Jamus Webster is taking on the new challenge of running a performing arts degree based at Te Pā Tū after nearly 30 years at Rotorua Boys' High School.
Jamus Webster is taking on the new challenge of running a performing arts degree based at Te Pā Tū after nearly 30 years at Rotorua Boys' High School.
After spending nearly 30 years “at school”, it’s only fitting Rotorua performing arts guru Jamus Webster will lead a new venture that aims to strengthen Māori performing arts at the next academic level.
Jamus Webster has left Rotorua Boys’ High School - where he was the MāoriPerforming Arts Academy director - to lead a new degree course based at Te Pā Tū, a tourism venture south of Rotorua.
Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi and Tauhara North No. 2 Trust have started the joint venture to deliver a Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts programme at the trust’s visitor experience Te Pā Tū, formerly known as Tamaki Tours.
The partnership marks the first of its kind between the trust, the wānanga and the commercial tourism entity.
Jamus Webster is taking on a new challenge of running a performing arts degree based at Te Pā Tū after nearly 30 years at Rotorua Boys' High School.
Webster has been at Rotorua Boys’ High School in some capacity for nearly three decades - starting as a student in 1995 before returning in 2001, the year after he left, as a tutor for Raukura - the school’s joint kapa haka group with Rotorua Girls’ High School.
He spent the following years contracted to the school in various capacities before being employed full-time as a teacher in 2017 and eventually taking on the role as academy director.
A desire to free up his time – mainly to spend more time with his mother Jocelyn since the 2022 passing of his father, Alfred – meant the new venture came along at the right time.
“I don’t ever regret being busy but I see Mum doing a lot of things on her own now that she used to do with Dad and I want to be more present.”
He said the new degree would give performers a piece of paper to acknowledge their knowledge and work.
Wiki Hepi-Te Huia (Tauhara North No. 2 Trust chairwoman) and Sheree Spooner (Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi head of school for undergraduate studies) at the signing of the joint agreement for a new performing arts degree.
“But they do have to do a lot of writing and critical analysis. For me, being director of Māori performing arts [at Rotorua Boys’ High School], this is a continuation of that pathway.”
He said there were so many employment opportunities through Māori performing arts and he knew first hand it was a career that could take you around the world.
“We have just come back from Taiwan doing promotional stuff over there and there’s jobs you can aim for as cultural advisers for corporate establishments and so on.”
Webster said Te Pā Tū alone employed up to 120 people in its peak season and saw a resurgence in tourism and a greater need for expert performers when the economy got stronger.
Along with performing and theory, Webster said the degree would also teach valuable life skills – team building, social interaction, communication skills and being able to retain information “without using your phone or AI″.
Jamus Webster when he was a student at Rotorua Boys' High School. Photo / NZME
Earning while they study
An intake of 26 students started on December 1 embarking on the three-year degree programme. Each year is 36 weeks and finishes in August. Classes will take place at Te Pā Tū.
Webster said the bachelor programme started as most academic calendars were ending, deliberately timed to coincide with peak season at Te Pā Tū.
“Performance-based assessments and credits will be our focus during this busy period, where the opportunities are intense and diverse. We will begin the theoretical side of the programme as we transition into the off-peak season,” he said.
At the signing of the new degree joint venture are (from back left) Ryan Te Wara and Te Taepa Kameta from Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi, Kiri Atkinson-Crean from Tauhara North Tourism, Jamus Webster from Te Pā Tū, Mana Newton from Tauhara from North No. 2 Trust and (from front left) Sheree Spooner from Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi and Wiki Hepi-Te Huia from Tauhara North No. 2 Trust.
Those already working as Te Pā Tū performers could gain a degree while working and studying, and others will get the opportunity to gain work as paid performers while studying.
Those enrolled are a mix of descendants affiliated to Tauhara North No. 2 Trust and Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa iwi as well as current Te Pā Tū kaihaka (performers).
The programme aims to nurture talent and skills in Māori performing arts, providing students with hands-on experience and the unique opportunity to focus on traditions of Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa iwi.
Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi head of school for undergraduate studies Sheree Sponer said while it was a valuable education opportunity, it was also about “empowering” communities and iwi, and strengthening cultural heritage through performing arts.
“We are thrilled to be working alongside Tauhara North No. 2 Trust in this unique venture that brings together culture, education, and award-winning tourism.”
Tauhara North No. 2 Trust chairwoman Wikitoria Hepi-Te Huia said she was excited to be partnering with indigenous tertiary education provider to deliver the programme.
“It will enable greater opportunity for our people, our rangatahi (youth) to connect to whānau, whakapapa and whenua through mātauranga Māori, while contributing to the cultural landscape of our trust and our Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa iwi,” she said.
“This educational platform also allows us the opportunity to facilitate succession in our professional kaihaka (performers) at Te Pā Tū.”
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
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