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

NATIONAL DANCE ARCHIVE OF NEW ZEALAND
NGA KAITIAKI TAONGA KANIKANI O AOTEAROA
 
Report from the Chair
16 June 2022
 
Mistakenly thinking the worst was behind us last year, this year has been a bit of a step backwards in terms of COVID and its impact on us as a voluntary organisation. With the Delta variant we once again found ourselves in lockdown, restricted from meeting in person and carrying out activities we might have otherwise engaged in. Nevertheless, we have continued with our regular meetings every two months and we have still made some progress on several fronts.
 
Trustees
Our trustees remain the same this 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 our meetings more often than not being held by Zoom now, having a national representation is a more feasible goal when we need to recruit more trustees.
 
Oral Histories Subcommittee
October saw us completing the oral history project A Dance Picture, made possible with NZ Lottery Grants Board funding that we received in November 2019. The project consists of four interviews—Jamie Bull, Shona McCullagh, Jenny Stevenson, and Carla van Zon—with Lyne Pringle as the interviewer. We are especially grateful to Lyne for all her efforts in making this project a reality and the time and effort that she put in gratis to help with accommodating our budget shortfall.
 
Technology Subcommittee 
We are grateful to Brigitte for her expertise with the website and continuing to add new things to it. The analytics we receive tell us we average between 3-7 views per week. While that is small in terms of internet traffic, given that promotion to date has only been by word of mouth, that is not an insignificant amount. Plans to start a Facebook page next will continue to raise our online presence and lead people to the website.
 
One possible thing to be thankful to COVID for is now we do not think twice about meeting by Zoom. It is nice to still meet in person when we can, however, and a special thank you here to Sue for hosting the December meeting at her house for a shared meal afterwards to round off the NDA calendar year.
 
Archiving Resources Subcommittee
The Archiving Resources team have probably been the most impacted by COVID with not being able to meet in person for a large portion of the last twelve months. Discussions of ideas of what can be included on the website have still been able to take place, however. News stories of profiling the four interviewees of our A Dance Picture oral history project has been informative and the posting of the Harry Baker cards very colourful and attractive.
 
Sponsorship and Funding Subcommittee
The sale of cards through the National Library shop continues to be our main income, which is not a lot! Plans to have a film evening at a cinema are in place once it seems viable to host such an event in a safe way. 
 
Other Matters
The NDA continues to offer support to DANZ in whatever way it can. NDA is most appreciative of all the support DANZ has given it over the years so to finally be able to reciprocate in some small way such as writing letters of support, is the least we can do. There continues to be a need for coordinating and promoting the cultural, social and educational aspects of dance in New Zealand, and DANZ remains the best organisation to provide an overview for this despite its funding cuts.
 
The Year Ahead
As restrictions ease around COVID this will mean being able to carry on with some projects that were put on hold. We continue to look at what can be added to the website, and starting a Facebook page will also increase our online profile. I, personally, am looking forward to the film night, which, as well as helping our bank balance, will also help with our profile generally and a chance to tell more about the work we have been doing, not to mention directing them to the website and Facebook page.
 
Conclusion
Once again, I offer my sincere thanks to all the Trustees for the time you have volunteered to serving on the NDA committee this past twelve months. Thank you to our Treasurer, Carolyn McKeefry, not only for continuing to manage our accounts throughout the past year but also leading the charge as we transition from using cheques to internet banking. 
 
All in all, we should be pleased with what we have managed to achieve despite the exceptional circumstances and here is hoping we are able to continue moving forward with those matters as well as picking up some of the ideas that were temporarily put on hold in the new year.
 
Keith McEwing
Chairperson
15 June 2022