About Us
Whanaungatanga - a Feeling of Family and Inclusivity.
Hawkes Bay Youth Theatre is a registered charitable trust, committed to actively nurturing a safe and encouraging creative space for young artists. It is important to us that young people feel comfortable fully immersing themselves in their creative work, laughing, bonding and pushing themselves beyond their creative boundaries.
There are a lot of people involved in making sure this dream carries on being a reality. Have a scroll down to meet our Board of Trustees and Directing team.
Our Story
Established in 2003 by local drama giant, Ken Keyes, Hawke's Bay Youth Theatre has gone through many phases of expansion and contraction in its more than two decades of operation. Under Peter and Juliet Cottrell some of the older classes of their Drama Workshop were amalgamated into HaBYT. Current artistic director, Jandyra Maciel, brought with her elements of movement and physical theatre that give senior productions a contemporary feel.
In 2021, HaBYT once more became a registered charitable trust. We have been fortunate to welcome our warm-hearted, competent and passionate Board members, all of whom are respected professionals in the relative fields. We are still looking for a few more like-minded individuals to help helm the HaBYT ship towards new horizons by providing chairmanship, funding and marketing/PR skills.
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The current HaBYT board are: Jandyra Maciel, our current artistic director and interim chair; Aslan Rowlands, LGBTQ advisor and online fundraising coordinator; Aaron Te Meihana-Turpin, chief financial officer; and Rosheen FitzGerald, parent representative. We are also one of very few charitable institutions with a comprehensive Child Protection Policy; actively maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for young people is hugely important to us.
Meet the Team
Jandyra Maciel grew up in Australia, of South American descent, and graduated her Diploma in Dance Performance in 2008 after three years at New Zealand School of Dance. During her training she worked closely with many NZ choreographers including Sacha Copland, Taiaroa Royal, Malia Johnston, Taane Mete, Michael Parmenter and Sarah Foster. Since then she has been working as a freelance choreographer, movement director, dancer, creator, voiceover artist and actor.
Jandyra has performed in Away by Michael Gow, Much Ado About Nothing as Lady Beatrice, and as Flossie Le Mar in The Hooligan and the Lady. She teaches contemporary dance in schools, and has taught contemporary movement/physical theatre at the National Youth Drama School.
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Jandyra has choreographed for several high school productions as well as for the Edible Fashion Awards and for various theatre productions. Jandyra collaborated as movement director for Puti Lancaster’s work Freedom is Behind My Breath, and created and performed her own show META_, in collaboration with Sophie Follet, Sara Hirsch and Rosie Langabeer. Jandyra created and performed And The Earth Shifted Beneath My Feet with the Human Project Aotearoa for the 2019 Performance Arcade in Wellington and completely recreated the work for the Harcourt’s Hawkes Bay Arts Festival 2020. She collaborated with film-maker Andrew Browne on a dance film for MÄ«haro Hawkes Bay arts festival. She was a creative co-director and the movement director for Hawkes Bay Youth Theatre’s productions of Over the Top (2017), Skellig (2018), Romeo and Juliet (2019), Carol Ann Duffy’s Everyman (2020), April’s Fool (2021), Much Ado About Nothing (2022), Burning Bird (2023), and Emilia (2024).
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Jandyra is an energetic, passionate and playful movement director and loves to push young actors outside their comfort zone, helping them discover raw and poetic movement that supports their storytelling.
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Jandyra is HaBYT's Artistic Director, interim Chairperson of the Board, and teaches the Senior Company on Tuesdays from 6-8pm at Keirunga Creative Arts Venue, the Troupe class on Mondays from 4-5pm at Theatre Hawke's Bay, Hastings, and the Associates class on Thursdays from 5.30-7pm at Keirunga Creative Arts Venue.
Michelle Ferguson is a dedicated Dance and Drama teacher with over 15 years of experience inspiring young performers. A graduate of Otago University, Michelle has spent the past seven years teaching at international schools in Taiwan and Singapore. With an 18-year background in ballet, she brings a deep appreciation for technique and artistry to her teaching.
Michelle has two young daughters, and a husband who is also a teacher. She is passionate about fostering creativity and confidence in her students. She finds immense joy in watching them explore the transformative power of performance and the arts.
Michelle teaches the Ensemble class on Thursdays from 4-5pm at Keirunga Creative Arts Venue and the Players class on Wednesdays from 4-5pm at Aubyn Live Theatre, Hastings.
Tania Robin is our tikanga advisor, consultant creative collaborator, and tutor of Te Ao Maori at HaBYT. Tania has supported HaBYT in the teachings of waiata, kapa haka, pronunciation and tikanga traditions. This was especially so in regards to locally commissioned works like The Story of Pania and, Over the Top. As a staff member of HaBYT with decades of national and international performance experience, a huge part of Tania's position is to nurture and up-skill the theatrical training of rangatahi involved. Over the years of Tania's involvement with HaBYT, she has admired the "passionate efforts of staff to provide great theatrical training and also a safe, yet culturally inclusive and empowering environment, that embraces diversity."
Kylie Vanston is our new administrator. She came to HaBYT through her children who have participated in both this school and the Drama Workshop. She completed a degree in English literature and taught drama in Auckland. She obtained Trinity College London qualifications in Speech and Drama and has been teaching private lessons in schools throughout the region for the past five years. A keen actress, she has performed in a number of productions around Hawke's Bay, most recently last year's run of The Drowned Girls at Waipukerau Little Theatre.​
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Pia Zima is our new manager. She trained as an actor at the Max Reinhart Seminar in Vienna. Before settling in Hawke's Bay, she spent over a decade in Berlin where she built a vibrant career in film and television. Pia was a core cast member on Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (GZSZ), Germany's longest running daily soap, and has also appeared in a wide range of indie short films, commercials and feature productions. Her experience spans both sides of the camera. She was also a co-founder of Blond Identity, a creative agency for actors and musicians, where she helped produce website content, film showreels, and coach performers for castings and auditions.
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