ShowQuest

On Friday 17th of May, Junior Campus sent a team 50 strong to the Civic Theatre to finally perform the show we’d been creating, practising and refining for months! Nerves and excitement levels were high, but as we settled into our changing room for the day we were ready to have some fun. Our on-stage practice time was super useful – it was our first full dress rehearsal and to go through our show with the video wall, props and lights was such an awesome feeling! The rest of the day flew by in a rush of watching local high schools during their practice, silent disco-ing, snacking, relaxing and practising our dances in small groups. We fueled up with pizza before it was time to get stuck in with hair and makeup and then it was our call time! Nerves were high waiting backstage in the cold loading dock, but finally, they let us through to the side of stage and it was our time to shine. Things came together so well in our performance – we danced our hearts out and left it all on the stage. Our team captains, Tamzyn Dillinger and Charlotte Blair, represented us so well in the interview afterward as they spoke about how they loved meeting new people through Showquest and were really proud of what we had created. We were so pumped racing back to our changing rooms, and we loved having the Senior Campus team waiting there to congratulate us. Then it was time to cheer on Senior Campus and enjoy the other high school performances before results were announced.
When they announced the first award our dressing room exploded with noise – then we had to settle down super quickly so we could hear each one after that. We won Technical Awards in the Junior Category for: Best Theme, Best Choreography, Best Lighting, Best Use of Props, Best Use of Drama and placed First Overall. We are also thrilled with Tamzyn Dillinger who was awarded overall Whetu Rangatahi (Star of the Show). It was pandamonium in the dressing room! We’re excited to have the video of our performance go through to the National competition which will be judged later in the year.
None of this success would have been possible without the support of our two student choreographers from Senior Campus, Katelyn Street-Wilson and Natalie Smith, our teachers at Junior Campus and our whānau. We can’t wait to watch our performance when the video arrives and are already looking forward to the competition next year.

The Senior Campus, directed by Ava Aitken and Rosa Addie, performed a stunning piece looking at the high school journey and the range of experiences we all go through. A highlight was the duet between sisters Lucy and Oliva Thomas where they visually represented the transformative process of growing up and moving on. Senior Campus won Best Choreography which was a credit to the team. It was a delightful show and all performers and support crew can be very proud of their mahi.