On behalf of the National Dance Archive, we welcome you to attend the New Zealand Premiere of En Corps at the Penthouse Cinema on Sunday October 15th at 5pm. It is the story of “a ballerina's dramatic come back from devastating injury”. It is rated M for mature audiences 16 years and over. En Corps is in French with English subtitles and it is also known by its English title ‘Rise’.

Please email us to enquire about tickets. Seats are $20 each and are strictly limited.
The National Dance Archive is a registered charity. If you can not make the film viewing, but would like to make a donation, please email us and we can provide you with a tax deductible receipt.

The money raised on the night is to go towards further oral history projects of New Zealanders involved in dance practice. We would love suggestions of who to interview next. Please email us with ideas and check out our Oral Histories page at for a list of previous oral histories that we have undertaken. Candidates need to meet the criteria of being a prominent New Zealander involved in dance practice, who have made a significant contribution to dance nationally.
We’ll leave you with links to the En Corps film trailer and Guardian review. We look forward to hearing from you!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nYuukZndeAU
​
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/14/rise-en-corps-review-ballet-marion-barbeau

NATIONAL DANCE ARCHIVE OF NEW ZEALAND
NGA KAITIAKI TAONGA KANIKANI O AOTEAROA

Report from the Chair
15 June 2023

These past twelve months since our last AGM seem to have flown by! It seems we have less to show for this year than we have for the past few despite all the COVID-related restrictions of the past years continuing to ease. There were still some significant events to highlight, however, and these have put us in a good position for the next twelve-month period.

Trustees
Our trustees continue as for last year: Geordan Wilcox in Auckland, Philippa Pidgeon in Christchurch, and the rest of the trustees based in Wellington – Peter Boyes, Kim Crawford, Debra Harris, Katherine Lancaster, Brigitte Knight, Keith McEwing and Sue Nicholls. With the exception of our Christmas meeting being held at Sue’s place, our bimonthly meetings now have all been held by Zoom. This caters well for national representation with our representatives in Auckland and Christchurch. This is something we should look at developing further.

Sponsorship and Funding Subcommittee
With our last oral history project complete and deposited in the Alexander Turnbull Library, the committee was keen to get the next project under way, starting with a fundraiser. Penthouse Cinema was booked and on 2 October we screened the Rudolf Nureyev biopic The White Crow to a capacity audience in the small theatre. Along with some donations from people unable to attend, including one considerably large anonymous donation, we raised $6,630. The sale of cards through the National Library shop continues to provide a steady, though small, income. It is always good to keep in mind that double benefit of such fundraising efforts are also ways of promoting and making the NDA visible.

Oral Histories Subcommittee
With funds to start the next project our list of names has been consulted and a short list drawn up. The Oral Histories subcommittee will next look at applying for another grant to supplement our fundraising efforts for the project.

Technology Subcommittee
Once again, a special thank you must go to Brigitte for her website and social media expertise. As part of the promotion of the film fundraiser Brigitte created a Facebook page for the National Dance Archive. It is now down to us to keep the page active, which we have not managed to do so well since the fundraiser. Something to look at developing in the next twelve months.

The Year Ahead
It is hoped that in twelve months’ time we will have our next oral history project underway. We have an outline and we have much of the funding needed to complete this project. Time is all we need to make it happen!

It will also be good to follow up on some of the resources proposed for adding to the NDA’s website. Once we have published these on the website, we can then use our social media channel to publicise these and other New Zealand dance resources and collections through our social media pages.

Conclusion
As always, I conclude by offering my sincere thanks to all the trustees for the time you have volunteered to serving on the NDA committee over the past twelve months. A special thank you to our treasurer, Carolyn McKeefry, and to Sue Nicholls doing secretarial duties. Being an organisation run by volunteers we need to exercise patience and be grateful for any progress that we see. I think we should all take pride in our achievements, both big and small, as we look to build on these in the coming months.
We should not lose sight of our purpose to inform and encourage the archiving of New Zealand dance history. This enables the New Zealand dance community to put into practice the whakatauki Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua; I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.

Keith McEwing
Chairperson
13 June 2023

​The fifth annual Russell Kerr Lecture in Ballet & Related Arts 2023:
The Life & Career of Patricia Rianne
 The next session in the continuing annual series of the Russell Kerr Lecture will focus on the life and work of Patricia Rianne, New Zealand's celebrated ballet dancer, whose career encompasses performance, choreography and teaching in New Zealand and internationally.

                 Sunday 26 February 2023, 4.00pm - 6.00pm. The Long Hall, Roseneath

You are invited to attend this profile, in conversation format, of Patricia's career. Her magical production of The Nutcracker remains legendary in the Royal New Zealand Ballet repertoire where it stayed for over 12 years. Memorable highlights include her performances of Giselle and La Sylphide.  Patricia was awarded the 1976 London Critics Award for Performance of the Year for her role as Giselle with Scottish Ballet. In 1976 / 77  she was invited by Rudolf Nureyev as his partner in seasons of Giselle, La Sylphide, Sonate à Trois and Flower Festival in Genzano.

There will a special focus on her choreography, Bliss, inspired by Katherine Mansfield's story of that title, for RNZB in 1986.    A tribute to the late Jenny McLeod, whose music Trisha used for her choreography, Summer's End, also for RNZB in 1992, will be included.

Following the conversation, there will be brief presentations of two new books:  
* Michelle Potter's Glimpses of Graeme, Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy
* Ashley Killar, (former artistic director of RNZB 1992 - 95), has just published a biography of John Cranko, choreographer for Stuttgart Ballet where Ashley was a young dancer.
Limited copies of Royal New Zealand Ballet at Sixty, co-edited by Jennifer Shennan and Anne Rowse, with an invaluable repertoire appendix compiled by Keith McEwing, will also be available for sale.
 
Background: 
Commencing in 2018, the inaugural lecture in this series was delivered by Dr.Michelle Potter on her researches into the career of Kristian Frederickson, from which her fine book was subsequently published. [Loughlan Prior's choreography Lark, was performed by Sir Jon Trimmer and William Fitzgerald, with accompaniment by Hamish Robb]
In 2019, Dr.Ian Lochhead spoke about the visits to New Zealand of Russian Ballet companies in 1930s and '40s. [Abigail Boyle danced Fokine's le Cygne, accompanied by Hamish Robb and Inbal Megiddo, and a student from NZSD, performed the Prelude from Les Sylphides].
In 2020, Jennifer Shennan spoke of the life and work of the late Douglas Wright, New Zealand's leading choreographer and dancer. [Anne Rowse & Keith McEwing, with Hamish Robb, performed the menuet à deux  from Kellom Tomlinson's 18thc.notation, which had always interested Douglas in his choreographic researches].
In 2021 Anne Rowse spoke about the performing, choreographic and teaching career of her lifelong friend and colleague, Russell Kerr. [A dance, Journey, had been choreographed by Russell for two Japanese students who had come to Christchurch to study with him. performed by students from New Zealand School of Dance. 

Please RSVP for seating and catering purposes, with names of those wishing to attend, to   jennifershennan@xtra.co.nz  

A confirmation of your reservation will be sent. Koha to ensure the continuation of the Russell Kerr lecture series beyond this year is invited.