2024
New Zealand School of Dance student secondments
$33,512 – Supported by the Auckland and Wellington En Pointe Patrons
Five senior students from the New Zealand School of Dance, the official school of the RNZB, seconded to the Company for the Swan Lake tour. This is an important part of the students’ training providing invaluable experience of rehearsing, touring and performing with a professional company.
En Pointe Patrons contributed to the students’ salaries and touring costs.
New work from Sarah Foster-Sproull
$10,000 – Supported by the Auckland En Pointe Patrons
As part of the mid-year season, Solace: Dance to feed your soul, the RNZB is commissioning a brand-new work from acclaimed New Zealand choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull. En Pointe Patrons provided support towards the choreographic fee.
Staging for Wayne McGregor’s Infra
$13,512 – Supported by the Wellington En Pointe Patrons
As part of Solace: Dance to feed your soul, the RNZB performed Wayne McGregor’s groundbreaking work Infra. The first time that any of McGregor’s works had been performed in New Zealand. En Pointe Patrons contributed to the fee for the UK stager.
Dancers’ pointe shoes
$4,000 from Wellington and Auckland En Pointe Patrons
En Pointe Patrons voted to support the RNZB in one of the most practical ways, by providing vital support to keep the dancers ‘on their toes’. $4,000 bought 40 pairs of pointe shoes, around two weeks’ worth of pointe shoes for the women.
Ballet in a Box, Auckland
Supported by The William and Lois Manchester Trust
Ballet in a Box is a magical introduction to the world of ballet for school children of all ages.
RNZB held four performances in September at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, reaching 1,857 school children.
The programme included the performance of a new ballet, ‘Dazzlehands’. Performances were narrated in English or in Te Reo Māori, with a relaxed performance (catering for neurodiverse audiences). RNZB Dance Educators also facilitated workshops for South Auckland Schools prior to them attended the performance. 1,145 students from 21 schools took part in these workshops.
DANCE WITH ME Residency, Auckland
Supported by Fran Wyborn
A collaboration with the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau involving workshops and a performance.
150 students from 6 low decile schools in the Auckland Region took part in the programme. A series of weekly dance workshops delivered by two RNZB Dance Educators, which culminated in a shared performance on stage of the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau.
Royal New Zealand Ballet Foundation Scholarship
Supported by an Anonymous donor
This Scholarship supports a young Kiwi dancer at the Royal New Zealand Ballet as they work to realise their potential in this most demanding of professions. The Royal New Zealand Ballet Foundation Scholar sits alongside the two Friedlander Foundation Scholars and the long-standing and prestigious Todd Scholar, expanding the pathways available for talented young New Zealanders to pursue professional careers in dance in Aotearoa.
The 2024 Royal New Zealand Ballet Foundation Scholar is Ema Takahashi.