About Footnote New Zealand Dance

Veronica Chengen Lyu is a movement artist originally from Yanji in northeast China. She later found her home in the beautiful land of Aotearoa. 

Her movement language blends precision, emotional depth, and physical fluidity. She loves contributing to works that explore innovative themes and intricate choreography. 

After earning a bachelor's degree in Contemporary Dance from Unitec, Veronica has actively engaged with the contemporary dance industry as an artist, performer, choreographer, and collaborator. 

In 2021, Veronica joined Footnote New Zealand Dance as a full-time company dancer, and she continues to refine her artistic voice. She values being able to share both laughs and creative ideas with talented people, whilst presenting a diverse repertoire of works on tour across Aotearoa. 

Internationally, she was awarded a 2023 residency in Japan, invited by Saikoneon. Shortly afterward she joined the development of NIX by Luc Jacobs with Mid-Mountain Dance Company in China. Most recently, with the support of Footnote NZ Dance, she completed her sabbatical in Europe, performing in Of Folk and Fable, choreographed by Lea Ved in Berlin in 2024.

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.

Born in Niigata, Japan, Yamazaki was first introduced to butoh under the teaching of Akira Kasai at the age of 18 after trained as a music conductor, then graduated from Bunka Fashion College with BA in Fashion Design in Tokyo. Yamazaki was invited to work with Daniel Larrieu at CNDC in 1989 in Angers, France and was introduced to Avignon Festival and the Nouvelle Danse for the first time.

With the invitation from Germain Acogny to create a work FAGAALA in collaboration with her Senegal-based company, Yamazaki disbanded his Tokyo-based company rosy co., which he led from 1995-2001. In 2003, Yamazaki started creating work with New York-based Fluid Hug-Hug.

Yamazaki believes that a person is fluid and has to keep flowing, like water, so that exchange between people from different backgrounds can become more easy and free. The name of Fluid hug-hug came from this idea of fluidity and meeting people from all over the world.

During those years, Yamazaki’s work has been presented by Place Theater (England), Yorkshire Dance Festival (England), Biennale de Nationale de Dane Val-de Marine (France), Buena Center for the Arts (CA), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), Bates Dance Festival (MA), Indonesian Dance Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival (Australia), NUS for the Arts (Singapore), Globalize: Cologne (Germany), PICA/TBA Festival (OR), Dance Theater Workshop (NY), New York Live Arts (NY), Danspace Project (NY), Andy Warhol Museum (PA), Miami Light Project, Wesleyan University, UC San Diego, ASU Gammage (AZ), FIAF/Crossing Line (NY), Japan Society (NY) among many other national and international theaters and festivals.

Yamazaki is a recipient of a Bessie Award of 2007, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award of 2013, a NYFA Fellowship of 2016, a Guggenheim Fellowship of 2018, and is a two-time nominee of Alpert Award. Darkness Odyssey Part 2:I or Hallucination, was nominated for a Bessie Award for Outstanding Production in 2018 and was named as one of the Best Productions of 2017 in Dance Magazine. 

Yamazaki currently teaches at Bennington College in Vermont. He is also the director of Body Arts Laboratory, and an experimental artists-run performing arts festival, Whenever Wherever Festival, in Tokyo since 2009. www.kotayamazaki.com

Jesse Austin-Stewart (he/him) is a sound artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a composer and is currently a lecturer at Massey University. 

Jesse’s work explores ways to make sound art more inclusive, often exploring its intersection with disability and hearing. He has written works for contemporary dance and flm and composed and curated performance art works and sound installations. Jesse has exhibited across Aotearoa, Japan, Australia, Czech Republic, Greece, Sweden, France and more. 

As a producer and audio engineer, he has recorded work for short films, orchestra, solo artists and bands, small ensemble, opera, and various other configurations. Jesse’s songwriting and production work has received over 2,00,000 streams online and has been award nominated.

Jemima is a contemporary dance artist from Sydney, Australia. She is a graduate of The New Zealand School of Dance, performing works by Victoria Columbus, Jeremy Beck and Holly Newsome.

Since graduating Jemima has worked as a dancer with Threading Frames on two of their films, Close to Telling and Walk With Me. Jemima was the company understudy for Co3 Contemporary Dance in their season of GLORIA by Douglas Wright. Jemima has worked with Footnote New Zealand Dance in their ChoreoCo Season Mea Uma by Elijah Kennar. She has worked with Movement of the Human in the site-specific work Tōrua in Cuba Dupa Festival and the Nelson Arts Festival. She performed in the performance season of BELLE- A Performance of the Air in the Aotearoa Festival of the Arts with Movement of the Human, directed by Malia Johnson. Jemima has been a part of independent works by Airu Matsuda in Wellington Fringe Festival and Natasha Sturgis in Sydney Fringe Festival. Jemima has worked and performed with Dance Makers Collective at the Creative Australia Launch Event.

Born in Ōtepoti, Jeremy is an active freelance contemporary dancer, teacher and choreographer of Ngai Tahu and Pakeha descent. Following his training at the NZ School of Dance, Jeremy was a Footnote company dancer for two years, performing in various works including Just Bet-ween Us, 30 Forward, Now 2015, Transfer, Now 2016, and Lifeworld (in five parts) 2016.

Jeremy has danced across Aotearoa and Australia for multiple companies and independent choreographers including, World of WearableArt Awards Show (2015 to 2023), Muscle Mouth as movement support for Triumphs and Other Alternatives, creative devisor for System and performer for the premiere of As It Stands in the 2019 Auckland Arts Festival. Jeremy has worked alongside Atamira Dance Company in AWA When Two Rivers Collide 2016, PANGO 2018, NGĀ WAI by Sean McDonald 2020 and the development of Te Wheke. Also working with Movement of the Human, Dancenorth, TOHU Productions, Tupua Tigafua in Shel We? and the 2021 world premiere of Ciggy Butts in the Sand, and Footnote as a guest artist in The Clearing. Most recently Jeremy performed with The New Zealand Dance Company for Whenua, in the 2024 Holland Dance Festival and Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts.

Jeremy’s choreographic body of work includes Know One, a solo show presented in the 2018 Wellington Fringe Festival, two commissions for Footnote New Zealand Dance: This. as part of The Movement 2021 and A Floor, Some Thoughts and Us, a full-length work for the 2021 ChoreoCo Season and Somewhat Physical for the 2021 New Zealand School of Dance Graduation Season 2021.

Benny Jennings is a Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington based sound designer, composer and field recordist working across film, theatre, dance and VR. Benny is a graduate of Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music Sonic Art program, and holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Music (Sound Design).

Benny was Co-creator and Composer for the circus/performance art show Loops, where he performed the soundtrack live on a collection of tape machines and synthesisers. Loops earned the Grand Design award and the Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready award at the NZ Fringe Festival 2022, as well as earning him a nomination for Sound Designer of The Year in the 2022 Wellington Theatre Awards.

HIs first work in contemporary dance was with Choreographer Jeremy Beck for ChoreoCo 2021: A Floor, Some Thoughts, and Us. He has continued his collaborative relationship with Beck creating sound design for Modern God and another unreleased work.  He has also worked with the choreographers Xiao Chao Wen and Xin Ji on Made In Them, part of The NZ Dance Company’s double bill Stage of Being.

Benny creates  music under the pseudonym Hominid, self releasing his Debut EP Introvert//Extrovert on the 27th of may 2024. Heavily influenced by UK IDM, Electronica and Deep House, HOMINID is embodied by flourishing textures, scrambled tape loops, four on the floor kicks, found sound and field recordings.

He has primarily worked in film post-production sound, most notably as Assistant Sound Designer in the Oscar nominated post-production sound team for Avatar: The Way Of Water and its yet to be released sequel. Benny was also the Sound Designer on award winning VR film Minimum Mass directed by Raqi Syed & Arieto Echevarria.

Artists Hana Miller and Jacob Perkins are founders of RDYSTDY, a Pōneke based creative production studio with an international practice in making art for screens.

Working across the arts, branding, film + TV, RDYSTDY's recent projects include development of an original animated series with the BBC, collaboration on upcoming season of kids show Yo Gabba Gabba on Apple+, campaigns for NZ brands Deadly Ponies and Kowtow, and major new moving image work UNARCHIVAL with Te Papa Tongarewa.

Hana and Jacob have also collaborated on a number of choreographic pieces featuring significant AV design. Most recently this year, INNOCENCE, with Atlanta Eke, commissioned for the NGV Triennial in Melbourne, and THE BLOOM, with Jessie McCall for the Auckland Pride Festival.

Past projects include, Keir Choreographic Award winning BODY OF WORK with Atlanta Eke; QWERTY with Atlanta Eke at Tempo; short film SOURSWEET with Victoria Chiu, premiering at Dance (Lens) Festival in Melbourne; CENTRE FOR NEW GEOGRAPHY commissioned by Multicultural Arts Victoria with Victoria Chiu, Raina Petersen, Katina Olsen, Kristina Chan and Nebahat Erpolat; THE UNSETTLING with Atlanta Eke and Ghenoa Gela for The National at Carriageworks, Sydney; GENETRIX with Victoria Chiu, Rudi van der Merwe, and Joszef Trefeli.

RDYSTDY has mounted installations and performances at Tempo, NGV, Carriageworks, Frame Festival, MONA, Dark Mofo, SPLORE, Buxton Contemporary, ACCA, NExT Lab Melbourne School of Design, Dance Massive, WAG, Adelaide International Arts Festival, Abbotsford Convent, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Les Plateaux in Paris and Coil Festival in NYC. You can see more of their work at www.rdystdy.com

Gabrielle is a costume designer with more than 20 years of experience in the film, television and theatre industries. She has worked on many internationally acclaimed productions including The Luminaries, Ghost in the Shell, Mortal Engines and The Hobbit. She designed for the award-winning television show Reservoir Hill and has been nominated for best costume design at The New Zealand Film and Television Awards. She is also the costume designer for the dancers and performers in the World of Wearable Art Awards Show.

https://gabriellestevenson.com/

Tyler Carney-Faleatua joins us as a dancer for the development of Jeremy Beck’s Modern God. Tyler was a Footnote Company Dancer from 2017-2019. Since leaving Footnote in 2019, Tyler has continued to work as an independent dancer, while also creating work with creative partner and husband Fale through their company, Threading Frames. Centering around the integration of dance and film, their work has been presented in Aotearoa, Australia, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, and France.

Tyler has worked with Marina Abramović, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Ta’alili, and New Zealand Dance Company. She has additionally been invited to choreograph and share her movement practice with institutions like Rambert School, The New Zealand School of Dance, Ev & Bow, and Brent Street.

Fale and Tyler are also the recipients of the 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard award, providing them with both financial backing and mentorship to further develop their craft through Threading Frames.

Joshua Faleatua (Fale) joins us as a dancer for the development of Jeremy Beck’s Modern God. Fale was a Footnote Company Dancer from 2017-2019. Since leaving Footnote in 2019, Fale has continued to work as an independent dancer, while also creating work with creative partner and wife Tyler through their company, Threading Frames. Centering around the integration of dance and film, their work has been presented in Aotearoa, Australia, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, and France.

Fale has collaborated with various companies such as Chunky Move, Ta’alili, Stephanie Lake Company, Movement of The Human, and New Zealand Dance Company. He has also shared his movement practice  at the University of Melbourne and The University of Auckland.

Fale and Tyler are also the recipients of the 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard award, providing them with both financial backing and mentorship to further develop their craft through Threading Frames.

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.

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.

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.

She loves facilitating and supporting New Zealand choreographers to be able to present work to wide audiences. Collaboration is a key part of the creative processes that she enjoys engaging in. 

After completing a Bachelor of Dance Studies from the University of Auckland, Zoë has had a wide range of production and management experience in the New Zealand dance industry. 

Zoë loves Footnote New Zealand Dance and their philosophy, and is proud to be working with the company.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Anita Hunziker is the Artistic Director of Footnote New Zealand Dance, where she is dedicated to supporting the vision and growth of Aotearoa’s dancers and choreographers. Anita is passionate about working with artists to create transformative performances through bold collaborations, fostering creativity and celebrating diverse dance artists.

Previously, Anita worked with Dance North in Australia as a performer and educator and has also been deeply involved with the World of WearableArt Awards show in various capacities. Anita began her career performing with Footnote New Zealand Dance, after graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance in 2004.

COMMUNICATIONS & OPERATIONS MANAGER

Brynne is an arts manager, designer, and producer 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. She is Creative Director and producer of Company Hiraeth, a design-led performance company in Wellington, as well as a Lighting Designer for live performance, earning Lighting Designer of the Year at the 2022 Wellington Theatre Awards.

Brynne joined Footnote in 2022 as Communications and Operations Manager after being a part of the Footnote whānau 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.

Bryna is a senior fundraiser, with 18 years of experience working in the arts, GLAM, and environment industries. Her forte is philanthropy (through bequests, regular giving and appeals), and she has also worked in sponsorship, grants, and memberships. Bryna has worked across genres, for small organisations and large, and she has also lent her skills to many community arts groups as a volunteer.

Bryna grew up in Wellington and has studied and worked in the arts since her teens. Bryna learned ballet at Tarrant Dance Studios and has watched Footnote performances her whole life. She is excited by the opportunity to be a part of an organisation that adds so much to Wellington's cultural landscape and is proud to be part of the governance team.

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." 

Miranda Manasiádis has extensive experience in creating and producing new works in both theatre and dance in Aotearoa/NZ and Greece. Since graduating with a triple major in Theatre and Film, Classical Studies and English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington, she has lived and worked between Wellington, New York and Athens. 

She has directed many productions for Circa Theatre in Wellington, and was on the board of Circa Theatre from 2012-2017.  She is also an creative advisor for The Lōemis Festival, and has premiered new works in many of the Lōemis programmes.  

Most recently, Miranda has dramaturged Duncan Sarkies’s new novel ‘Star Gazers’ for Victoria University Press, Sarah Foster Sproull’s work ‘To Hold’ for The Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Sofia Mavragiani’s work for the National Theatre in Athens.  She has worked as an external assessor for script writing courses at Victoria University of Wellington, and guest lectured at Toi Whakaari - The New Zealand Drama School, and Massey University.  Miranda has been the recipient of various nominations and awards for theatre work over the years, namely, The Singularity, The Great Gatsby, Shining City, Flood, and Lobsters.