The Arts

Wakakirri

What a fabulous year we have had, with 30 students from across all year levels competing in the school dance competition Wakakirri!

 This year's dance work was led by our fantastic Year 12 dance captain Karis Richmond. To create the dance work Karis drew inspiration from an ancient Greek myth about the three goddesses of fates. The dance work followed the story of a person, danced by Year 8 student Lucaya Stent, and her journey through the three stages of life. The first stage, danced by Year 7 and 8 students with Nyssa Johnson as Clotho (the goddess of birth) depicted the beginning of life. The second stage of life, danced by Year 9 and 10 students with Hazel Read as Lachesis (the goddess of life's journey) illuminated the triumphs and challenges of life. The final stage of life, danced by the Year 11 and 12 students with Esther Leishman as Atropos (the goddess of death), alluded to the ending of life, and the starting of a new beginning. 

Students rehearsed throughout Term 2 and 3 and then performed the dance work to a live audience in a competition against secondary schools across Victoria.

 This performance took place on Wednesday 16th August. The students had a fabulous day and danced exceptionally well. The performance was exhilarating and memorable for all students involved. 

Wakakirri Ambassador Christopher Politis said: "Beautiful creative choices throughout this entire piece. Love the style of choreography - it was all connected but felt very fresh. Great musicality too! The images on the projector were just right! Nice to see this level of skill and dance technique on the stage. Great work!"   

He then went on to seek out our student leaders after the show to express his awe at the standard of the dancers and choreographers, finding it difficult to believe we were not a full-time, professional dance school! What a beautiful compliment to our students, and their dedication, passion, and talent!

To top off this fabulous day and performance, we were chosen to go through to the finals, performing at the Awards night on Friday 1st September!

We would like to say immense thank you to Karis for her unwavering commitment and dedication to the process from creating a story through to performing on stage alongside her peers. 

We can't wait to see you all back on the stage competing in Wakakirri 2025!

Press Release

Dromana College has received a State Award and is being considered for a National Award for their Wakakirri performance Moirai.  Wakakirri is Australia’s largest performing arts event for schools, with over 200 taking part in 2023. Participating schools are inspired by the Wakakirri ethos of ‘great stories inspire change’ to create and perform story dances that reflect students’ thoughts, ideas, and aspirations. 

Wakakirri Festival Director Adam Loxley said, “The standard of performance and the stories being told by schools this year was exceptional and Dromana College should be very proud of their award”.

Dromana College’s performance of Moirai was described by Wakakirri Ambassador, Christopher Politis, as "A stunning contemporary dance display!"

                         Awards

Story Telling for Great Use of Drama

Ensemble Award for Overall Performance

Lead Cast Award for Performance in Dance

Stage Managers Award for Teamwork (on-stage and off-stage)

Creative Production Award for Overall Costume Design

Best Public Speaking Award

The Wakakirri Story-Dance Festival is a national program that helps schools develop student engagement and well-being through participation in the performing arts. Schools participate by creating Story-Dances which they perform in live theatres in capital cities and selected regional areas around Australia. Schools in remote and regional areas can participate via Wakakirri Video. Over 200 schools are taking part in Wakakirri 2023.

Wakakirri’s sponsors include The Victorian Government, Reconciliation Australia, and the McCusker Charitable Foundation   

More Information 

Contact Details

Dromana College 

Ms. Taryn Sabell 

5987 2805

Wakakirri Contact details

Website: www.wakakirri.com

Facebook: @wakakirriofficial

Instagram: @wakakirriofficial

Contact: Adam Loxley, Festival Director, adam@wakakirri.com or 0416 294 801

         F BLOCK DANCE

We are excited to now be offering a new F Block Dance extension class this year. This unit runs each Wednesday afternoon, and focuses on students' choreographic skills and technique development, whilst exploring dance in alternate spaces and the techniques required for capturing dance on film. 

 Throughout the year students have performed and filmed their own dancing and learned choreography at numerous locations across the Mornington Peninsula, including Rye Back Beach, Moorooduc Railway, Seawinds, and McClelland Sculpture Park. Students have also participated in an incursion with a professional videographer in which they experimented with a diverse range of methods of capturing dance, such as the use of a 360-degree camera and a depth camera. Students have creatively edited their dance footage together to culminate into a dance film that was featured at the Dromana College 

Film Festival and the final dance performance evening of the year.