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Not only does 2018 mark Director Garry Trinder's 20th year, but also marks the 20th anniversary of Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre.

Current students, staff and a few past members of faculty from NZSD, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and Te Whaea joined to share fond memories of our special home.

Below is the speech written and spoken by NZSD Director Garry Trinder.

I first saw Te Whaea in 1997, when I came to Wellington to interview for the post of Director at the New Zealand School of Dance.

The then Chair of the New Zealand School of Dance Board of Trustees, Graeme Oldershaw, had arranged for me to meet Annie Ruth here and for us to undertake a tour of the site together. We donned our hard hats and walked amid workers, plastic sheeting, bags of cement, dust, mounds of wood chippings and assorted debris. The site manager animatedly enthused about studios, classrooms, performance spaces and a library. All I could see was a sad Disneyland-style shed and couldn’t envisage anything of what the schools would inherit a few months later. You have to remember at the time that the outside of the building was bright buttercup yellow, with huge red dots all over it, and cartoon-like castles at junctions around the perimeter.

I confess that it wasn’t love at first sight but more a leap of faith. For anyone who had seen the impossibly cramped conditions of our previous studios in Cable Street, it was obvious the School would never truly be world-class, unless we had a facility that could support this ambition becoming a reality.

In 1998, both schools decided to move into Te Whaea without having raised all of the money we needed to complete renovations. The budget was five million dollars and we’d secured only four million. The Boards of both schools consulted Annie and myself and we decided to go ahead. With a roll of 46 students, I felt that as long as the teaching spaces were operational, that we would cope.

Annie shared the same unflinching enthusiasm. I greatly admire Annie and came to realise very quickly this is a woman who exudes courage and positivity in abundance.

The shortfall meant significant savings needed to be found. The first thing we had to do was paint our own offices. Resene kindly donated paint and we worked from sunrise to sunset to cover the pink walls and white dots. We polyurethaned all the ballet barres, laid odd misshapen sized fragments of lino from much smaller studios in Cable Street down in creative mosaics, and started classes almost immediately.

For years, we had no carpets in the offices and no lino in any of the common spaces. Every dollar saved from our meagre budgets went into painting another wall, carpeting an office, upgrading equipment or replacing furniture that was too shabby to donate to any charity.

It was all possible because everyone involved had an indefatigable sense of purpose and believed unequivocally that we were constructing an asset worthy of a long and impressive future.

As the great architect, Frank Lloyd Wright said:
‘Space is the breath of art.’

To me, I've always especially liked the fact Te Whaea's framework is on display. There is an industrial, almost skeletal look to the building. This aligns with the core purpose of Te Whaea, which is to take the raw material of young creative artists and make possible a nurturing environment in which to learn, experiment and, above all, grow.

Not everyone can appreciate just how special this space is nor how much good work has been generated in every nook, cranny, annex, studio, chamber, tunnel, subterranean cave, grotto and performance area.

I love this building and look in awe at where we are today. I thank Te Whaea for inspiring me and safeguarding the training of an artform I feel so passionate about. I want to acknowledge all of the board members, chair persons, staff and students, who have provided this strong foundation for us- one that is standing the test of time. Sadly some have now passed away. To those who are here with us, and to those who are here in spirit, we honour your vision, courage, contribution and investment.

I won’t be in this position when we celebrate the 40th anniversary but I wouldn’t change anything of the journey to date.

On behalf of all the staff and students of the New Zealand School of Dance I want to salute this house, Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre, and express sincere and unbridled gratitude for the shelter and security she provides us on a daily basis.