Photo: Supplied
This week, ten teens who have slipped through the cracks of mainstream education take centre stage as performers in the stage production Manawa Ora: Courage is Contagious.
It's the annual project from Nga Rangatahi Toa - a creative arts initiative which supports Auckland youth excluded from school.
This year’s theme ‘courage is contagious’ came from the rangitahi themselves, whose performances reflect their experiences of social, educational and cultural exclusion, says Sarah.
“These are things that are deep-seated shame triggers for them.”
The teenagers were mentored one-on-one over five days by aerosol artist Owen Dippie, musicians Coco Solid, Tourettes, Team Dynamite's Lucky Lance Fepuleai and Tony Tz dancer Thomas Rose and visual artists Sara Beazley and Lucie Blaze.
“If you’re about authenticity and what’s real in this life then I totally suggest you get along there.”
Manawa Ora - Courage is Contagious runs from 5 - 9 October at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland
