going on in our academies and outside of the classroom in the performing arts department at Tarawera High School.
For now here is a picture of the level 1 performing arts academy last Thursday earning credits for dancing to a bit of Beyonce. Keep and eye out for more videos and posts to come!