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Year 9 dancers Harrison Bradley and Ayla Marshall enjoying technique class.
two changing rooms. It is a real asset
for the College.”
Carolyn has also continued to develop
a strategic alliance with the Royal
New Zealand Ballet. Dance Educator,
Pagan Dorgan, returned for a fourth
visit in March, this time conducting
three days of intensive classes that
included repertoire from the current
RNZB performance season of
Don
Quixote
. This collaborative work could
potentially result in more master
classes at StAC and the Academy’s
involvement in a joint classical work for
the end of year production.
Old Collegian Joshua Guillemot-
Rodgerson (OC 2011) also spent a
busy morning guest tutoring with the
Ballet Academy in March. Joshua
is completing his second year of a
Bachelor of Dance at the prestigious
Juilliard School in New York, and was
home in Christchurch on his spring
break. Carolyn says the students
always enjoy the time they spend with
Joshua, “Having Joshua perform any
ballet step is a delight for me as he is
demonstrating excellence in action right
here in our own studio.”
Carolyn is working with the StAC TV
studio team to upgrade the Moodle
Ballet homework programme. They
are filming every syllabus exercise, and
then uploading them on the Academy’s
own ETV channel. This is then linked
to Moodle.
Students across the Academy
continue to excel to a high standard
with examination results consistently
high. Meg Stuthridge (Year 11) gained
a prestigious place in the National
training programme with the
New Zealand School of Dance for the
second year, and Anika Boet (Year 9)
gained the highest grade awardable in
the NZAMD ballet examination.
Ballet brings history to life
The 2014 production was a charming
historic ballet called
La Boutique
Fantasque
(photos above and right).
Centred in an eccentric French
toymaker’s shop of fantastical toys,
it featured classical choreography,
character and national dance, with use
of comedic and melancholy mime to
portray the storyline. “While training I
performed in this ballet twice myself,
and loved it.
"Our version saw a stage typically filled
with ‘children’, ‘parents’ and ‘dolls’,
and therefore many costume changes
were needed. I was thrilled with how
the dancers embraced their roles and
brought the story to life – and am very
thankful to the wonderful parents
who must be congratulated on their
valuable assistance in making the
dressing rooms run like clockwork,”
says Carolyn.
Congratulations
The 2014 Ballet awards went to:
Dancer of the Year
Anika Boet
Performer Cup
Shea Laws
Meritorious Endeavour
Frankie Morrow,
Juliette Newman
Blazer Badge Examination
Honours
Priya Bartlett, Christian Knight,
Siara Clarke, Charlotte Brown,
Tehya Laws, and Maya Laws
Anika Boet (Year 9)