Welcome to StageOne, the innovative, cutting-edge performance programme designed to give the young people of Christchurch practical experience in the performing arts.

Now in its sixth year StageOne continues to push the boundaries of youth theatre expectations. Our programme targets specific skills in acting, movement, voice and dance for all ages and best of all, the skills are put into practice through our public performance seasons.

Specifically designed for young people StageOne offers a challenging path of discovery that identifies and harnesses the potential talent and abilities of young performers.

StageOne operates under the umbrella of Hagley Theatre Company, a fulltime training institution for adult students attached to Hagley College. The Company recently celebrated 20 years and continues to provide leading education in the performing arts. With a reputation for excellence Hagley Theatre Company has established strong connections with the wider performing arts community and boasts notable success with placing students into professional courses with New Zealand's top providers, Toi Whakaari:NZ Drama School and UNITEC School of Stage and Screen Arts.

Hagley Theatre Company students often engage with their StageOne counterparts and are on hand to provide assistance in all areas from directing to technical support. It's a relationship that serves StageOne well as our students gain further knowledge and opportunities that might not otherwise be available. Many of our resources are shared and parts of the StageOne programme are based on similar modules used with the fulltime Company.

While the balance of practical and theoretical study puts us at odds with the game-playing, improvisation based theatre programmes available in Christchurch it is probably our performance programme that highlights the biggest difference between StageOne and other providers. Using contacts from around the globe we offer students the chance to work on contemporary and relevant scripts from the world's leading playwrights. Often the work is commissioned for particular age groups and many of our seasons have never before been presented in New Zealand.

In 2010 we have continued to grow our innovative programme by offering Dance to the young people of Christchurch. Using the StageOne model Hagley Dance Company have introduced Steps, a contemporary dance programme for ages 3 upwards. Dance and movement are often undervalued and I'm very proud to see the Steps programme up and running (and popular).

My staff are highly motivated and committed to giving our students broad theatrical experiences and I hope to welcome you to the StageOne team soon.

As always I am available for you to contact with questions, suggestions or feedback. Please feel free to email me lo@hagley.school.nz

Darryl Low