EIGHT Newcastle performers have been chosen to present their Higher School Certificate (HSC) works at a showcase in Sydney next week.
Over the next few months, there will be a total of eight showcases held in NSW which feature HSC high achievers from performing artists to industrial designers.
One of these events, held in the York Theatre at the University of Sydney's Seymour Centre, is the "OnSTAGE" exhibition.
Showcasing the best drama performances from last year's HSC, OnSTAGE is a series of seven shows running from February 14 to 18 which this year features a group act from Lambton High School.
"It's a very comedic piece, it's a bit a silly," Lambton High graduate and group member Jaya Bolton-Manual said.
"It's five girls and we dress in hot-pink tracksuits. Basically the idea is that we are going to the 'Synchronised Chairdancing Olympics' and our choreographer ditches us but we end up doing a great performance.
"There's a bit of dance but there's a lot of acting and slapstick comedy."
Performing alongside Jaya are former Lambton High students Amelia Frost, Darcy Griffiths, Jasmyn Stojkovski and Maggie Hartsuyker.
"We did not think we would even be nominated let alone selected," Jaya said.
Group member, Maggie Hartsuyker, has made the move to Sydney this year and is following her passion for musical theatre with a Bachelor of Music majoring in Musical Theatre at the Australian Institute of Music.
"This was the dream. I'm so excited and I'm so lucky and grateful," she told the Newcastle Herald over the phone after her first day of orientation on Tuesday.
"Lambton High is such a great and supportive environment and it's great that the CAPA faculty is being recognised."
Also being held in York Theatre next week are leading HSC dance performances in the "Callback" exhibition.
Only 15 students from across NSW will have their work showcased as part of the exhibition, three of those from Hunter School of Performing Arts.
Grace Whittaker said while it had been a challenging twelve months, her selection was a great end to the HSC.
"It was very stressful. I started choreographing in lockdown and finding a place to move and work out how the next step would work was a big challenge," Grace said.
Grace's work explored the idea of how memories are created and how they fade.
"I wanted to do this through the concept of photos. The movements show memories fading and new ones being created."
Also selected to perform at Callback is Grace's former classmate Kaleisha Brown.
"I'm a bit nervous but super excited and very proud," Kaleisha said.
"I'm doing core performance. It's about overcoming obstacles through life's journey."
The third work chosen from Hunter School of Performing Arts was by Lukah Eveleigh who based her choreographed performance on "snake venom".
"So the transitions are snake movements and then section A is the spitting of the venom and section B is the injecting and release of the venom into the bloodstream," she said.
Having secured a position with Sydney Dance Company, Lukah's dreams will be put on hold when she undergoes knee surgery the day after her final Callback performance.
"The show is on the Thursday and then I have to come back and get an operation on the Friday," she said.
"It hurts all the time but it was something that I was born with so it's not really an easy fix. Better off to get it over with now rather than put it off and put more things out of whack. It's worse when I'm performing."
Lukah's mother, Michelle, said her daughter has loved performing since she was two and half years old.
"I'm a very proud mum. Lukah has worked really hard and loves dance. She's had a few obstacles along the way but we get through them," Ms Eveleigh said.
"We didn't really get to the bottom of the issues with her knee until the last 18 months. But to know that it can be fixed is a massive relief."
