Showquest national final results

Showquest national final results - media release

Havelock North High School from the Hawkes Bay took out the top spot at the Showquest national final, becoming the first overall winner of New Zealand’s new music, dance and drama showcase for schools.

The winning team of students from Havelock North High School chose to theme their piece Come Join The Circus, using the metaphor of circus to challenge society’s relationship with cellphones. Second place went to Waimea College in Nelson for their piece Distorted Images, themed around body image.

Event judge Jackie Clarke said she found the school performances thoroughly engaging.

“There is no better feeling, and there is no more healing and positive energy you can bring to the world then actually putting on a show, communicating ideas, feelings, emotions, and aspirations, and sharing that with your community,” said the singer.

Matt Ealand from the Rockquest Promotions Auckland office, and the director of the programme, says that participating in Showquest is about more than just the performance on the day.

“Showquest is structured on a competitive framework, but the driving rationale, as with all the Rockquest Promotions’ events, is to encourage participation, creative growth and team work,” he says. “We find that if we are able to provide a platform where students can express themselves on their own terms within the boundaries of the event, the rewards go far beyond the rush of performing on the day.”

Showquest was staged earlier on this year in Northland, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Auckland. The national final was judged from a pool of regional first and second place winners, and awarded by a panel of expert judges from the performing arts sector. Teams were judged overall on their performance, soundtrack, costuming, choreography, and theme.

The full list of Showquest awards from the national final was:

1st - Havelock North High School; Come Join the Circus

2nd - Waimea College; Distorted Images

3rd - St Mary’s College; Resilience Through Diagnosis

Soundtrack - Cashmere High School

Production - Garin College

Choreography - Darfield High School

Performance Skill - Havelock North High School

Lighting - Waimea College

Visual Enhancement - Havelock North High School

Drama - Cashmere High School

Theme - Havelock North High School

Wardrobe - Mount Maunganui College

Wearable Art – Rangitoto College

Rockquest Promotions, which has 30 years of success with the country’s only live, nationwide school music contest, won the contract from the Ministry of Education earlier this year for a dance and music performance event for schools. Showquest lines up with the curriculum and with NCEA standards across several subject areas, inspiring students to put what they’ve learnt into practice in a professional stage setting, with a live audience.

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