The board of Performing Arts Network of New Zealand and CEO, Louise Gallagher, are very pleased to welcome Dolina Wehipeihana (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngati Tūkorehe) to the PANNZ team.
Participants of our regular PANNZ online hui series will have enjoyed seeing Dolina facilitating the industry kōrero each week, and we are delighted that she is now joining us from her most recent role as Head of Programming at Auckland Arts Festival.
Dolina says “It’s exciting to join PANNZ at this time of recovery as our sector seeks to build new ways of working. My role will support PANNZ to provide strong outcomes for Māori performing arts practitioners within the Arts Market and Tour-Makers. Our sector has great potential to develop a truly inclusive and culturally thriving environment, one that embraces te ao Māori and values tikanga, and uplifts the aspirations of who we are here in Aotearoa. I look forward to working alongside the team at PANNZ including Kaiarahi Māori Kura Te Waati, and presenters and artists to share our unique stories and present outstanding performances across Aotearoa.”
Dolina is also an independent producer through her company Betsy & Mana Productions. She has produced for artists White Face Crew, co-produced the national tour of Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen’s The Mooncake and the Kumara (co-produced with The Oryza Foundation for Asian Performing Arts), and Kirk Torrance’s Flintlock Musket. As a producer she has also worked with Indian Ink, NZ Dance Company and was Creative Producer for Atamira Dance Company from 2002 – 2010.
Dolina has toured New Zealand work to Australia, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and Edinburgh. An advocate for contemporary indigenous theatre and dance, in 2018 Dolina was a member of the Tri-Nations Curatorial Advisory group at the Australian Performing Arts Market alongside producers from Australia and Canada, and in 2019 she attended First Nations Dialogues in New York and Moshkamo Festival in Ottawa. She is a member of National Maori Theatre Steering Committee He Waka Urungi, and was on the steering committee of the last National Māori Dance Summit.
Dolina’s creative background includes dancing with Atamira, Black Grace, Touch Compass and independent choreographers and projects such as the Limbs Retrospective and Maui One Man Against the Gods. Dolina’s choreographic works includes The Beautiful Ones written by Hone Kouka, and the Poi E Thriller dance in the movie BOY. Dolina was a member of the PANNZ executive committee from 2016 – 2018 and is currently Chair of Atamira Dance Collective Charitable Trust, and has just been appointed General Manager, and Director of Strategy for Kia Mau Festival.
PANNZ CEO, Louise Gallagher says “We are thrilled to have Dolina join our team. Her extensive networks here and internationally, her vast experience and industry knowledge, as well as her generosity and care will be an asset to the PANNZ team and kaupapa. PANNZ is on an exciting journey, and having Dolina alongside us, will help guide and deliver our vision even more strongly to our partners, artists, funders and all who we aim to support in the coming years.”
