Annual Report 2010 - Royal New Zealand Ballet

12 / Annual Report 2010Catherine Eddy decided to retire from dancing in 2010 but will remain in Wellington andthere are plans afoot for her to work with the company on a couple of education relatedprojects in 2011.Katie Hurst-Saxton retired after nine years with the RNZB and plans to travel overseas.Kyle Wood’s contract with the RNZB was not renewed for 2011.EducationForums, workshops and masterclasses took place throughout the From Here to There andCarmen seasons. Dance educators Brigitte Knight, Daniel Cooper and Shannon Dawsonjoined the team for the duration of these seasons.Highlights included a Carmen day at the TelstraClear Pacific Centre in Manukau. Five lowdecile schools attended including some schools that do not have the opportunity to studydance. It was a resounding success and we were particularly delighted that both the ASBCommunity Trust and The Lion Foundation came to view our work that they support.Through the LEARNZ network the RNZB produced its second virtual field trip to the ballet.Focused on Carmen this has now been used as a digital resource for 72 schools from a widegeographical spread.This year’s Day in the Life of a Dancer at Te Papa in July produced a bumper turnout. Overseven hundred people came to watch our Ballet Mistress and six dancers present what goeson behind the scenes. This was followed by children’s workshops run by an RNZB danceeducator, which I think everybody wanted to join.On Saturday 31 July, eight dancers performed Dances from Napoli at the Pick ‘n’ Mixweekend at the Aotea Centre in Auckland.Following the Australian tour, the company were able to spend a week presentingworkshops at schools and colleges in the Wellington area. This is something that we haveall wished for, that the dancers themselves present their work to students in their ownenvironment.Over 1,000 students enjoyed seeing the dancers in action and up close in class, rehearsaland performing excerpts from The Nutcracker and the infamous Lady Gaga ballet. Feedbackfrom this week has been amazing. Teachers and students were overwhelmed that the RNZBwould visit them. Our Education Manager had many teachers with tears in their eyes whileexplaining what a once in a lifetime opportunity this was for their students.During September, ‘A Day in the Life’ presentations took place in New Plymouth andHamilton.In September, wardrobe supervisor, Andrew Pfeiffer gave a talk on costume design andconstruction at Te Papa. Approximately sixty people attended.