VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

ABOUT US

Excite Academy - established 2016

I love music; I could live, breath, sing and play music all day long - I never want to be a minute without it.  I don’t just love learning instruments, I love anything that encompasses music - dance, drama, musical theatre, singing, and every instrument!

Growing up with the classical way of playing music, I kept feeling like there had to be a better way than playing page after consecutive page of a book, then doing the same with the next music book. I loved playing piano but there just had to be more.  And then, in my teens I discovered the television programme ‘FAME’ - an hour long weekly serial that played every Saturday night where students went to an Arts School and did their college learning through the Arts all day long, as well as core subjects.  If there had been an equivalent school in NZ I would have been the first on the doorstep.  But there wasn’t.  And that’s when I knew, I wanted to have a school like Fame.  

Five years ago, nearly 40 years after that desire began, Excite Academy was born.  I had spent those years bringing up my family, learning and teaching Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy, a creatively fun and playful way to learn music through singing, dance, movement, and playing instruments.  Kim had spent her time doing a Visual Arts degree followed by her honours degree.  And so our journey began as a mother daughter duo.

There have been many times over the 5 years where it has been hard going financially, but in Term 4 2020 we hit a crisis that threatened to close Excite’s doors very quickly.  To keep our doors open we set up a fundraising campaign called Extra Miles for Excite using Pledge Me.  What followed was an absolute miracle with many stories.  Together with out team, our families and the wider community we raised the $32,000 needed to get us through.  We will be forever grateful to everyone who helped us.

We are honoured, privileged and blessed to stand before you today, and be able to open our doors this year with our new team for 2021.  Together, we are going to emerge stronger than ever and keep our original dream alive - to be a one stop shop under one roof that encourages creativity in the arts for all ages, inspires passion, and develops critical thinkers in the visual and performing arts.  

We look forward to another fantastic year meeting budding musicians, performers and artists that we can nurture, teach and impart our knowledge to, with our range of highly qualified, capable teachers assisting us to do this.

Welcome to Excite Academy for 2021.

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Celia Williamson