Annual Report 2010 - Royal New Zealand Ballet

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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.
Annual Report 2010\ 13GeneralSadly, Rigmor Gnatt passed away at the end of last year. Rigmor, and her partner Ianregularly attended performances, and it was always a joy to see her smiling face, full ofbubbling energy and pride in the company. The funeral service was held at her home inOtaki in early January.In February, the RNZB was privileged to be invited to the premiere of the movie Mao’s LastDancer and to host Li Cunxin in our studios the following day. Li spoke at length to thedancers and watched a rehearsal. It was a great thrill especially for our Chinese dancersand such a boost for them all to personally meet such an extraordinary role model.Japanese MP, Mrs Hiroe Makiyama visited the company and watched rehearsals of Carmen.During the From Here to There tour, eight dancers took part in a joint training session withthe Crusaders in Christchurch. The publicity generated from the morning was unbelievable.Front page news, all the TV news bulletins, blogs and internet. Fantastic! I only wish thatour normal activities generated this much interest.General Manager, Amanda Skoog and I met with the CEO of the UK’s Royal Academyof Dance, Luke Rittner. The academy would like to hold their Genee International BalletCompetition in Wellington in 2012. As the company would be on tour, we have offered theuse of our studios and facilities. This is one of the premier events in the international dancecalendar.At the beginning of September, Meridian presented their own Wearable Arts Awards. Afun Friday night get-together between the two companies, in which different departmentsmade costumes from recycled materials and dancers modelled costumes.The 2011 season launch took place in both Auckland and Wellington. A first for the RNZBand a great opportunity to meet up with stakeholders, sponsors and supporters.At the beginning of October, Qi Huan, Medhi Angot and Dimitri Kleioris performed twoshort works created by Brendan Bradshaw, as part of this year’s Tempo Dance Festival inAuckland.I gave a talk on The Nutcracker at the Christchurch Art Gallery on Wednesday 17 November.The presentation was well attended and a good way to start the Christchurch season.I am extremely grateful for the nine years that I have been with this wonderful company. Ithas been an amazing journey and I’ve loved every minute. Exciting times are ahead and Ilook forward to seeing the next stage of development for the RNZB under the direction ofEthan Stiefel.Gary HarrisArtistic DirectorThe Royal New Zealand Ballet
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Annual Report 2010 - Royal New Zealand Ballet

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