Unique like you
We are Toi Whakaari. We stand tall alongside unique people like you, enabling you to express your true creative self. In our creative village, your individuality and passion for the performing arts is shared, celebrated, and nurtured. We care deeply about you and your unique place in our whānau. To us, manaakitanga – care, respect and enhancing each other’s mana – really does matter. Our distinctive learning approach, built on the mātauranga and tikanga of our whakapapa, enables our tauira to tell their, and our nation’s, unique story. As New Zealand’s premier school of performing arts, our legacy has always been to train the best performers, designers, and craftspeople from here and from around the world. Taught by renown experts and educators with broad industry and community connections, our prestigious qualifications are a mark of quality that opens doors to a successful career. And that’s why our talented alumni are sought after, in front of and behind the scenes, by the world’s leading productions. Being part of our kura is more than just gaining qualifications. Here skills are gained, perspectives are shaped, connections are made, and potential is revealed. We recognise all our students as future rangitira. They emerge from here - knowing who they are and where they stand - ready to add their value to Aotearoa New Zealand’s thriving performing arts community. If you’re a past, present or future tauira; a valued staff member, industry partner or funder; or a member of the many communities we’re part of, we stand with you. We’re proud to take this creative journey with people as unique as you.
From our whare standing on whenua in Te Whanganui-a-Tara we nurture talented students in performance arts through innovative, co-creative and recognised learning programmes - to realise their creative potential and navigate sustainable paths forward.
Hei whakanui i ō tātou ao: Reveal and connect Aotearoa story-makers.
Here the focus is on how we might best work with and develop students in ways that enhance their ability, individually and with others, to have positive impacts in the worlds they will go on to lead and activate.
Manaakitanga: We work together in ways that enhance each other’s mana. We encourage and support one another and ourselves to reach our full potential.
Rangatiratanga: We recognise that everyone has potential to be leaders and that their training helps them develop and hone these skills.
Mātauranga: We value knowledge acquisition and transmission, particularly through tuākana tēina.
Whakawhanaungatanga: We foster a whānau community that holds high expectations around respect and positive working relationships within the kura, and with those externally.
Toi Whakaari is managed on a day to day basis by three co-leaders operating collectively as Tira Mana Kōkiri. The leadership rōpū consists of the dual role of Tumuaki (Director) and Poutūhono (Engagement-focused), the Poukōkiri Mātauranga (Academic-focused), and the Pouhāpai Ahurea (People-focused).
Our current Tira Mana Kōkiri members:
The Tumuaki role and the operations of the school is overseen by a Board of Trustees. The Board is made up of volunteers who are passionate about seeing the next generation of performing arts practitioners succeeding in their careers.
The current Board and committee members are:
Briar Grace-Smith
Helen Pearse-Otene
Hone Hurihanganui
Kahu Hotere
Ross Himona
Mikaere Paki
Rangimoana Taylor
Tānemahuta Gray
Tanea Heke
Hinauri Mead
Jane von Dadelszen (Chair)
Jamie Lambert (Committee Member)
Anapela Polataivao (Committee Member)
Prof. David O’Donnell (Committee Member)
Dr. Suzanne Little (Committee Member)
Dr Sean Coyle (Committee Advisor)
Te KuraHuia Henare-Stewart (Student Representative)
Ayush Singh (Student Representative)
Tanea Heke (Committee Member)
Hinauri Mead (Committee Member)
Angus Evison (Chair)
Roman Rogers (Committee Member)
Adelyn Love (Committee Member)
Alex Dallas (Student Representative)
Waikamania Seve (Student Representative)
Tanea Heke (Committee Member)
Hinauri Mead (Committee Member)
Fiona Cassidy (Chair)
Charmaine Ngarimu (Committee Advisor)
Tim Walker (Committee Advisor)
Zody Takurua (Student Representative)
Mathieu Rata (Student Representative)
Tanea Heke (Committee Member)
Hinauri Mead (Committee Member)
The chances of students being employed after graduating at Toi Whakaari is high, partly because New Zealand has a busy TV and film industry with international connections, but also because students leave Toi Whakaari equipped with considerable knowledge, skills and experience to thrive in New Zealand’s performing arts scene.
Toi Whakaari has outstanding tutors and guest tutors, who are experienced practitioners themselves, who can successfully harness the amazing raw talent of their students. Studying at Toi Whakaari has become an essential step for students wishing to pursue a career in the performing arts, and the connection with the school does not end at graduation. The learning opportunities continue well after, and the industry connections students make while studying with us will remain important for the student’s entire career. This is a major difference between Toi Whakaari and other drama schools, both in New Zealand and around the world.
During this time the school has gained a reputation for producing graduates who perform brilliantly in their respective disciplines and who create their own work. Our graduates occupy key roles in all areas of our creative industries and over the last fifty years they have greatly influenced the performing arts in Aotearoa.
During the next 50 years, Toi Whakaari will continue to be a major voice in the New Zealand performing arts industry as we train students and give them the skills to meet the current industry demands. In addition, we give students transferable skills that enable them to easily adapt to this country’s fast-changing arts scene.
Students want to study at Toi Whakaari because they know they will be in a supportive environment, as well as being part of a highly regarded organisation with an international reputation.
