Arts News Term 3, Week 4

The Magic of the Arts
Last Thursday night we held our biennial EGGstravaganza performance in the Charles Luney Auditorium - a night like no other! 

EGGStravaganza showcased over 50 staff who stepped into the spotlight and out of their comfort zones—all in the name of charity.

From surprise performances to hilarious skits and hidden talents, this Royal variety-style show was full of laughter, entertainment, and a whole lot of heart. Whether it was singing, dancing, or something totally unexpected, our brave performers gave it their all - all for a good cause.

One of our brave performers was Kathryn McBride. On a day to day basis Kathryn is the Financial Controller at SMC, but last Thursday was a different day. After the work day had finished, she warmed up her vocal cords, put on a wig and costume, and was a singer in front of an audience of 700 people.

Kathryn, have you ever done anything like this before? I have performed as part of a group but never a solo onstage in front of the general public. And I haven't sung much for the last 12 years, so for me it was a challenge to find my voice again.

What made you decide to perform and why this particular song? The finance team sit overlooking the SMC pre-school and we hear the lovely sounds as the students play. Once in a while, the pre-school teachers will put music on, and Let it Go is a favourite. It is very inspiring to hear 30 preschoolers singing along at the top of their voices during the chorus. I had the idea of this song being performed with dancers and then singers joining in as the song builds. After my father passed away earlier this year, it reinforced that life is short and we do need to get out of our comfort zone and try new things. And the EGGstravaganza is such a good cause!

Tell us about the process of your act and how it all came together for the evening? I approached Sarena Harrison - our Middle School Performing Arts teacher (who is an amazing performer) - to see what she thought of the idea. Sarena was so encouraging and worked with Stacy Goldsworthy and Rachel Wilford to ask for volunteers from the Middle School Dance Company, Middle School Choir and Chamber Choir who wanted to perform in the show. The Middle School Dance Company learned the dance in less than 3 weeks and all of the students knew the song. All of the girls were amazing to work with!  Steve Fowler, Music and Audio Technician, was also so supportive - downloading and extending the backing track to repeat the last verse and working with Ms Harrison to bring in the lighting effects. Our EGG mentors Nevaeh Shand and Zoe Rea were wonderful and provided excellent advice, guidance and support throughout the process.

How did you feel before, during and after the performance? I was very nervous before the item - whether my voice would do what I wanted it to or decide to "choke". However the whole theme of the song is actually about going out and not being scared about what others think of you and doing your best. It was amazing to feel the song build and feel the audience's reaction as the dancers, then the singers joined in. 

The highlight was when everyone including the audience sang the last verse together. I can only describe it as a wave of sound and being surrounded by it! I hope everyone (both the girls participating and the audience) had fun as well.

I have been really surprised and grateful for the feedback that people enjoyed it, and it has hopefully inspired others to step out of their comfort zone and take part for such a good cause. And I am so impressed at how professional and talented the students and performing arts teachers are.

How far removed from your day job was this? This is very different to my day job as we rarely interact with the students. It has been very special. 

What did you ‘take away’ from this experience? I learned that you are never too old to try something new and step out of your comfort zone.

What has it taught you about the performing arts, if anything? It’s taught me that the performing arts is a powerful way to communicate, create enjoyment for others and become part of a team with other performers and audience.

Has this inspired you to do more singing? Yes it has inspired me - not necessarily to perform more, but to sing for enjoyment. However there is one song that my husband has permanently banned from our house!

      Photo credit: Inspired Images

MUSIC
Southern Jam
Twelve students from the SMC Jazz Band have travelled to Blenheim for the annual Southern Jam competition and festival. They will be treated to masterclasses, workshops and listening sessions with professionals in the industry. We wish them well with their performances and overall trip, and look forward to hearing more. 

Rockshop Bandquest
19 students from Y5/7/8 will be taking part and competing at next week’s Rockshop Bandquest. 

The kaupapa is to encourage Primary and Intermediate aged musicians onto the stage; learning through experience and developing their performance skills alongside their teamwork, communication, goal-setting and leadership skills.

Rockshop Bandquest is designed for students who are not quite at the point of writing their own songs yet, to give them a chance to get up on stage and get a taste for it. Entrants get to perform in a supportive and encouraging competition format, with a focus on education, inspiration, and entertainment.

The Rippers, K.E.M.M, Frogletz and Pink Ashes will be performing at the James Hay Theatre, Town Hall on Thursday 14 August and we wish all the bands luck.

Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster https://www.rqp.co.nz/bandquest/#dates-tickets

DRAMA
NZ Playhouse visited SMC during week 2 with their recent show. NZ Playhouse aims to be educational, inspirational and entertaining and their show The Boy Who Cried Wolf was all of that. 

The students from Yr 0-6 engaged with this interactive show, involving three actors taking on many well-known character roles, such as Little Bo Peep, Humpty Dumpty, Pinocchio and of course the Wolf. They learnt the story and its message, got teachers involved and used simple props to illustrate the story. 

A question and answer session ended the hour, and students asked some great questions, such as how did Pinocchio’s nose grow? They learned more about the ‘tricks of the trade’ and how things worked on set and behind the scenes. A new show is booked for next year!

Some of the Speech and Drama students have been working hard for many weeks and this came to fruition last weekend at Rangi Ruru. After weeks of dedicated rehearsals, tireless effort, and incredible creativity, two teams participated in the Canterbury TheatreFest. Finally the cast and crew were able to showcase their hard work. 

We are incredibly grateful to our amazing performers and the fantastic team behind the scenes who brought the productions to life and we’re super proud of their achievements. 

Congratulations to our Directors Dinie Bevers and Ruth Agnew for supporting these teams.  

Dinie directed 'Ballad of a Dying Planet' by Bruce Goodman, a NZ playwright. This is a powerful play; a moving and thought-provoking experience, exploring themes relevant to our world today. Ruth wrote and directed 'Hide and Squeak, We Don't Speak'.

St Margaret's College took away the following awards for their performances:

'Ballad of a Dying Planet': 
Magic Moment Award to Ida Van Kan and Olive Bascik
Merit Award for Design. 
Merit Award for Sound/Music 
Merit Award for Acting to Anna Qiu.

'Hide and Squeak, We Don't Speak': 
Magic Moment Award to Bridie Cottier-McCormick and Annika Gale, who stood in at the last minute. 
Merit Award for Design.

TheatreSports
Theatresports™ in Schools is an annual competition for improvised theatre held by The Court Theatre. School teams of up to six perform scenes and games based on audience suggestions, scored by a judging panel of The Court Jesters. Teams that progress through the heats are invited to participate in the grand finale at The Court Theatre.

Under the tutelage of Mrs Jack, 4 Senior school students: Sadhbh O’Neill, Madeleine Coughlan, Sophie Edwards and Ida Van Kan, will be competing on Saturday 16 August at 1pm at the Court Theatre in the second heat. We wish them luck with their improvisation.

ePro8 Inter-school Competitions
ePro8 teams from Yr 5/6 and Yr 7/8 competed between other Christchurch schools at yesterday’s competition.

Teams are required to:
build large structures
solve practical problems
engineer using pulleys, motors, gears, wheels and axles
invent machines that can complete simple tasks
undertake unusual and fun experiments
construct electronic circuits
solve interesting problems using practical maths
We look forward to hearing how the teams placed.

SENIOR ARTS COUNCIL
The Arts Council has already begun brainstorming our fresh approach to the Arts Soirée this year. So mark your calendars for Friday, October 10th! We’re mixing it up this year and taking on a Coachella-esque vibe that everyone can get involved in and have fun with. Get excited and bring your friends, there will be something for everyone, regardless of your artistic pursuits.

Our council has been hard at work, planning workshops and activities to celebrate the Arts at SMC and get everyone involved. Just recently, our Head of Middle School Arts, Lily, helped the Middle School Arts Committee celebrate the diversity in talents of our middle schoolers. It’s fantastic to watch flourishing talent bloom; our girls show promise, passion and a willingness to share their gifts. Well done to Lily for her support, all performers and friends who came to watch the recent Talent Show.

The term is off to an amazing start, and we look forward to celebrating more success and passion through the rest of the term.

Jules McCarthy and the Arts Council.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ARTS COMMITTEE
Lights, camera, action! The Middle School Arts Committee held a Talent Show for Yr 7/8 this week. Students came to the Black Box and celebrated a plethora of talent. The show opened with a dance sequence from the Middle School Arts Committee wearing vibrant colours and ended with some closing remarks from Lily Griffiths, Senior Arts Council Arts leader. 

There were dancing duos, a ballerina and even a naughty raccoon! The dancefloor was flooded with both performers and audience members at the end, having a dance before classes restarted. Everyone had lots of fun. Well done to the Arts Committee students who helped to organise this event. 

DANCE
The annual SMC Dance showcase is looming. This is the time for our dance groups to showcase their dance so far this year and to shine in front of an audience. There will be a huge variety of styles of dance and many costume changes!

This is a free, non-ticketed event, involving a large number of students. Please come and support the girls on Saturday 23 August 7pm in the Charles Luney Auditorium.

VISUAL ART 
Year 7's paper layered creations of "Rock Pools'. This fantastic display was inspired by a visit from Blake Trust, who, through VR headsets, showed the students life on the seabed, in various coastal regions.

CELEBRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Stella Dick, Indie Symons and Charli Foreman performed in the solo and duet category DanceNZMade and they all performed brilliantly. These were large categories and we placed in all: 

Stella and Indie - Duo : 2nd runner up

Stella - Solo: 6th runner up

Indie - Solo: 4th runner up 

Charli placed second in her solo category and made it to the National level competition in Palmerston North later this year.  A great representation for SMC!

Speech and Drama - 3 AASB Teaching diploma students passed their third of 6 exams. To date, they have achieved:

Anna Qiu - Practical Module One - Distinction

Theory Papers 1 (Voice & Speech) - Distinction

Theory Paper 4 (NZ & Pacifica Writing) - Distinction

Sophie Edwards - Practical Module One - Distinction

Theory Paper 1 (Voice & Speech) - Merit

Theory Paper 3 (Shakespeare) - Pass

Zoё Rea - Practical Module One - Distinction

Theory Paper 1 (Voice & Speech) - Merit

Theory Paper 3 (Shakespeare) - Distinction

Congratulations to the girls on their achievements.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Southern Jam Jazz Festival - Wednesday 6 - Saturday 9 August

BandQuest - Thursday 14 August

TheatreSports (Snr Competition) - Saturday 16 August

Dance Showcase (MDS/Snr) - Saturday 23 August

Itinerant Music Concert - Monday 1 September

Speech and Drama Showcase - Tuesday 2 September

Encore - Wednesday 3 September

Lions Christchurch Music Festival Rehearsal - Wednesday 10 September

Arts Awards - Thursday 11 September

Music Showcase - Thursday 11 September

Regional Debating - Sunday 14 Sep