Our history

Te Whaea is a refurbished exhibition and show building. It was originally built in 1929 by the Wellington Show Association to hold Trade Fairs and some world exhibitions. It is governed under special legislation called the Wellington City Exhibition Grounds Act 1959 that enables the Wellington City Corporation to lease certain portions. The building fell into disrepair when the Show Association was unable to maintain its upkeep and was largely regarded as an eyesore.

Then came the disastrous Sesquicentennial celebrations in 1990 designed to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The event was considered a spectacular commercial and administrative failure, and has subsequently become an icon of corporate mismanagement within New Zealand popular culture.

But some good came out of the disaster for Te Whaea. In the late 90s, the search for a larger space became critical for the New Zealand School of Dance and New Zealand Drama School who had both outgrown their buildings. The number of students had grown after Toi Whakaari (the renamed New Zealand Drama School) introduced a technical production course and expanded its acting programme into a three year degree. Not only were there student actors to accommodate, but budding directors, designers, technicians, stage managers and costumiers.

Many supporters

An idea developed to bring the Drama School and the School of Dance together in a ‘National Performing Arts Centre’. Several possible alternatives for a building were explored, including a well advanced plan to build a rooftop centre on top of the old James Smith building. That plan failed when it became clear the department store building had structural problems.

And then out of the financial hole that was the Sesquicentennial Celebration, came the bright idea to transform the Wellington Show Buildings into Te Whaea: the National Dance and Drama Centre. The building would house 9 dance and drama studios, a 200 seat theatre, a stage production facility and a full arts library. There were doubts that the Schools would be able to afford the rental and operational cost of such a large building, so it was decided the remainder of the sprawling complex would remain an indoor sports centre paying commercial rent to supplement Te Whaea's budget.

The plan for a National Performing Arts Centre – was enhanced by the support of Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky. The budget was $5 million, with $1.6 million coming from the Lotteries Grants Board, and $1.9 M from the Ministry of Education, well short of the $5 million price tag to refurbish the dilapidated show buildings. $25 thousand dollars came from the Todd Foundation towards a new dance studio and Kiri Te Kanawa came on board as patron of both Toi Whakaari and NZSD. Wellington City Council agreed to act as guarantor for the $1 million bridging loan required to go ahead. Brinkmanship was needed to get final approval from the Ministry of Education and the Minister Wyatt Creech lent his support.  

Refurbishment of Show Buildings

June 1997 the Refurbishment of Wellington Show Buildings began, with contractors, Mainzeal. The interior of the ugly old building was transformed, the high roofline allowing for attractive spaces, including a light airy foyer at the front and walkways to connect the glass fronted studios. All the dance studios and the main Te Whaea Theatre were fitted with sprung floors - a necessity to protect young performer’s limbs. There were some pleasant surprises amid all the hard work, when timber flooring, including parquet, was discovered under the tatty old carpet. In 1997 with a budget of $5million but only $4million raised, the two schools decided to go ahead and move in despite not having enough money to complete the upgrade, staff mucking in to paint their own offices and studios rather than wait on more fundraising.

On the 26th of June 1998 – The Whaea, the National Dance and Drama Centre was formally opened as home to New Zealand's two national schools of drama and dance. It was the first time either school had purpose built facilities.

 In 1997 Annie Ruth, a former Toi Whakaari graduate, became Director and the acting course became a three-year Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting) degree, and in 1998 Garry Trinder was appointed Director NZSD where he still remains.