About Footnote New Zealand Dance

Veronica ChengEn Lyu (吕承蒽) is a movement artist from Yanji, China. Her passion for dance started at a very young age, after completing seven years of full time classical training at the Liaoning Ballet of China in 2016, Veronica made the decision to move to New Zealand to continue her dance journey.

After graduating from Unitec with a bachelor's degree in Contemporary Dance, Veronica has been actively involved in the contemporary dance industry as an artist, dancer, choreographer and supporter. She has performed in various festivals, such as Taking Residency in Otautahi Tiny Festival, Dreaming Bodies Dance in Auckland Fringe Festival and co-directed short dance film Ladybug in Tempo Festival. She has also collaborated with other artists and dance collectives to create innovative new works, including Malia Johnston, Michael Parmenter, Tamsyn Russell, Xin Ji, and Solveig Co. In 2021, Veronica joined Footnote New Zealand Dance where she continues to develop her artistic self, to share laughs and inspiring ideas, whilst presenting many works on tour across Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Levi has worked as a freelance dancer, performing in a variety of spaces. During his time at New Zealand School of Dance he had the pleasure of working with Discotheque creating and performing their work Funk (AD) as part of the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2019.

Since graduating, he has had the privilege to work with choreographers such as Scott Ewen for Velociraptor, Malia Johnston for World of WearableArts & Tōrua , Holly Newsome for No Show Without Punch and Elijah Kennar for Mealofa. He was also involved in the dance film Walk with Me by Threading Frames. Levi joined Footnote in 2021.

Cecilia Wilcox grew up in Pōneke, finding an interest in contemporary dance from a young age. Being raised in an artistic home she found combining an immensely physical practise with conceptual ideas and discussion to be invaluable. Cecilia graduated from Unitec’s Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts (Majoring in contemporary dance) in 2020. In her time studying dance at Unitec she worked with choreographers such as Malia Johnston, Michael Parmenter and Tamsyn Russell. She then went on to work as an understudy for Tamsyn Russell in the development of the work Double Goer choreographed by Sarah Foster-Sproull (Foster Group) and dance in various works including the duet Night Dance choreographed by Miriam Eskildsen (Solveigco), The Monotone Era choreographed by Jess Crompton and Carla Harre (Jawline Dance Co) as a part of Basements Theatres 2021 autumn season and the development for the work Munster (2022) choreographed by Jacob Reynolds. Cecilia loves the idea of performance its self being used to access and share hidden truths through a creative lens.

Airu Matsuda is a New Zealand born Japanese artist and graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance and Ev & Bow Full time Dance Training Centre.

After Graduating from New Zealand School of Dance in 2021, Airu has had the privilege of working as a dancer with Threading Frames on two of their films, “Close to Telling” and “Walk with me”. He has also worked with Good Company Arts on their film Silver Lotus. Silver Lotus has gone on to winning awards around the world including Best Dance Music Video, Best Music Video, Best VFX and Best Experimental Film. He has recently worked with Good Company Art’s on their new film which will be released at a later date. Airu most recently worked on the 2022 season of World of WearableArt directed by Malia Johnston.

His choreographic experiences include creating for Toyota, The Colour Run Australia, working with Ev & Bow for their graduation work, Ev & Bow Youth Company and most recently, H.Y.P.E vol.2 performed in Wellington.

Airu is driven by the love of sharing a space with other collaborators and learning and being inspired by what others have to offer in the space.

Jacob Reynolds (he/him) is a freelance movement and visual artist based primarily in Tāmaki Makaurau. Dancing from an early age, his love and appreciation for movement has grown and morphed as he has. He is interested in exploring the intersections of ideology, identity and lived experience.

Since graduating with a Bachelor's from Unitec Dance in 2020 he has had the pleasure of working with a range of incredible creatives, as well as presenting his own works.

Deija is a Tauranga born movement artist from Fijian, NZ european and american descent. She is a recent graduate of NZ school of Dance and looks forward to further exploring the contemporary dance scene in Aotearoa. As a dancer she appreciates the athleticism of movement as well as the exploration of what informs our movement, and the intricacies we can find within that.

Peniperite Fakaua was born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau and is of Samoan descent. He is a recent Unitec graduate, and is currently in the midst of exploring a fusion of Vogue and his contemporary dance training to find new pathways within both the physical and performative aspects of what Vogue can be.

Holly Newsome is a Pōneke based artist, originally from Taranaki. Graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance in 2016, Holly has dedicated her career to working as a choreographer, teacher and dancer in Aotearoa.

Whilst movement remains at the forefront of Holly’s work, her wider appreciation for visual art, painting, writing and sound design, tend to inform and influence her practice significantly.

Her choreographic work looks closely at the human and dancer being in an interchangeable relationship, creating a gateway for audience’s to access the beautiful and ever-changing language of contemporary dance. She is fascinated in athleticism versus art, and how these two stand together in live performance.

Holly is the Artistic Director of Discotheque, an award winning project-based dance company, founded in 2016. With support from Creative NZ and various residencies, Discotheque has successfully performed multiple full length works around the country. The company exists to create sustainable work for freelance artists in Aotearoa with a multidisciplinary focus.

Currently Holly works full-time as a contemporary tutor at the NZ School of Dance, and is enjoying the intimate experience of educating and guiding the next generation of artists.

Residing for over 10 years on Dja Dja Wur-rung Country-Bendigo Victoria Australia; Indigenous performance artist and introvert Forest V Kapo grew up in the Hutt Valley and has proud tribal affiliations with Aotearoa NZ tribes Te Atiawa, and Ngāti Raukawa.

Now working across many genres, from activations to performances there is a committed socio-political focus, complimented frequently with site specificity.

This approach allows access and intersection with community and ancestral mythologies, (as introduced by writer Italo Calveno), with reinterpretation requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. Their creations often originate from a bedrock of movement that is then layered with sound, narrative and images.

Forest currently teaches 2nd year theatre students at VCA campus Melbourne University movement for theatre in between facilitating choreographing, and collaborating in performances events workshops and festivals around this beautiful world.

Emi 恵美 Pogoni is an artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington with a creative practice around composition, sound design and music direction. They also engage in technical sound work, curate performance for large-scale music events, take on design work, and enjoy collaborating towards experimental and/or progressive projects within stage contexts for contemporary dance, theatre, performance art and fashion runway, and are an emerging practitioner for screen.

Elekis Poblete Teirney is a lighting designer and light artist from Isla de Maipo, Chile. She has worked with many prestigious companies and artists in Aotearoa who have sought her out for her innovation, attention to detail and strong collaborative skills. She goes above and beyond in her collaborations designing ephemeral and striking light to elevate the work, as well as exploring her own questions about light and design. Her most recent works include LOVE/LOVE/LOVE/LOVE/LOVE by Tessa Redman, Shel We by Tupua Tigafua, Stage of Being with The New Zealand Dance Company, as well as first development of I Pull Our Body Out Of A Dead Animal with CONJAH.

GENERAL MANAGER

Zoë Nicholson is passionate about contemporary dance in Aotearoa.

Previously the producer for Red Leap Theatre, and Tempo Dance Festival, Basement Theatre, Dance Plant Collective, Momentum Productions, Kit Reilly, Sofia McIntyre, Sam Hamilton, Tyler Carney, Joshua Faleatua, Rosie Tapsell, and many other independent artists.

For the past 7 years, Zoë has also been working in, and developing her knowledge of, the arts industry sector. With this experience, she brings a vast network of artist relationships within Aotearoa.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Anita Hunziker trained at the New Zealand School of Dance majoring in contemporary dance and graduated in 2004. Upon graduating Anita worked with Footnote New Zealand Dance for 6 years, where she toured nationally and internationally working with New Zealand’s leading choreographers and dancers. 

Anita has freelanced extensively throughout Aotearoa working as a dancer, aerialist, choreographer, rehearsal director, teacher and producer. From 2012-2013 Anita joined Dance North in Australia where she worked as a performer and dance educator touring Australia. For the past 15 years Anita has been involved with the World of WearableArt Awards show as a performer, Assistant Choreographer and more recently Assistant Show Director.

She re-joined Footnote in a new role as Artistic Liaison in 2015 and is now the Artistic Director. Anita is dedicated to supporting the vision and growth of Aotearoa’s dancers and choreographers.

COMMUNICATIONS & OPERATIONS MANAGER

Brynne is an arts manager, designer, and technician who has been working in the Wellington arts community since graduating Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School in 2016. She has worked with a variety of arts organisations in this time, including World of Wearable Art, Circa Theatre, Java Dance Theatre, Barbarian Productions, and as Technical & Facilities Manager at BATS Theatre.

Brynne joins Footnote in 2022 as Communications and Operations Manager after being a part of the Footnote whanau for many years; first as a student intern in 2016, then as a technician and designer on the 2017 Contrast tour and 2018 ChoreoCo season Die Hard Rock Cafe Muller.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

I started out in the live event industry as a student tech at the theatre on my university campus in the US – The University of Maine, Orono campus. Mostly I was interested in lighting, and I did always like hanging out in the roof. I graduated after a few years there, working while studying French & International Affairs, with the delusion that I would leave the live entertainment industry. So I spent a short while teaching French in the US, then teaching English in France, all the while moonlighting in local venues in both countries. After a couple of years I had worked out where I belonged & began looking for all the jobs I could in local theatres, arenas, etc. in the northeast of the US. This led to an obsession with becoming a rigger, hanging lights and sound - and sometimes performers - from the ceilings. I got my start walking roof beams in those arenas back home. From there I moved on to outdoor stages & my first climbing outdoor stage job was for Roger Waters of Pink Floyd at Fenway Park, building The Wall. That evolved into a few years touring the US building festival stages, living in a harness, & breaking records each year at EDC Vegas for “biggest something or other stage-related”. I

n 2014 I came to NZ for a year & never left! I spent 4 years with my Multimedia family in Wellington before going back to freelance. I learned way more than I ever wanted to learn about audio and video with Multi, but rigging is still my main passion & I evolved so much on the math side of my rigging knowledge while there. After 4 years of corporate events I was missing the arts and decided it was time to move back to freelancing. So when Footnote asked me to stage manage and I jumped at the chance. Now I get to production manage and stage manage for them and I'm so happy to be part of the team!

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Liesl Nunns is a graduate of Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Oxford. She joined Footnote as Development Manager in 2022, having worked in fundraising previously with Royal New Zealand Ballet and Massey University.

CHAIR

Frank is actively involved with the sustainability and governance of community, cultural and sports organisations through trustee, committee, coaching and leadership roles. He is a finance and governance professional with over 25 years experience working with New Zealand and international organisations, in the private, NFP and public sector. Frank has board roles with social housing, property development, private capital and arts entities and acts as a board and management advisor. Prior roles were Head of Operations and Chief Financial Officer with AJ Park, New Zealand's largest intellectual property law firm. He joined the Footnote Board in 2014 and has been chair since 2015.

Charles is a lawyer specialising in employment law – he has an LLB and BA in Art History, and Theatre and Film.

His first love was writing, and he was an Aotearoa/NZ representative to the first international convention of young playwrights in Sydney.

Before moving to his legal career Charles worked extensively in theatre and then the film industry; acting in two Summer Shakespeare productions, and at Bats Theatre.

During a career in professional film work Charles worked as an art director. Memorable TV productions include Vertical Limit and two Survivor shows in the Amazon and Panama. His last movie was as senior set decorator on the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Charles’ legal career has focused on employment law, and he now runs his own practice based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington.

For Charles, contributing to the Aotearoa arts community is very satisfying and being on the Footnote Board has provided an ideal way of linking his enduring love of performing arts and his legal knowledge. Charles joined the board of Footnote Dance in 2021.

Ngati Te Whiti me Ngati Puketapu ki Paraparaumu Hapū of Te Atiawa Iwi.

Having spent 25 years working in Bi-cultural development in the social services sector Takiri is currently Trustee for a number of Ahu Whenua Trusts including the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust (PNMRT). As a Director for Alpha Cooperation Ltd and for Coastlands Shopping Town Ltd she is actively involved in the future development of the Kāpiti Coast in partnership with mana whenua.

Takiri has been a practitioner of traditional Raranga Māori for 30 years and Kaiwhakahaere for Te Roopu Raranga o Manaia for 15 years. She is the new Chair of the Ngahuru Charitable Trust which focuses on the cultural needs of PNMRT and the Wellington Tenths Trust.

For Takiri dance is a life long passion and she is honoured to be able as a Board member to contribute to the growth and development of Footnote.

Kiri trained in both dance and accounting, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Dance Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She continued dancing while completing a Masters in Professional Accounting at Victoria University in Wellington, following which she spent several years consulting at PwC on finance and public policy engagements. She has since transitioned to the public sector and has held a range of technical advisory and leadership roles with a focus on strategy and policy. Kiri joined the Footnote whānau as an Associate Board Member in 2023.

A passionate leader with a long history in the creative arts, Richard Aindow is Executive Director of SCAPE Public Art in Ōtautahi Christchurch. He was General Manager of Footnote New Zealand Dance between 2014 and 2021 and, prior to that, he worked as General Manager and then Editor of Wellington’s magazine, FishHead.

Richard is also a director of arts-led tech company Pickpath, and has held senior governance roles within non-profit organisations in public radio and community services. He also works voluntarily as an arts assessor. Richard has a wife, Caroline, and two young children who take up most of his time outside of work. He enjoys exploring with his whānau, coffee, sport, and, of course, the arts.

Richard joined the Footnote board in 2024. 

Paul is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance and was a principal dancer with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He retired in 2022 after having danced professionally for over 17 years performing and touring nationally and internationally.

He studied extramurally over his dance career and holds a Bachelor of Business (Finance), and now works as an Energy Analyst for Contact Energy. He is continuing his extramural studies and is currently halfway through completing his MBA with Massey University.

"I am very excited to be the next Associate Board Member of Footnote New Zealand Dance, having watched their performances over the years. The quality of their shows, and the growth of educational and professional development resources for aspiring and budding artists has been inspiring to see. I look forward to offering my perspective for the benefit of this great company."