Creative Arts Take Centre Stage During Show Week
29th October 2007 - Press Release



When the bubbles go flat at the races, there’ll still be plenty of fizz at the Ignition Creative Festival. The Ignition Creative Festival is being held in November at the Christchurch Convention Centre to promote and celebrate the work of students and staff from creative and performing arts programmes at CPIT. The annual creative and performing arts’ festival premieres the talent and achievements of the next generation of jazz musicians, theatre and circus performers, television broadcasters and filmmakers, graphics designers and fine artists, photographers and sculptors, fashion designers and hairdressers, furniture and interior designers, and architectural designers.

For one last celebration they, together with their staff, present a showcase of creativity for the region to enjoy. The Festival consists of one-off performances, held in the main Convention Hall, complemented by exhibitions in the ground floor foyer and first floor meeting rooms. The exhibitions (RIPE, EXIT and FLICK) open on the evening of Monday 12 November, and run until Saturday 17 November.

RIPE features the work of final year art and design students and includes visual arts, visual communication, photography, printmaking, animation and sculpture. RIPE runs from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 November, upstairs at the Convention Centre.

EXIT profiles the work of students at the School of Architectural Studies. The exhibition includes domestic interiors, restoration and conservation work, furniture and architectural design. Concepts are realised through drawings and computer-aided design (CAD). EXIT runs from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 November in the ground floor foyer at the Convention Centre.

FLICK features a DVD that screens a cross-section of work including Digital Film and Television, such as creating drama, sitcoms and short films; Video-Post Production, where students learn the skills of editing images, digital animation, visual effects and motion graphics; and Broadcast Journalism which includes documentary making. FLICK runs from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 November, upstairs at the Convention Centre.

A series of night time shows (PITCH, BEAT, OUTRO and FINALE) runs from Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 November, each showcasing a different aspect of the visual and performing arts.

PITCH is being held on Wednesday 14 November at the Convention Centre, and showcases the work of students from CPIT’s fashion programmes. The Year 3 students will each present a complete collection of around 10 outfits. Students design and make their collections, design the look for their models (hair and make-up) and choreograph the catwalk display of their garments.

BEAT is being held on Thursday 15 November, at 7.30pm in the Convention Centre. The cabaret style show features students and staff at the CPIT Jazz School performing a combination of jazz classics, contemporary selections and new compositions. Jazz School staff Susan de Jong, Bob Heinz, Richie Pickard, Tom Rainey, Gwyn Reynolds and Scott Taitoko will perform material from the established jazz repertoire, along with some of their own compositions.

OUTRO features the best-loved toe-tapping tunes and show-stopping songs performed by National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts (NASDA) students on Friday 16 November at 7.30pm in the Convention Centre. The performance includes songs from shows such as We will rock you, Hair Spray, RENT and Guys and Dolls performed in a revue-style cabaret, with song and dance routines in a diverse range of styles, including Tap, Hip hop and Broadway Jazz.

This year sees the addition of FINALE to the successful Ignition line-up. CircoArts, Jazz School and NASDA students will perform highlights from their own previous shows, and collaborate with each other on special pieces developed especially for FINALE being held on Saturday 17 November at 7.30pm. Festival Director Martin Trusttum says FINALE is a unique opportunity to see the combined talents of the performing arts’ students in one performance.

“This is a new initiative for CPIT and the Ignition creative festival”, says Martin Trusttum. “This is the first major production that brings together the key areas of the performing arts at CPIT in a collaborative event that will include all three areas performing on stage.”

The Ignition Creative Festival runs from Monday 12 November to Saturday 17 November at the Christchurch Convention Centre. Event dates, times and admission charges (if any) are detailed at the website www.ignition.ac.nz

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For more information contact:
Martin Trusttum
Design Centre Manager
Office phone: 03 940 8205
Mobile phone: 021 136 0636
Email: trusttumm@cpit.ac.nz
Website: www.ignition.ac.nz