AGM Chair's Report 2023

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