Performing arts pathway creates new opportunities

The Glass Ceiling Arts Collective is making a difference on and off the stage.

By Melanie Louden

The Glass Ceiling Arts Collective wants to be a catalyst for change.

“In 5…10 years time, wouldn’t it be great to be watching TV or going to the theatre and seeing something that reflected the lives of everyone in Aotearoa?,” asks artistic director and board member Charlotte Nightingale.

“I am often deeply saddened by the lack of diversity in these contexts because it only serves to marginalise people further, to push people further into the fringes of society.

“That needs to change and if our [performing arts] programmes can be a catalyst for that change wouldn’t that be awesome! I say watch this space!”

The Glass Ceiling Arts Collective, a charity founded by Charlotte and executive director Mike Eaglesome in 2020, started with one inclusive youth class in Auckland.

The Collective now has 14 dancing, singing and theatre classes for youth and adults who live with a disability, and those who don’t, in Northland, Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch, and is a supplier to the Cerebral Palsy Society’s e-card programme.

The classes culminate in participants performing on stage and creating their own films.

Mike says, in 2024, they identified a need to provide an extended, skills-focused performing arts programme for a smaller group of highly motivated young people, building on the foundations of the community classes and offering a more intensive and structured learning experience.

By chance, John G Davies, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading and most experienced theatrical practitioners approached Glass Ceiling at the same time, and the Pathways Training Programme for aspiring performing artists with disabilities was borne.

2025 ended with this group of actors performing their original production – The Village of Twelve Nights.

Among the Pathways participants are at least three people who live with Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nūkurangi, including Anthony Waite, Diana Umanzor and Geena Hill.

Anthony, 39, is “a creative person” who likes acting and singing.

“It’s a good thing for me. I like to meet new people,” he says.

Diana, 23, attends classes with her friend Geena.

The Pathways programme is a step in the right direction for Diana’s long-held dream of becoming an actress.

The 18-month Pathways programme supports participants to develop their craft and build on existing performing arts skills, while also developing new ones. The goal is that this leads to meaningful employment opportunities.

It is hoped the programme will gain NZQA accreditation for the 2027 year, meaning the participants can earn a Performing Arts Certificate Level 3.

“Planning and preparing the curriculum will happen this year. But delivery will, as always, be dependent on funding,” Mike says.

He anticipates that youth participants will move into adult classes and go on to become tutors and support tutors. 

Mike says, “our adult classes continue to address a major problem in New Zealand: meaningful, worthy activation for disabled adults who no longer have access to the youth system”.

Charlotte says it will give people the opportunity to work for other arts organisations, to have the confidence to audition for theatre companies, to run workshops or to write scripts. 

They say formal recognition of a participant’s abilities will aid their job search and help bridge the gap when it comes to people who live with a disability accessing tertiary education. 

“I think this programme highlights that if the sky is the limit and you put good support and good tutors in place, very rarely is it that people don’t meet their goals,” Charlotte says.

“It may take a bit of time and encouragement, but our people generally smash the glass ceiling that they felt in other contexts,” she says. 

The programme also aims to provide tutors with learning opportunities and experiences “so they see what is possible when we are truly inclusive in our practice”. 

Charlotte says, “disability is an opportunity for immense creativity not something that is difficult or challenging”. 

Mike says the participants “become more confident and happier in their day-to-day lives … because of the classes”.

“The impact is not just on the performer. The whole family is affected when they see their disabled family member fully engaged in the community,” he says.

Charlotte says whānau often speak of how the Pathways programme has been “transformative”.

“You just have to come to the class to see how our performers feel,” she says. “The energy is magic! Feedback is overwhelmingly positive.”

For more information go to www.glassceilingartscollective.com

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