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    • FWD 2020 – Metamorphosis
      • The next generation of curious disruptors; Toi Whakaari’s 2020 cohort will be exploring ‘the new live’ in the time of the 6ft radius. This year the Festival of Work in Development will be held online as Toi Whakaari adapts and evolves in a time of rapid change. For an Artist to take the space of presenting work as work in development, with commitment and courage, is a huge challenge, especially in this part of the world where we rely so heavily on the work being ‘received well’. Tauira from all disciplines are encouraged and mentored to contribute towards the festival, presenting work in any form they choose. This year presents the opportunity for new platforms of artistic expression as we adapt to a strange new world with agility – seeking the contemporary ‘live’, whilst holding onto our whakapapa.     The post FWD 2020 – Metamorphosis appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • A message from Tumuaki, Tanea Heke regarding COVID-19
      • E āku nui, e āku rahi, e ngā mana, e ngā reo e ngā karangatanga maha. Tēnā koutou katoa.  He waka eke noa! I hope you and your whānau are safe and well inside your ‘bubbles’.   As you know, to comply with the COVID-19 lockdown, Toi Whakaari started the Easter break early and closed on 24 March.  What’s happening You’ll be pleased to know that our tutors have remained in contact with students throughout the break. Since the school closed our staff have been developing programmes for remote learning using CANVAS, our student learning management system.  Term Two moves online Our tutors will start teaching Term Two remotely from Tuesday 14 April running through to Friday, 15 June. Given the challenges of working from home and the nature of our mahi, there will be some changes to our timetables and the way we present our productions.  We’re feeling confident that we’re up for the challenge. Returning to Te Whaea We look forward to returning to Te Whaea as soon as we are able. This will be determined by the COVID-19 Alert System, which currently sits at Level 4 – a state of national emergency. The health and safety of our people (staff, students and manuhiri) remains our top priority. Therefore, once lockdown is lifted and it’s safe to return to Te Whaea, we will. Term Three is scheduled from Monday, 6 July to Friday, 28 August.   Should you need to contact our team, we can be reached on the following email addresses/numbers: Tanea Heke – Director tanea.heke@toiwhakaari.ac.nz 021 886 972 Craig Atkins – Registrar craig.atkins@toiwhakaari.ac.nz 021 0826 2095   Nā reira e te iwi, kia haumaru te noho, kia ū ki te rāhui.  Kia kaha rā tātou katoa. Tanea Heke Tumuaki, Te Kura Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa The post A message from Tumuaki, Tanea Heke regarding COVID-19 appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Covid-19 Update
      • Tēnā tātou e te whānau whānui o Te Kura Toi Whakaari:  NZ Drama School. In light of the Government’s announcement today, Toi Whakaari is extending the Easter break to 4 weeks and bringing it forward to start from tomorrow (24 March).  This will allow us to help all our communities to lower the curve and stop the spread of the virus. Practicing good hygiene, physical distancing, limiting social contacts and staying at home when sick, is essential to protecting the whanau whānui (wider community).   ·         Toi Whakaari will continue to monitor the situation nationally, follow Government and Ministry of Health advice, and we will update you with any change to our situation as soon as we can. ·         As from Wednesday, 25 March our Kura is closed. Te Whaea will not be open and students/visitors will be unable to use the library, workrooms, workshop, studios etc. ·         Our staff are working to develop our capability to deliver learning in an online environment. ·         The school will work with external bodies (TEC, NZQA etc.) to ensure that learning and outcomes, are not compromised.  We don’t know what that may look like yet, but we will keep you informed. ·         We will return to face-to-face teaching, as soon as it is safe to do so.   The latest Ministry of Health and Government advice can be found here: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus https://covid19.govt.nz/ We will stay in touch and update you with everything as necessary over the next few weeks. Take good care of yourself and your whānau.    You may contact:  Tanea Heke, Director on (021) 886 972 or tanea.heke@toiwhakaari.ac.nz Craig Atkins, Registrar on (021) 082 62095 or craig.atkis@toiwhakaari.ac.nz The post Covid-19 Update appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Covid-19 Update
      • Tēnā tātou e te whanau whānui o Te Kura Toi Whakaari:  NZ Drama School. In light of the Government’s announcement today, Toi Whakaari is extending the Easter break to 4 weeks and bringing it forward to start from tomorrow (24 March).  This will allow us to help all our communities to lower the curve and stop the spread of the virus. Practicing good hygiene, physical distancing, limiting social contacts and staying at home when sick, is essential to protecting the whanau whānui (wider community). ·         Toi Whakaari will continue to monitor the situation nationally, follow Government and Ministry of Health advice, and we will update you with any change to our situation as soon as we can. ·         As from Wednesday, 25 March our Kura is closed. Te Whaea will not be open and students/visitors will be unable to use the library, workrooms, workshop, studios etc. ·         Our staff are working to develop our capability to deliver learning in an online environment. ·         The school will work with external bodies (TEC, NZQA etc.) to ensure that learning and outcomes, are not compromised.  We don’t know what that may look like yet, but we will keep you informed. ·         We will return to face-to-face teaching, as soon as it is safe to do so.  The latest Ministry of Health and Government advice can be found here: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus https://covid19.govt.nz/ We will stay in touch and update you with everything as necessary over the next few weeks. Take good care of yourself and your whanau.    You may contact:  Tanea Heke, Director on (021) 886 972 or tanea.heke@toiwhakaari.ac.nz Craig Atkins, Registrar on (021) 082 62095 or craig.atkis@toiwhakaari.ac.nz The post Covid-19 Update appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • April Easter Workshops Postponed
      • Kia Ora, With recent Goverment and Ministry of Health announcements regarding the national restrictions in order to combat the spread of COVID-19 we have made the decision to postpone our Toi Whakaari April Workshops to a later date. We hope to update you all soon with new dates but in the mean-time please look after yourselves and your whānau. Kia kōkiri ngātahi te iwi toi!   The post April Easter Workshops Postponed appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • COVID-19 Update
      • TOI WHAKAARI RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS (covid-19) Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is closely monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and how it might impact on our students and staff. We are following advice from the Ministry of Health, Immigration New Zealand and the World Health Organization. We are also keeping a close watch on how other government agencies and organisations in New Zealand and around the globe are responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. We will keep monitoring the situation and respond accordingly should things change. We will update our website if we consider that the risk has materially changed so you are always aware of our position. The School has outlined scalable procedures to manage events of this type. Regular updates are provided to staff and students on how to manage any flu-like illness in our community. To read our plan for coronavirus (COVID-19), please click HERE. Staff and STUDENT TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS Staff, Students and their families should give due consideration to the current travel restrictions in place by Immigration New Zealand and the Health Ministry, and plan carefully before confirming any travel arrangements during the School’s holidays. UPDATES &TIPS Ministry of Health latest updates Ministry of Health Facebook page Visa informationfrom Immigration New Zealand The post COVID-19 Update appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Policies
      • E ngā korokoro tūī, e ngā kākā tarahae, tēnā koutou katoa. He pānui tēnēi. The folliwing HR policies for Toi Whakaari have been posted on our website: Staff Code of Conduct Policy Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy Please follow the link: https://toiwhakaari.ac.nz/fees-course-costs-and-student-and-academic-policies/   Ngā mihi The post Policies appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Nancy Brunning Continues to Inspire
      • Nancy Brunning received the Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre at the Wellington Theatre Awards on Sunday.  The impact and influence she has on the industry and her colleagues was evident in many of the speeches during the evening. Nancy was also awarded the Te Tohu Kē a Te Waka Toi on 30 November by Creative NZ at a ceremony in Rotorua.  Your legacy continues Nancy – tēnei te mihi aroha ki a koe e hine. The post Nancy Brunning Continues to Inspire appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Success at the Wellington Theatre Awards
      • Last night the Wellington Theatre Awards had its annual celebration recognising the many talents of theatre based here in the capital.  Tēnei te mihi nunui ki te whānau whānui! Our very own Mitch Tawhi Thomas (Senior Acting Tutor) and his team took home a whopping 5 awards for his play Pakaru. ·       Lighting Designer of the Year:  Jen Lal, Pakaru ·       Set Designer of the Year:  Sean Coyle, Pakaru ·       New NZ Play of the Year:  Mitch Tawhi Thomas, Pakaru ·       Excellence Award for Performance Ensemble:  Pakaru ·       Production of the Year:  Pakaru – Hāpai Productions Director of Toi Whakaari (and Hāpai Productions); Tanea Heke attended the awards last night. Tanea represented Nancy Brunning who received the Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre.  Nancy (one of our well known graduates) worked with Tanea as co-Director of Hāpai Productions and the two had been friends for many years. We would also like to acknowledge other graduates who came away with awards last night:  ·       The Absolutely Positively Most Original Production: Captain Cook Thinks Again, Barbarian Productions (Jo Randerson) ·       The Grant Tilly Actor of the Year: Jason Te Kare, Cellfish ·       The Dorothy McKegg Actor of the Year: Carrie Green Cellfish ·       The Campion Accolade for Outstanding Performance: Madeline McNamara, The Attitudes-Refusing Performance ·       Director of the Year: Jo Randerson, Captain Cook Thinks Again We are very proud of all the achievements and successes 2019 has brought to you all. Ngā mihi nui ki ngā whānaunga o Toi Whakaari. Piri tahi mai hei oranga tonu te ahu whakaari.   Congratulations!   photo cred: Julie Zhu Photography         The post Success at the Wellington Theatre Awards appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Pakaru
      • Ko Tainui te waka Ko Ngāti Maniapoto te iwi Ko Ngāti Apakura te hapū Ko Pirongia-o-Te Aroaro-ō-Kahu te maunga Kāwhia moana, Kāwhia kai, Kāwhia tangata Tihe maui ora!   Pakaru by Mitch Tawhi Thomas, (Senior Acting Tutor here at Toi Whakaari, phenomenal playwright and accomplished actor) has been nominated for seven awards at the Wellington Theatre Awards 2019.  Mitch also picked up a nomination in the Outstanding Performance category for his portrayal of Claudius in the Summer Shakespeare’s production of Hamlet. The nominations are: New NZ Play Mitch Tawhi Thomas – Pakaru Director of the Year Mitch Tawhi Thomas – Pakaru   Production of the Year Pakaru – Hāpai Productions Excellence Award for Performance Ensemble Pakaru – Hāpai Productions Set Designer Sean Coyle – Pakaru   Lighting Designer Jennifer Lal – Pakaru and Orchids Sound Designer Thomas Lambert - Pakaru, Ransom and Story Studio Live 2019 Outstanding Performance Mitch Tawhi Thomas - Hamlet   Pakaru won the 2019 Adam NZ Play Award, the second time Mitch has claimed the top prize, his first being in 2012 for Hui. The Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, 8 December in Shed 6. The post Pakaru appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • IYSFF 2019- National finals
      • Toi Whakaari once again proudly sponsored the “Best Production Design” Category award for International Youth Silent Film Festival that was held on 16th November 2019 in Tauranga. It is an annual award organised by Baycourt Community Art & Centre and IYSFF team in Tauranga to encourage interested young people under 20 years to make short 3 minute silent films. This is a National award and winners of this award will be contesting globally at the IYSFF award in Oregon, Portland, USA in June 2020. This year Sarah Calver from Rotorua won this award for her movie Encase. The award was presented by Toi Whakaari Alumna Megan Peacock-Coyle.  Heartiest congratulations to Sarah and we wish her all the very best for her finals next year. Toi Whakaari is delighted to support this initiative and we look forward to working with IYSFF again next year.  Photo credit: Merkin Media The post IYSFF 2019- National finals appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Nancy Brunning: Kua hinga a tōtara
      • Personal letter of love to a friend As you will have seen in the news, Nancy Brunning passed away after fighting one hell of a battle.  Her illness ravaged her tinana but never succeeded in conquering Nan’s spirit.  She fought right up to the end and it was, at times, exhausting and worrying to watch.  Nan could be a stubborn hua so it was no surprise she pushed herself to the limit. I would like to acknowledge Grace for the attention and aroha she has given to our friend over the last year or so.  Her support for Nan was unwavering and she committed fully to her care.  Similarly, dear Hera Dunleavy flew from Auckland frequently to tautoko Nancy because like us, she loved Nan deeply. Nancy encouraged Mitch to complete his work Pakaru and then direct the play.  She promised our support by presenting the play through Hāpai Productions.  Nancy was as rapt as Mitch when he received his second Adams Playwright Award earlier this year. Nancy was always generous of spirit but she could be tough when it came to feedback.  If you happened to be in her inner sanctum – like Mitch, Grace, Hera and I were, her expectations were high.  For such a little ink spot, she punched well above her weight…  And I mean, punched… I will miss my friend so very much.  Nancy meant the world to me.  She loved and supported me creatively as an artist, collaborator and as a friend. Yesterday, I stood on the atamira at the Hannah Playhouse, a venue where Nancy performed regularly.  She was the recipient of the Bruce Mason Playwright Award and I responded on her behalf.  It was a tough gig.  Last week we presented her the actual award – a lovely silver plate and some gorgeous putiputi.  She smiled and was happy, mostly because all her whanau were there to share the tohu with her.  Over the next few weeks, you’ll hear a number of announcements as Nancy receives other accolades – all of them well deserved… Thank you Nan for all you’ve done to lead us, to keep our industry accountable and to support and grow the rangatahi who follow you.  You always acknowledged those who had led the way for us – Don Selwyn, Tungia Baker, Wi Kuki Kaa, Keri Kaa, Rona Bailey, Uncle Bob Wiki…  We add your name to those esteemed rangatira my darling. “When someone special dies, their spirit joins the others in a wild tango across the night sky”… how I will enjoy watching you dance Nan. Nui te aroha Tanea xx 18 November 2019 The Board of Toi Whakaari, the staff and students extend our deepest condolences to Nancy’s whānau & friends. She was an inspiration for many.  Her contribution to the arts landscape in Aotearoa is immense.  She will always be our taonga and we mourn her loss.  Moe mai rā e te wahine rangatira, te mareikura purotu… About Nancy: Nancy is of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngai Tuhoe descent. Nan trained at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. From the outset of her career she made a deep impression with her work in many productions including Nga Tangata Toa and Waiora. She has acted for theatre throughout New Zealand and been dramaturg for theatre in English and Māori. Nancy began directing theatre early in her career with Flat out Brown, Te Ohaki a Nihe, Ngā Pou Wahine, Woman Far Walking and Waitapu, and more recently her own work. She also became one of the most well-known faces on New Zealand television in the role of Shortland Street’s Jaki Manu. She has numerous film credits as an actor, was the acting coach for the Oscar nominated short film Two Cars, One Night directed by Taika Waititi. She has also worked for film as a cultural advisor and script consultant. Her accolades include Best Actress awards on stage and screen. She is a major influence in kaupapa Māori productions including directing te reo shows for Taki Rua Productions and as co-founder of Hāpai productions. Though most-well-known in the roles of actor and director, the extraordinary theatrical force that is Nancy, includes playwriting. Her first play was Hikoi which she completed in 2011. In her usual self-effacing way had been brewing for a very long time before she showed it to anyone. Hikoi is a moving and powerful play about a Maori family facing radical change in the 70s and 80s. Hikoi was co-runner up and also won the award for Best Play by a Maori Writer in the 2014 Adam NZ Play Award, and premiered at the 2015 Auckland Arts Festival. In 2014 Nancy was selected as the inaugural NZ Writer at the Banff Indigenous Writers Residency in Canada. She curated Rowley Habib’s writings to produce Portrait of An Artist Mongrel which premiered at BATS in 2017 before travelling to Auckland Writers Festival in 2018. Nancy’s next play Taniwha Woman was included in “Breaking Ground” Workshop during the Kia Mau Festival in 2018. It is, as yet, unproduced but was again runner-up and Best Play by a Woman in this year’s Adam New Zealand Play Awards. This year Nancy wrote and directed Witi’s Wāhine, for the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in Gisborne in October. The play is based on women from Witi Ihimaera’s stories and features some of his most powerful wāhine Māori characters. Her writing has a personal and sharp-witted view of the world, working to make visible the kinds of Māori women seldom seen on our stages or screens. The post Nancy Brunning: Kua hinga a tōtara appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Show Me Shorts Awards
      •     Show Me Shorts is Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading international short film festival. They are a competitive Academy Awards-accredited festival with a range of awards and prizes that screens in cinemas nationwide each Spring. Respected and experienced judges from the film industry help decide the winners, with creativity, cinematic films and original vision being strong factors they look for. In 2019, we are thrilled to announce that Toi Whakaari’s short film HUSH (made by Toi Whakaari students in collaboration with esteemed director Armagan Ballantyne) was nominated for four awards – Best Actor, Best Director, Best Film and Best Cinematographer alongside other industry professionals’ short films and won three out of the four award categories- Best Cinematographer, Best Actor and Best Director Award. This is exciting and a significant recognition for the high quality training and student work that happens every day at Toi Whakaari.Toi Whakaari, NZ Drama School is the premium drama school in NZ, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020. We specialise in training students in Theatre and screen and offer programmes related to performing arts from Acting, Performing arts management and design to making costumes and Set and props. Collaboration, context & practice are  significant learning outcomes for students and they are encouraged to work with other departments throughout the year while learning their core skills. In recent years, Toi Whakaari have been training students in making short films with continuous support from the industry each year.    Toi Whakaari are also proud sponsors of the Best Actor award for the past few years. The nominees in this category for 2019 were all women: Ana Tuisila for Liliu Miriama McDowell for Rū Alison Bruce for Memory Foam Margaret Sydenham for Hush  We are pleased to note that 3 out of the 4 nominees of this category are Toi Whakaari Graduates and a mother of one of our current student. We are once again thrilled to share that Margaret Sydenham won the Best actor award in 2019 and during the making of this film Margaret was also a current Toi Whakaari Acting student.  The Toi Whakaari Best Actor award at Show Me Shorts Film Festival acknowledges a stand-out performance in a New Zealand short film. The prizes include $500 cash, a copy of Final Draft writing software, flowers, an engraved bronze winners badge and certificate. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners. The post Show Me Shorts Awards appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Resene Paint Sponsorship
      • Resene Paint Sponsorship As part of the diverse work created at Toi Whakaari, students in the Set & Props programme are extremely busy creating everything from large scale theatre sets to intricate film props. The incredible finishes on our work, from a dank hotel room, to an alien artefact are achieved through the generous sponsorship of Resene Paints. This year, Toi Whakaari is extremely grateful to Resene who have provided enough specialist paint to enable both our creative projects and infrastructural projects as well as maintenance around the school. Set & Props are currently collaborating with contemporary dance students from the New Zealand School of Dance on a “Dance Mask” project. The dancers will choreograph new works to bring life to hugely magnified insect-head masks. These have been created using a diverse range of Resene colours and metallics to strong effect. For our forthcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along we will create large scale reproductions of famous paintings from the Pop Art movement, and we have a range of screen works in progress including an ambitious sci – fi short film which has already produced some arresting visuals. Toi Whakaari is very grateful for this sponsorship and we extend our thanks to Resene Paints for their generous gift which significantly supports the learning opportunities of our dedicated and talented students.     The post Resene Paint Sponsorship appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • A Personal and Professional Memory of Raymond Boyce
      • There are many books, interviews, oral histories and scholarly articles about Raymond Boyce. Mile on mile of details and facts end to end. He won many awards, culminating in a Laureate, was honoured with a Doctorate, designed hundreds of shows, exhibited internationally, travelled and researched extensively, and single handedly put Theatre Design on a professional footing in Aotearoa : NZ. He is a blazing icon within our theatre landscape and we celebrate him appropriately. However, I am lucky in that the monument who was an inspiration to me as a child, became a colleague, mentor and friend to my whole family. As all the biographies detail he came out to NZ in the early 1950s, imported by the new professional touring company, the New Zealand Players. A major young talent in the UK, he brought his rigorous training and high standards to Aotearoa, and quickly became a name spoken in reverential tones – at least in those houses, which were excited by this great explosion of energy in theatre. I remember the Players coming through with their various shows. We always had actors billeted with us in Whanganui, and they represented all my hopes and dreams of escaping into the world of magic promised by theatre. I couldn’t wait! Raymond travelled with the Advance Crew, packing in to the various venues, fitting his beautifully crafted sets into the huge variety of spaces around the motu, and realising those exquisite creations on a breath-taking level. Later, when professional theatre was well established in the 1970s, he was resident designer at Downstage. As Associate Director, he was part the national body, ACT (Association of Community Theatres). In those days, there were 9 professional companies in NZ – all providing work and training for actors, designers, technicians and writers. My mother, who represented “Four Seasons” from Whanganui, described him as a generous force – sharing knowledge and resources to the nation’s 9 theatres, as well as to the entire theatre community of Pōneke – amateur as well as professional. Every school and company used access to Downstage’s wardrobe, props, set elements or advice. Under him, the company fulfilled its responsibility as the Mother Ship. When I returned to Aotearoa in 1978, importing another fully trained professional theatre designer with me, Raymond greeted us with the same generosity, offering both of us work. So began Tolis Papzoglou’s 4 years of residency at Downstage, until we left for Australia in 1983. He and Raymond shared a Studio – no mean achievement for 2 solitary artists. I worked freelance and dropped our 2 yr old off frequently at that Studio – childcare being way beyond our financial capabilities. Raymond was a genial grandfather figure (with a trove of fascinating fairy tale treasures) for many people’s children – and he is remembered with awe and great affection by them all. It was a vibrant team at Downstage – an in-house company and a touring Theatre-in-Education company. The 2 designers alternated as Production Managers for each other’s designs, slaving through a 4 weekly turnaround, packing in wonderful sets and changing the complete orientation of the theatre for almost every show. We ate together, drank together, told stories, wept and laughed together. We WERE whānau. In 1991, when I came back to Toi Whakaari, Raymond was again a great support. As we prepared for the design of the new building, instigated the Theatre Technicians’ and then the Design courses, and set out on many new paths, he was an advisor, sounding board, occasional critic, and always encouraging support. In 1997 he came into Toi in another capacity, as director for a deliberately pukka British production, intended to give our strongly kiwi cohort of students a taste of the colonial form of theatre past – extending their existing rich vocal and physical skills. It is a lovely synchronicity that the new Director of Toi, Tanea Heke, and a new Acting tutor, Mitch Tawhi Thomas, were both in that production, as were many other pou of current NZ theatre. The word pou could not be more appropriate for Raymond. The designer envisages and sketches the whare, in which we all live and make our contributions. With his presence and his profound volume of work here since 1953 Raymond has hand- chiselled the house of professional theatre in Aotearoa, and he himself stands at its heart. He manawanui. Moe mai rā, moe mai, moe mai.   Robin Payne Director: Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School 1991 – 1997     The post A Personal and Professional Memory of Raymond Boyce appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • The essence of collaboration | Edition 1 | Fil Kopelman
      • Toi Whakaari Student Fil Kopelman is currently working on his short film EXCAVATION POINT THESTIAS. It’s a grounded, character driven sci-fi about excavators on a desolate planet, with a dash of “Indiana Jones in space”. As a final year student of Scenic Construction and Properties, Fil has chosen to focus his Independent Research Project on working with scale, building scale models and sets for the short film. Two full-scale sets were erected in the Sound Studios at Te Whaea for principal photography during the term break in July.   PHOTO: Caleb Corlett, Locky Campion, Fil Kopelman. Photo by Crystal Hart: @lion_nessphotography What makes this short film project special is the amount of people collaborating on the project, both students and industry professionals. The long crew list boasts many students from Toi Whakaari, as well as Massey University, Victoria University and Te Auaha. Some of the key collaborators from Toi Whakaari are the following: Robert Johansson (Actor), Harriett Guy (Production Manager and 1st AD), Florence Munoz de Noronha (Costume Supervisor), Cody Derbyshire (Art Director), Philip Sharpe (Mentor, design & Set construction, S&P tutor), and Grace Hoet (1st AD, Management tutor). Among the numerous professional collaborators is the Director of Photography Caleb Corlett, Editor Ditha Angraini, Make-up Artist Serena Parsons, behind the scenes videographer Tane Menzies, and Award winning Composer Ola Strandh. Relying on the strengths of other people, crafts and mirroring industry practice, Fil has been able to see a dream come to fruition. He hopes that the film will go on to show in various film festivals and be used as a portfolio piece for all the people that worked on it. EXCAVATION POINT THESTIAS will be showing at The Toi Film Premiere in November 2019, there will also be a big exhibition showcasing the work behind the short film at the Festival of Work in Development at the end of August. The post The essence of collaboration | Edition 1 | Fil Kopelman appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Toi Design Music Video | Kakapo Music | 2018
      • A new sensation of experimental and organic music. Born and raised in Christchurch NZ the bass culture grounded Kakapo to the beat scene at a young age. He took flight as a bedroom producer and has since honed his talent and elevated up to new hights in the capital city of Wellington NZ.  In March 2014 he independently released his debut EP “The Bloom Thesis” followed by The Prevoke EP in 2016, with multiple singles and remixes for Truth, Ollie Bassweight and Arma Del Amor, Kakapo has received substantial radio support with chart toppers nationwide. All of these waves have vibrated across the globe and he has seen himself get signed to multiple labels, joining with redbull music and performing shows across NZ and Australia, Including festivals such as Rhythm and Alps and opening for various international acts such as, Nosaj Thing, Panama,  Maribou State, Lunice, UV boi, Mndsgn, Kutmah and many more.     His deep and creative sound is hard to miss. The sort of creative who catches inspiration off a clear sunset and a tasty meal. This is pure sound, art and performance without boundaries.  Kakapo was an extremely exciting collaborator for the project Kakapo says…The creation of this song and video has been a beautiful collaborative experience for me. Crafting a song that tells a story, works with the vocalist and flows hand in hand with the visual while still keeping a unique flavour was challenging but an experience that taught me a lot and helped me grow and expand as a producer. The visual side of this project has been executed perfectly. I feel like both the music and video hold their own unique journey and when fused together they compliment each other beautifully. The final video is really inline with our early concepts and over all really suits the Kakapo aesthetic. Thank you so much to everyone involved on this project. Super excited to share this piece of art with the universe. Director Charley Draper’s vision for the video was driven by the concept of Indra’s Net: “I was inspired by this idea of indra’s net, a kind of symbol of the interconnected nature of our world, in particular there was this quote by Sir Charles Eliot: ““In the Heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that  if you look at one you see all the others reflected in it. In the same way each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact IS everything else.”” I felt like this really connected to the lyrics of the song in that you have to have faith that things will happen for the right reasons, and that you’ll fall in the right place, in order to allow yourself to let go.” The music video is the product of Toi Whakaari Design’s ‘Music Video Project’; a project where 1st year students learn various essential filmmaking skills with mentorship from film industry professionals.  Students build and paint each prop, light each environment and operate every camera move. - Head of Design at Toi Whakaari Emma Ransley says: “We are very excited to have Kakapo on board for this year’s music video project. In working with local and international musicians, our dream is to support them by producing work that challenges the boundaries of visual direction and positions design driven projects at the forefront of our industry.” The post Toi Design Music Video | Kakapo Music | 2018 appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Fulbright scholar resident at Toi Whakaari
      • Toi Whakaari is delighted to welcome Dr. Peter Zazzali, Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Kansas and professional actor and director, to the kura for Terms One and Two. Peter is in New Zealand as a Fulbright Fellow, researching the Toi Whakaari model of actor and collaborative training for future publications (including his next book). He has acted and directed in over 150 productions with institutions such as the Acting Company, Guthrie, George Street Playhouse, Western Australian Academy for the Performing Arts, and New Jersey, Texas, and Utah Shakespearean Festivals. He will direct one of the Toi Whakaari Term Two productions in 2019: Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information. Toi Whakaari sat down with Peter to learn more about his research and his approach to Love and Information. TW:   So, tell me a little bit about your background. I’m interested in whether you started in academia first and then moved in the direction of the performing arts or whether you were a performing artist first who discovered academia. How does that work? Dr. Peter Zazzali, Fulbright Fellow from the University of Kansas Peter Zazzali:               It worked that way. I was an actor for 25 years in the U.S. professional theatre. I trained at a drama school as well, two of them in fact. One, when I was just coming out of high school – I went to a place called the California Institute of the Arts, otherwise known as Cal Arts. In many ways Toi Whakaari reminds me of Cal Arts because it’s just a wonderful interdisciplinary, collaborative, inventive environment – a creative environment. After being an actor for twenty-some odd years, getting my fair share of work in the theatre primarily, one acting gig led to me being in residence at Cornell University in New York State. I had so much time on my hands that I wound up taking a course in theatre with some of the Ph.D. students and rather liked it. The truth was, I was getting a little bored with just being an actor. I know that sounds horrible, perhaps! I wanted to explore other ways of contributing to the art form, and I went and got my Ph.D., and that was somewhat of a kiss of death because with that comes … I mean that tongue in cheek. I’m very grateful to get my Ph.D., and I made my way into academia after that. And now, I have this wonderful confluence of teaching and writing scholarship on theatre, especially actor training which is my area of specialty. And yet, I continued to act, and eventually I got into directing sometime after that. Now, as far as being a practitioner goes, a practising theatre artist, I direct more than I act. What was your thesis? My thesis was comparing professional – I underscore that, ‘professional’ – actor training programmes in the U.S., the elite programmes in particular. Juilliard, New York University’s graduate programme, the American Conservatory Theatre, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, all top of the line drama programmes in the U.S. And I did a comparative analysis of them relative to the profession. And essentially my argument was, and remains so as far as the U.S. goes, there are just too many drama schools, too many that the market can sustain. Literally, that we have over 300 acting programmes just in universities. That’s not including private schools and studios and that sort of thing. There are numerous places in New York City, for example, you can sort of hang out a shingle and call yourself an acting teacher, and next thing you know, you have students who are paying and lending their hopes and dreams to what you teach them, which is fine and good. But my argument is, I think, we’re not quite – we, meaning acting teachers in general – we’re not quite providing our students with a realistic take on the industry. My argument is, why don’t we just have a select few? People would push against that argument, but I really felt that something needed to be said in that regard. My thesis became a book on this idea of actor training in the U.S., professional actor training, drama schools if you like. And then I wanted to extend that to a global model. So, now I’m looking at professional drama schools in anglophone countries. I had to have some sort of limit, and I figured let’s keep it to English speaking countries since that’s really the only language I have any sort of mastery over. I do speak Italian, but I’m not sure Italian actor training is really something I’d be gifted enough to explore anyways. Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Peter Zazzali – Kansas Repertory Theatre; Set Design: Mark Reaney; Costume and Lighting Design: Leah Mazur (courtesy of peterzazzalidirector.com) I started looking at drama schools in the UK, Canada, again, the U.S., Australia. And then, when I was in Australia researching the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne, one of my colleagues mentioned, you should check out this school called Toi Whakaari in New Zealand. And I kept calling it Toi Wakaari for the longest period of time until I figured out that, oh, wait a minute, Wh is pronounced like the English F in te reo! So, I came here to visit and I met with Heather [Timms, Head of Actor Training] and Heather was ever so lovely and inviting, both during my visit and the lead up to it. We had a Skype session, and I was blown away. I was blown away at the sense of unity here. At least this is what it would have occurred to someone who is coming from the outside. The collective effort to really provide students a first rate, 21st century training across disciplines, not just acting, and to do it in conjunction with this bicultural ethos, which was outstanding I thought, because so many acting schools I think are just looking at this sort of UK or U.S. model. While the western model still is present here, it’s being married with something that’s quite unique and special as only can occur in New Zealand. I was struck by that, and I thought that combined with the fact that I just liked the vibe of the place, and the students were inspiring. I was here, I sat in on Kōiwi and Reuben Butler, a graduate, was there introducing a song and there was some dance involved. I thought, well, this sort of experience, which seems to be inspired by Māori principles, really does make Toi a unique environment – a unique learning environment. I thought to myself, my goodness, wouldn’t it be – not only great for my research – but great for my work as a teacher, as a director, and even as a person if I dare say, to be able to stay here for an extended period of time? How long were you here for in that visit? I was only here for three days! You got bitten. I did get bitten! I’m here as a Fulbright fellow as you might know. And I was a planning to apply for a Fulbright to WAAPA, the Western Australian Academy for Performing Arts, where I’ve worked in the past and I love the school. It’s a different model [to Toi] and one for which I have enormous respect and love and affection. In fact, I’m going to direct there later this year after I finish my residency here at Toi. But I thought to myself, Toi is so unique and special. Let me ask Heather if she’d be willing to sponsor me. She, meaning, by extension, Toi sponsor me as a host institution and I’ll apply for a Fulbright and we’ll see if I get it. All that is required, and it’s a lot in itself, is for the institution to write a letter and say, hey, we’d like to have so-and-so here to work with us. And then I handle the rest of the application. She was ever so gracious and willing to do so. And lo and behold, I got the darn thing and here I am. So, I couldn’t be happier about it, sort of a ‘bucket list’ item in a way. How long are you here for? I’m here until the end of June. So, it’s a five month residency. I know that you’ve got one significant role here, which is to direct one of our Term Two productions and I’ll ask you about that in a second. Apart from that, what’s your focus while you’re here? My focus is really on my research because I’m writing a book, as I mentioned. So, Toi will be a case study in the book, but I also want to dig a little more deeper in sharing the great work that’s happening here – the interesting work, the important work – with more depth because in the book I’ve got 22 case studies. You can only go so deep in a book when you have 22 case studies, otherwise it becomes encyclopaedic and no one wants to read five volumes of any anybody’s work! But I’d like to dig more deeply and write an article for a peer review journal that just squarely focuses on Toi. So, those two works of scholarship, I wanna come out of this visit: an article on Toi as well as a featured part in the book. And then, beyond that, I’m doing some workshops. I’ll do a Shakespearian workshop, for example, with the second year actors, which will be really just six hours of contact work and just offer some techniques that hopefully they’ll use. It’s an invitation. It’s an offer, and my hope is that they’ll find value in it, of course, and use it and perhaps even use it in a project with Chris [Jannides, Acting Tutor] ’cause he’ll be doing the Shakespeare unit with them next semester. And then of course, as you mentioned, the directing – the Caryl Churchill play will be my ‘featured’ contribution I guess. Okay. Tell us a little bit about that play. Oh Gosh. Well, Churchill’s such an important writer, if I may say so. Now, why is she an important writer? Okay. Well, she spans several decades of writing plays that are socially, politically important, whether she’s dealing with issues of authoritarian governments, or issues of gender identity or racial identity, for that matter. Those themes, I think, are as relevant as they were 40 years ago when she wrote Cloud Nine, which was her breakout piece in the 1970s. Right on through a play like Top Girls that deals with gender identity and then all the way up until Mad Forest in the 1990s that dealt with the authoritarianism of the Ceaușescu regime in Romania. And right on through to Love and Information, which is not as overtly political, but, as with all her work, it says something about the social, cultural moment in the 21st century circa 2018–2019. The idea of the digital age denying us, denying ourselves, the ability to be fully present in any given moment and available to what I would call love. What I think Churchill is calling love. Love, not only in the romantic sense of the word, but love – just being able to be present with nature, present in the moment with one another, present with oneself without the onslaught, if you will. The overwhelming onslaught of the digital stimuli that we get from everything we do – from our phones, to our iPads, to our television sets, to the advertising that’s omnipresent and so forth. So, it really does speak to the cultural moment and something that’s lost in digital age. At least that’s my view on it. I think you’re in absolutely the right place to be doing that play because that challenge of being present fully is one of the challenges that we issue ourselves as Toi Whakaari’s staff and students. One of the things that we learn through Kōiwi is the skill, the muscle, the practise, of being present with each other, whether those distractions are other things that are going on in our lives, or the digital, or whatever. I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re absolutely right. Just based on my one and a half weeks of being here, Kōiwi fact does that for me, even in my limited introduction to it. It invites you to be present and encourages one to be present, whether it’s through a shared song or just a dialogue that ensues. So, to your point, yes. I think Love and Information is well suited for this culture – meaning Toi’s culture. And in addition to the social politics of the play as I mentioned, I think Churchill is just … her dramaturgical style is brilliant. I mean, her use of character, the eloquence of language, there’s not a word she wastes. There’s really no inherent narrative to Love and Information – it’s thematically linked behind these two ideas, these two contrary concepts of love and information, the titular words. But there’s something inherently cryptic about her work. She doesn’t just serve it up for you in a sweet little story that, or a clear story for that matter. She’s forcing us as theatre makers and, by extension, audiences to really grapple with what we’re getting in the moment, and to live in a space of confusion perhaps. With it comes oftentimes frustration from an audience’s standpoint – or even from the artist’s standpoint – ’cause we like to know what we know, and she doesn’t give us that. She’s deliberately obtuse! The post Fulbright scholar resident at Toi Whakaari appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Toi Film in competition at Berlinale
      • The Toi Film programme is making waves internationally with Hush by Armağan Ballantyne screening to sold out houses at the Berlin Film Festival. Toi Film is Toi Whakaari’s dedicated strand of screen training and since 2014 it has been connecting Toi students with professional collaborators to make short films that showcase the talents of emerging and established practitioners. Third year actors appear on camera. Design, Costume, Management and Set & Props students support behind-the-scenes in the wardrobe and art department or as assistant directors and production managers. In 2018, the 2017 film Bats by Michelle Savill became the first Toi Whakaari-produced film to make it into film festivals after it was selected for both the Melbourne and New Zealand International Film Festivals. 2019 goes one better with Armağan Ballantyne’s Hush selected to play in competition in the Generation 14plus section of the A-list festival. Hush screened for Toi Whakaari whānau at last year’s Toi Film premiere showcase at the Embassy Theatre but the official World premiere was in Berlin on 10 February. Hush is the atmospheric story of Ava (Margaret Sydenham): Ava seems to be in something of a trance, barely registering what is happening around her. On the bus she slowly starts coming to as she makes her way towards her home town. Her brother and a few friends are still living there; she just wants to spend one or two days in familiar surroundings. After she gets drunk in the evening around a campfire and her brother Isaac has to put her to bed, the true reason for her visit comes spilling out. (Berlinale programme note) The other two Toi films that were produced in 2018 are Krystal (written by Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu and directed by Briar Grace-Smith) and Imposter (written and directed by Chelsie Preston Crayford) and all of us at Toi Whakaari are waiting with bated breath to see whether they are selected for any of the Southern Hemisphere festivals in 2019. In other Toi Film news, Bats was named as the 6th best short film of 2018 by influential critic James Prestridge on CloseupCulture.com. Toi Whakaari will be announcing the names of the 2019 Toi Film directors next week and you can see all of the Toi films from 2014 to 2017 here. The post Toi Film in competition at Berlinale appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Toi Whakaari Interim Director announced
      • The Toi Whakaari Board has just announced that acclaimed actor and arts manager Tanea Heke (Ngā Puhi) will be Interim Director of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School for the first months of 2019, following Christian Penny’s resignation last month. Tanea has a rare and critical set of skills, experience and networks. She brings a strategic view, a highly developed set of operational skills and industry networks, and, at the heart of these, a commitment to upholding kaupapa Māori, mana Māori and mātauranga Māori in her work.  Tanea is particularly interested in the importance of and care for the student journey. Tanea is an alumni of Toi, graduating from the Acting programme in 1997. She has gone on to a remarkable career in and around the arts which has included working with Carla van Zon to develop and implement the international strategy at Creative New Zealand, project manage NZ’s participation at the Venice Biennale on two occasions, oversee Aotearoa’s cultural programme as country of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2012 and manage the logistics/programme for the Aotearoa delegation at the Festival of Pacific Arts in Guåhan.  As well she has sustained a career as an actor/producer – including roles in  No. 2, Second Hand Wedding and Eagle vs. Shark, and a defining role in Waru in 2017, and co-founding Hāpai Productions with Nancy Brunning. Tanea Heke will start at Toi on Monday 14thJanuary 2019. The Board will commence the process of recruiting a permanent director in the new year. The post Toi Whakaari Interim Director announced appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Vacancy: Design Tutor (0.5)
      • We have a rare opportunity for a suitably qualified person to join us as a part-time Tutor in our Design team. This is an opportunity to cover the range of core teaching on the Bachelor of Design (Stage & Screen) programme. Our focus is to create designers who are independent thinkers and innovative practitioners, equipped to work in New Zealand and internationally. We are seeking an experienced and accomplished professional who is able to work collaboratively across departments. They will be seen as an expert in their field, well connected within their industry and will be expected to carry that forward in all areas of their role. They will support the Head of Design to develop the Bachelor of Design (Stage & Screen) programme and deliver across a broad range of skills. They will provide sound assessment, feedback, and support to students throughout their journey at Toi Whakaari. Our ideal candidate will have: A related qualification along with relevant skills and experience Minimum 5 years professional practice in designing for film/theatre/live event and/or equivalent design experience in the creative sector Experience of teaching or supporting the learning experience of others Proven ability to work in an artistic, collaborative environment Strong decision-making skills keen interest in education and the arts And it would be of benefit, if you: Had strong industry networks Were an active researcher, with capability and passion to contribute towards Toi Whakaari’s industry and community driven research. Are able to demonstrate teaching experience and commitment to student development and care in a Higher Education environment. Toi Whakaari prizes collaboration and as a successful candidate you will be able to demonstrate an ability to work positively in group contexts. An interest in working with a tikanga marae framework and an understanding and appreciation of te ao Maori would also be an advantage. Flexibility around start dates will be considered for the right candidate. Applications close on Friday 11th January 2019. All applicants must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand. To apply (or to enquire further about this opportunity), please click here. The post Vacancy: Design Tutor (0.5) appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Vacancy: Acting Tutor (x3)
      • Due to expansion, an exciting set of opportunities have become available at Toi Whakaari for the right people to join the Acting department as Tutors or Senior Tutors, teaching the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting) alongside a dedicated team of teachers, industry specialists and creative practitioners. Our acting programme is the leading trainer of actors in New Zealand. For nearly 50 years, our graduates have had an outstanding record of success within the stage, screen and events industries in New Zealand and overseas. The Roles Senior Tutor – Live Performance & Industry Practice To be successful in the role of Senior Tutor – Live Performance & Industry Practice you will need to demonstrate current industry relationships, production experience and be able to apply your vocal work expertise to grow the Production and Industry Practice streams within Acting at Toi Whakaari. Year 2 and 3 of an actor’s training involves: the application of vocal work and acting craft through their production practice, the department’s role in inter-disciplinary production practice and the student and department’s relationship to the specifics of the arts industry in Aotearoa. In this role you will also provide direct teaching and mentorship to actors through their Year 3 Independent Practice programmes and will be expected to enhance student and school engagement with industry. As Senior Tutor – Live Performance & Industry Practice you will be required to direct performance projects and act as Dean for the Year 2 Acting class. To apply for this role or to download a full position description, click here. Senior Tutor – Craft (Embodied Voice)  This part-time role (20 hours a week) is a fantastic opportunity for you to bring your specialist voice craft to Toi Whakaari Acting and lead voice training at the school. In this role you will focus on the first two years of actor training through voice and performance support on productions and you will bring the actor’s voice skills into applied and immersive acting projects. You will also provide support to each actor through mentorship in Year 3 Independent Practice and Kōiwi. To apply for this role or to download a full position description, click here. Tutor – Craft & Creative Practice  As the Tutor – Craft & Creative Practice you will bring  your experience and practice of acting and performance-making to our Actor training programme. Your focus will be on the first two years of the actor’s craft training in Playhouse and helping the actor translate their performance skills into applied and immersive acting and cross-school projects. You will also work to develop the creative practice of each actor through direct teaching and mentorship in Context and Practice, Independent Practice and Koiwi. As the Craft & Creative Practice tutor you will be required to direct performance projects. To apply for this role or to download a full position description, click here. To be successful in these roles you will need: relevant industry experience, as well as a tertiary qualification. Our ideal candidates will have exceptional communication and decision making skills, artistic literacy and the ability to converse about creative practice in the performing arts. An active interest in the New Zealand arts scene and a proven ability to develop talent in the sector is also highly desirable. Toi Whakaari prizes collaboration and as a successful candidate you will be able to demonstrate an ability to work positively in group contexts. An interest in working within a tikanga marae framework and an understanding and appreciation of te ao Maori would also be an advantage. Flexibility around start dates will be considered for the right candidates. Why join our team? We Offer: flexible working hours Generous annual leave entitlements professional development opportunities and; a vibrant working environment where no two weeks are the same All Applicants must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand. Applications close on 14th January 2019. To apply for any of these roles (or to download a full position description) follow the links below: Senior Tutor – Live Performance & Industry Practice Senior Tutor – Craft (Embodied Voice) Tutor – Craft & Creative Practice  The post Vacancy: Acting Tutor (x3) appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Vacancy: Arts Management Tutor
      • Toi Whakaari has an exciting opportunity for a full-time Tutor with an understanding of the artistry required to be an effective leader and manager in the performing arts. The successful applicant will join our teaching staff and help deliver and shape new content for the sought-after Bachelor of Performing Arts (Management) programme. To be successful in this role you will be  a passionate, experienced and accomplished professional who is able to work collaboratively across departments. You will be known as an expert in your field, well connected within the industry and you will be expected to carry that forward in all areas of the role. You will support the Head of Management to review and develop the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Management) programme and will be expected to provide sound assessment, feedback, and support to students throughout their journey at Toi Whakaari Our ideal candidate will have: A bachelor degree in a related field along with relevant skills and experience Proven ability to working in a creative and collaborative environment A minimum of five years professional practice in producing for performance/screen/event/festival and/or equivalent management experience in the creative sector; It would also be great if you: Had strong industry networks Are able to demonstrate teaching experience and a commitment to student development and care in a higher learning environment Are an active researcher with the capability and passion to contribute to Toi Whakaari’s industry and community driven research Toi Whakaari prizes collaboration and the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate an ability to work positively in group contexts. An interest in working within a tikanga marae framework and an understanding and appreciation of te ao Maori would be an advantage. All Applicants must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand. To apply (or to enquire further about this opportunity), please click here. The post Vacancy: Arts Management Tutor appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Vacancy: Set & Props Tutor (0.5)
      • We have an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified person to join our team as a part-time Tutor for our recently introduced diploma in set and props construction (NZ Diploma in Scenic Construction and Properties). This is a unique opportunity to provide students with a variety of skills that will lead to employment in film, theatre and allied industries, working alongside a dedicated team of teachers, industry specialists and creative practitioners. We are seeking an experienced and accomplished professional who is able to work collaboratively across departments. They will be seen as an expert in their field, well connected within their industry and will be expected to carry that forward in all areas of their role. They will support the Head of Set & Props to develop the training programme and deliver that training across a broad range of skills and techniques. They will be expected to provide sound assessment, feedback, and support to students throughout their journey at Toi Whakaari. We welcome candidates who have: A related qualification in the field of construction or design (or relevant skills and experience) Minimum of five years professional practice Experience of teaching or supporting the learning experience of others Proven ability to work in a creative and collaborative environment Strong decision-making skills It is desirable that the successful candidate has the ability to teach in at least two of the following areas: Scenic Carpentry, Metal Fabrication, CNC technologies and associated CAD software, Sculpting, Carving and Moulding & Casting, Rapid Prototyping, Scenic Art, Visual Effects. Strong industry networks An interest in working within a tikanga marae framework and an understanding and appreciation of te ao Maori would be an advantage. All applicants must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand. To apply (or to enquire further about this opportunity), please click here. The post Vacancy: Set & Props Tutor (0.5) appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Design graduates strongly represented in Wellington Theatre Award nominations
      • Nominees for the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards were announced this morning and Toi Whakaari graduates were strongly represented in all the categories, especially design. Design grads Owen McCarthy (Actual Fact), Daniel Williams (Peter and the Wolf), Meg Rollandi (Actual Fact), Charley Draper (Actual Fact), Rowan Pierce (Big J Stylez / Meremere / Rushes) are all nominated for their design work this year. When you add Entertainment Technology grads Morgan Whitfield (Rushes) and Te Aihe Butler (Bless the Child) and Costume grad Amy Macaskill (He Kura E Huna Ana) that’s over 60 percent of the total design nominations to Toi grads. In other categories, two of the three directors – Anapela Polataivao (Wild Dogs Under My Skirt) and Jade Eriksen (Giddy / Soft Tissue) – are graduates of the kura as well as two of the four actor newcomers: Ella Gilbert (Soft Tissue) and Kalyani Nagarajan (Mrs Krishnan’s Party). Six of the 12 actor, actress and outstanding performance nominees – Anapela Polataivao (Wild Dogs Under My Skirt), Andrew Laing (Wonderful), Anya Tate-Manning (My Best Dead Friend), Amy Tarleton (Modern Girls in Bed), Leon Wadham (Giddy), Reuben Butler (Hine Kihāwai) and Simon Leary (Switzerland) Other nominations of note: Acting grad Akisa Fisiinaua is a key member of the Fafswag collective who are nominated for community engagement, Julia Croft is one of three creators of Medusa (Most Original Production) and Rose Kirkup directed another Most Original Production nominee, Big J Stylez (designed by Rowan Pierce). Once again, Toi Whakaari is sponsoring the directing award which means there’s a 2/3 chance that Head of Engagement Prabha Ravi will be presenting that award to a Toi grad! The award ceremony is at Te Papa on Sunday 9 December. The post Design graduates strongly represented in Wellington Theatre Award nominations appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Costume, Set & Props and Acting represented in the 2018 Bill Guest and Ruku Ao awards
      • Toi Whakaari is proud to announce the winners of this year’s scholarships – the Bill Guest and Ruku Ao awards – and are especially pleased that, thanks to many generous donations, we were able to make four awards at the graduation ceremony yesterday. That is the most ever. Winners of the scholarships are, in the first instance, nominated by their peers and then write a personal statement supporting their own nomination. The Scholarships Committee then makes the final decision. Special emphasis is placed on contribution to the wider school community and kōiwitanga. Toi Whakaari First-year Costume student and 2018 Bill Guest Award-winner, Briony Finnigan, with the man who the award is named after – former Associate Director of the school, Bill Guest. Photo by Philip Merry. From a very strong list of nominations, the committee was thrilled to be able to offer three Bill Guest Awards. The first was given to costumier Briony Finnigan, the second to Set & Props student Gabriella Seagar and the third went to actor Lance Ainofo. First-year Toi Whakaari Set & Props student Gabriella Seagar with Bill Guest, after receiving one of the Bill Guest awards at the 2018 graduation ceremony. Photo by Philip Merry. Once again, Ruku Ao alumni made generous donations to support an award in their name and the winner for 2018 was second-year actor Taylor Rogers. It was presented by Ruku Ao alumni Lola Toppin-Casserly (2015) and Shane Kinley (2014). Second-year actor Lance Ainofo receives his Bill Guest Award from the man himself at the 2018 Toi Whakaari Graduation Ceremony. Photo by Philip Merry. If you want to support the development and achievements of our students, you can make a donation for the Bill Guest or Ruku Ao awards. Please contact our registrar (and convenor of the Scholarships Committee) Craig Atkins. Ruku Ao alumni Lola Toppin-Casserly and Shane Kinley present second-year actor Taylor Rogers with the Ruku Ao Award at the 2018 Toi Whakaari Graduation Ceremony. Photo by Philip Merry. The post Costume, Set & Props and Acting represented in the 2018 Bill Guest and Ruku Ao awards appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Christian Penny’s final Graduation programme note
      • This is my last graduation. I am finishing as Director of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School at the end of this year. So today I am filled both with a great sense of pride and also sadness. The Toi Graduation is a very special event that marks all that is unique about Toi Whakaari and what we aspire to. Over recent years we have collectively, and very intentionally, grown Toi Grad into an event that makes sense to all who are involved. We have found a form and process that celebrates the meaning and significance of our school, our work, our families, our achievements, our art forms, and our country. The Toi Graduation attends to the process of whakapiki whakanui – it helps us all transition. Upwards. Graduates complete and mark the significance of their achievement with family, friends and colleagues. We appreciate together what we have all learned over the year. And that we learned because of each other. And even though that may have been hard – and it is hard meeting the challenges of our art forms – we did it. This work makes us more conscious, more adult, and more able to add value into the world through having met those challenges. We want this event today to reflect who we are. We see the real opportunity possible in New Zealand, if we work in ways that are sensitive to our place in the Pacific. If we carry an open and humble relationship to learning, and to the wisdoms that live in the world of te ao Māori, and if we think hard beforehand about meaning, context and audience, so that we can be “live” in the moment. Every year we travel, as a school, to Manutuke Marae. For that week we live together, learning about collaborating, contributing and working collectively. These practices help us keep understanding how the broader focus of the Toi Whakaari training can be applied to our art form. In the same way, Toi Grad is not a show. Today’s event is a translation in action of all that we have learned about collaboration and our current capacity to work together. No reira, te tī me te tā. Te uepū kua tae mai kia tautoko ai i te kaupapa . Te whakaminenga hiahira kua tae mai kei te marae o Te Whaea kia whakamana i ēnei hei whakapiki, hei whakanui. Ānei ngā mahi o tātou, pēra ki te whakatauki o ō mātou tīpuna “He ora te whakapiri, he mate te whakatākiri”. Tiro ake ki te manaaki o Toi. Na te manaaki ēnei taonga i tae mai ai ki tēnei pae tapu. So, to you, the great and the good who have assembled here under the generous roof of Te Whaea to celebrate these folk who graduate today. Remember the old saying: “Working together brings health and hope. Working for separate purposes leads nowhere.” See this kaupapa, this principle, in our work here today. From this generous spirit those graduates have arrived at this sacred threshold. The post Christian Penny’s final Graduation programme note appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Christian Penny resigns as director of Toi Whakaari
      • With sadness, the Board of Trustees of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School has accepted the resignation of Director Christian Penny. Penny took over the leadership of the school in 2011 after more than nine years as Head of Directing. Prior to that, he had been a successful freelance theatre director and co-director of the company Theatre at Large. Board chair Tim Walker praised Penny’s contribution as Director: “Christian has played a defining role in the development of Toi Whakaari. It is impossible to imagine the school being the exceptional learning organisation it is today without the brave and insightful leadership he has provided over the past seven years. Director of the school, Christian Penny, speaking on the pae at the 2016 Pōwhiri for new students. Photo by Philip Merry. “Christian will leave behind a rich legacy that is held, in many different ways, across the members of the Board and staff – and the many students whose growth and development he has personally given so much to. “Christian leaves the school in good heart and a state of readiness to transition to new leadership. In the past year he has led the recruitment and development of our brilliant Strategic Leadership Team, who are well placed to support the staff as the recruitment for a new Director begins. “The Board wishes Christian well as he moves on to new challenges. His vision and courage as a leader mean he has much to contribute to the development of leadership in others.” In announcing his decision to staff and students on Monday, Penny said, “When I took up the role in 2002 I said to the Board I thought six or seven years would be an appropriate time frame to lead the school. That time has come. This has obviously been a big decision to make. Toi has been a huge part of my life, and my family’s life, for 16 years now. I have poured my heart and soul into the school. I am very, very proud of all we have managed to generate over that time.” During Penny’s time at the helm, the school has seen major developments in a NZ-focused pedagogy known as Kōiwitanga, developed with senior staff. Kōiwitanga sits alongside the important craft skills that every performing arts school must teach, to help students in all disciplines develop leadership and collaboration skills that will stand them in good stead both inside and outside the industry they graduate into. As part of the development of Kōiwitanga, Penny was instrumental in introducing the leadership programme Ruku Ao which has been using these indigenous frameworks to develop collaboration and communication skills across government departments. Penny will take up a role leading the Coach Accelerator Programme for High Performance Sport NZ, working with elite coaches from Olympic and professional sport, in the new year. This year’s 43 graduating students will receive their degrees and diplomas at a ceremony at Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre on Wednesday 14 November. The post Christian Penny resigns as director of Toi Whakaari appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • First lighting designer graduates from Toi Whakaari’s Design degree
      • Elekis Poblete Teirney came to Toi Whakaari in 2016 from Mt Maunganui College to study design. Like many of our design students, Elekis used the course to help discover the kind of designer she wanted to be and next Wednesday she will graduate as Toi Whakaari’s first designer to specialise in lighting. This year the 2017 Bill Guest Award-winner has designed the lights for the New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic season (Stoa), the Toi Whakaari Term Four major production The Two Gentlemen of Verona and her own independent research projects for the Festival of Work in Development (FWD).   TW:                  How does it feel to be the first graduating lighting designer out of the Design degree? EPT:                  I don’t know. I mean we all graduate with really different specialties, so it doesn’t feel any different from anyone else. It does feel like an achievement because I have had to do a lot of – it’s been like going through the dark and finding my way through it. Did it feel like you were your ploughing your own solo path? Or do you feel like you have had good class support around you? Definitely. We have heaps of tutorials where we get to chat about what we are doing, which is great ’cause it means everyone stays in the loop and we can all help each other, but it’s definitely a self-driven thing. So you find the resources and you push to get to where you want to be. Elekis receives her Bill Guest award from the man himself at the 2017 Toi Whakaari graduation ceremony. What was the first experience of lighting design for you? What was it that lit you up? Do you mean the first time? Yeah, did you work with light before you came here, like when you were at high school? No, no I actually haven’t. I describe it as being like lighting has always been in my peripheral vision. I always been aware if it, and known that there is something interesting in it that I was drawn to but until last year I never really stopped to look at lighting design for a bit to see what it was that I was drawn to. So, before coming to Toi I’d never done any lighting design or lighting technician stuff at all, and it wasn’t until second year where I slowly started to doing little with Mise-en-Scène – I did a little bit of lighting there –  and then I went and interned with lighting designers just to see what the work was like. Elekis on the set of the 2017 Mise-en-Scène project with co-designer Nephtalim Antoine and actors Hannah Lynch and Andrew Eddey. Photo by Philip Merry. Was there a light bulb moment? A moment where it really just went that this is really what excites me? It was more of a gradual thing but definitely a moment where I thought, I’ll give this a real hard go was during the [second-year] lighting workshop with Helen Todd. Just being able to be in a space and just work with light for two weeks and be able to be like, oh yeah cool, this is actually the thing, something really fuels me from this. What is it about light? What intrigues you or excites you about it? Is it dramatic possibilities? Is it aesthetic possibilities? I just find it to be an interesting material because you can’t touch it. You can’t touch light. And the only way you can control it is through external tools. I think that’s what the interesting thing is – I find the lighting to be a discovery process especially when I’m doing installation work. It’s just discovering the different things that I can do with it or just playing! “Cool, if I do this, I can do that.” So, I think it’s just interest in the form and material. What sort of investigations are you doing in terms of installation lighting, because that’s not a very common thing for people to do? With my lighting installations I’m kind of doing two investigations. One’s around active spectatorship which is, for me, around spectators being active in some way particularly physically, to engage with the work through their body or to figure out what they’re seeing through their body. I just want people to be more curious or be more playful with the things that they encounter. And then the other side of it for me is just getting to play with light and what does it do if I put this thing in front of it. Again, it’s just this thing of figuring out what this material is. Is there a lot of technology to learn? Or are you learning more about the properties of light? Yes, it’s definitely learning more about the properties for me. When I first started, I was really nervous about all the technical stuff because I’m not a technical person. Obviously, you need to know how to turn a light on and all that kind of stuff! But mostly I work with torches or really, really low-fi lighting. I’m just interested in the properties or the material. Was The Two Gentlemen of Verona your first full-scale show to light? I did Stoa (the choreographic season for the New Zealand School of Dance) at the start of the year. What was that like? What did you learn on that because lighting dance requires a really specific understanding of who you’re lighting? Yes and that experience for me was very all about the process and the conversations I had with the choreographers and the dancers, and it was more around, for me, figuring out what the conversation I needed to have with the dancers to be able to make the design. So it was all about the conversation and understanding the concept and pushing the concept. There was a lot more, I guess the process was… It’s collaborative isn’t it? Yeah, it is interesting that you say collaborative because for me collaboration is when someone is investing and interrogating. So, you’re investing in the work you are making and you’re interrogating it to get it through that. I think even though Two Gents was a more structured thing, in a more traditional theatre structure, I still think I was collaborating because I was still investing and I was still interrogating. I think they just –maybe – look different. Elekis Poblete Teirney’s lighting on display in the 2018 Toi Whakaari production of The two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Jacqui Coats. Photo by Philip Merry. At this stage of your career, is it too early for you to have a style? You are investigating. What was the thing you learnt most about Two Gents, because that was the biggest set we have ever built here at Toi Whakaari, so that’s a challenge in itself! All those people and the costumes and the colours, in order to not be overwhelmed by the scale, how did you cope with that? Small goals. So, small things like: Cool, by the end of the week I’m going to have a wash plan… and not feeling like it was ever final because I could always replace a light or put something else in, so not having that - Not putting huge pressure on yourself. Yeah exactly. “Cool, I’m going to give this a go.” Also, I like giving myself the freedom of knowing this is only the second time I have done it! That I am going to make mistakes but you just give it a good hard go. So just small goals and at the end of the week get a wash plan done, and just chugging along. The hardest part of the lighting design for that was that not being able to be in the room with the set and all the lights up, right up to the last minute because there was a time where I had my plan done, and the lights and the set was getting installed, but I couldn’t see it. So there wasn’t time: “Oh man, did I do enough?” But once you get into the room that’s when you know. You’re graduating next week? Yes. [laughs] What’s the next step? I mean there are two questions really. One is what are you going to do straight away, are you going to have a break? And then what are your ambitions? Straight away, I’m going to go home, see my family, refuel myself a little bit and just gather my thoughts and let it brew for a bit. Yep, just spend summer at home and then I’m coming back to Wellington and I’m doing the Toi Pōneke dance residency with the third years and Tommy [Berridge]. I’ve got some conversations going, talking to Jacqui [Coates – director of The Two Gentlemen of Verona] about working with her in the future. Hopefully working with Helen [Todd] again. Just little bits and pieces. What about your own work, your investigations? That’s what needs to brew! [Laughs] I’m wanting to apply to a whole lot of residencies and hopefully just go to Toi Pōneke and ask, what’s the deal with exhibiting here? There is also, meanwhile, Playstation. I think for me it’s just keep making, find ways to keep making. But for light, unless you’ve got a bunch of gear, how do you keep making? Well, that’s interesting because the exhibition that I did for Festival [of Work in Development] I only used four lights in the whole exhibition and one of those was a slide projector which is pretty low-fi, the other one was just an Oriel and the other two were LEDs. I work with what I’ve got and I find that more rewarding in the long run to create work. With one of the pieces, Aperture, my process was to go into SeeyD space and whatever was in the room was all that I could use, and that is where that piece was born. I don’t really need much, just maybe one light and a space. And then you got something. Got something, yeah. The post First lighting designer graduates from Toi Whakaari’s Design degree appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

    • Resene sponsorship of Set & Props results in life-sized Dalek
      • At the beginning of this year, to mark the arrival of the first cohort of students in the new Set & props diploma, Toi Whakaari were thrilled to reach an agreement with locally-owned and Wellington-based paint manufacturer Resene to supply the paint to decorate the new Set & Props workshop as well as specialised finishes for student and school projects. Head of Course, Francis Gallop, wanted the set tunnel – where most of the heavy machinery used by students is located – to be a lot brighter than it had been and chose a combination of Resene’s Bright Spark (Y83-168-082) and Chicago (N49-005-116) to do the job. Resene also supplied colours to freshen up the other workspaces and agreed to supply paint for Toi Whakaari stage productions and for the research and development work being done by Set & Props students. By the end of Term Two, the fruits of this work could be seen in the life-sized mobile Dalek that was constructed by the first-year Set & Props students as a group project. While the construction used of lots of high-tech equipment such as CNC routers and 3D printers (as well as re-cycling some items rescued from the Wellington landfill), the finish required a combination of a range of colours from the Resene FX Metallics range along with their matching undercoats. Resene Aquaclear varnish was tinted to create complex ageing effects on the Dalek and the base colouring was in Resene Lustacryl. View this post on Instagram Look out for our Christmas card family portrait, coming to you any inter-dimensional mail box near you A post shared by Toi Set & Props (@toi_setprops) on Jun 19, 2018 at 3:57pm PDT This Dalek was based on one made for Season 1 of the rebooted Doctor Who in 2005 (the episode entitled “Dalek”). The next project for Toi Whakaari Set & props students and Resene is the set for the Term Four production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona in which they will construct an early-20th century Italian railway station for designer Tony De Goldi and director Jacqui Coats. The post Resene sponsorship of Set & Props results in life-sized Dalek appeared first on Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

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