From a year as an arts leader and helping organise the All that Glitters show, Garin College dux Ellen Theobald now has her focus on history and politics at Otago University.
It has been a busy 2024 for Ellen who has been dancing competitively in modern dance as well as teaching it as a part-time job. At the same time, she has been an arts leader at school and a high achiever academically.
She has been dancing since she was five and says: “I just love performing.”
“Dancing is definitely my passion and I’m lucky to have worked out my passion at an early age. There’s lots of choreography and different ways of expressing myself. Sometimes it can be really personal and other times you’re putting on a character.”
Her dancing experience made her well suited to help organise the school’s annual Mahi Toi Festival which was named All that Glitters this year.
“Each year the arts leaders organise it and it’s like a big celebration of all the arts at Garin. This year, our theme was award shows like the Oscars and the Grammys.”
The Renwick student has been boarding at Garin College throughout her high school years and history was a favourite subject, hence the decision to include it in her university studies. At Otago, she plans to do a double degree in Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in politics and history.
“Politics because I’m just curious about the systems and how things function and the way it impacts on us.”
On history, she says there’s a lot to learn from the past and she wants to know more.
Alongside politics and history, she says she will continue to dance, at least recreationally.
