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IT'S MORE THAN JUST DANCE
At Zion Studios, we want to make the most of our opportunities to positively invest in the lives of young people and our community. We have developed a range of internal programmes that stand along-side our hip hop dance tuition that are designed to build a variety of life-skills, work-skills, a strong sense of self and personal identity, and develop resilience and general well-being. We foster strength-based leadership and development in staff and students, building enduring relationships and a whanau vibe.
ACADEMY
Ki te kore nga putake e mākukungia e kore te rakau e tupu
If the roots of the tree are not watered the tree will never grow
Here at Zion, we acknowledge that the need to feel excepted, to feel safe and to be given tools on how to navigate through life's unavoidable challenges is becoming more prevalent in this day and age. It is important to us to offer a high level of professional dance, but is just as important to provide young people the environment and the tools to develop themselves physically, mentally and emotionally.
All Zion students not only enjoy investment in their dance skills, but also in their personal confidence and provision of a space to express personal growth in a physical manner. Academy takes this further by proactively incorporating aspects of the Te Whare Tapa Wha model. This model of working with people was created by Mason Durie in 1982 and has been used ever since to help understand health and what can help an individual to have good health.
Te Whare Tapa Wha is based on the four pillars of the wharenui (meeting house). Just as each corner of the house must be strong and balanced to hold its structure, each dimension of well-being must be balanced for good health to exist. The four aspects of Te Whare Tapa Wha are; taha tinana (physical health), taha whanau (family and relationships), taha wairua (spirituality) and taha hinengaro (mental health).
This fits perfectly with our intention to help people to grow in a way that is mindful of their balanced wellbeing so is an ideal model from us to draw on for our Academy and other leadership development programmes.
WHAT IS ACADEMY?
Academy is a programme dedicating time where all advanced students will learn together and strengthen the family atmosphere at Zion Studios. It is a big achievement as well as a big responsibility to be a part of an advanced crew and academy. We want to provide students with further support in a more holistic manner to help them achieve their goals and dreams, both for themselves and as a part of Zion Studios.
How we aim to do this:
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To holistically develop each dancer involved by incorporating times to explore life skills and life events that our group may be experiencing (taha hinengaro and taha wairua) and to collectively develop and invest in each other.
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To strengthen the relationships and family vibe of Zion by helping students get to know each other and support one and other through open and safe communication and learning opportunities (taha whanau) undertaken with other students and teachers beyond their individual crews.
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To further strengthen Zion values in our studio (taha wairua, taha whanau and taha hinengaro).
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To further strengthen and develop the skill levels of each dancer and their learning capacity (taha tinana).
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To build an understanding of what it looks and feels like to be part of a positive, engaged community
INTERNSHIP
The internship programme was designed with two outcomes in mind:
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As we have a strong sense of who we are and how want operate, it is very important that those in employment and leadership roles understand and align with this. The best way to do this is to develop future leadership from within the school. Those who have experienced the way our kaupapa is outworked are best placed to understand what we are looking to achieve and why certain things are important.
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It is also really important to us that we provide opportunities for our students to learn more than dance moves. That we can also help them develop into people who are well placed to grow into the best version of themselves and go on to be great community builders themselves.
Learning is undertaken with hands-on involvement in classes and events and through a number of training sessions and workshops run throughout the year.
Some of our interns will go on to teach classes as Zion. However, this is neither compulsory nor guaranteed. Being part of this programme will ensure that participants finish the year with a range of new skills, experiences and growth that will benefit them in their future, and that they will have positively served the Zion whanau while benefitting from that training.
While it is true that interns are a valuable resource for the running of Zion, it is important to understand that the programme is not about the school simply sourcing “free labour”. In fact, significant cost in time, heart, effort and money is proactively invested into participants during their year in the programme. We take very seriously our opportunity to invest in their future while they serve the school; by working in partnership we create an awesome win-win.