A PRODUCTION AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPY COMPANY THAT CREATES MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DANCE PERFORMANCES,FILMS, COMMUNITY TRAINING AND ONE ON ONE HEALING.

Transforming Movement Into Medicine, Stories Into Sacred Ritual.

Kelly Nash

Creative Director/ Producer, Artist & Performer

Choreography

Kelly Nash is involved in many aspects of Aotearoa's Contemporary dance and Performance scene. An initiator and member of many companies that have forged a path for contemporary dance in NZ, she also established a professional dance career that has spanned over 25 years, performing and touring both abroad and locally. Her involvement in Douglas Wright Dancers, Curve Dance Collective and Atamira Dance Company, has been instrumental in her growth as a movement director, choreographer, teacher and producer and she is the current Interim Artistic Manager for Atamira Dance Company.

Kelly is Co-director of Body Island and Co-CEO of ConTact C.A.R.E Central with her partner Nancy Wijohn.

Kelly’s skill is working collectively and holistically with strong sensitivities to understanding different cultural contexts, with a background in trauma therapy. Alongside both her choreographic development and professional dance career Kelly has also extensively trained in body somatic practices such as Alexander Technique, Remedial massage and ConTact C.A.R.E.

She is a foundation instructor and practitioner of ConTact C.A.R.E - a system to release frozen body contractions. This practice is hugely influential, informing how Kelly works choreographically, how she teaches movement and used on a one on one basis for therapy.

Directing and choreographing both full length and short works, Kelly won Most Outstanding Dance Work in Metro Magazine and Best Short Production and Best Stage Design for the Tempo Dance festival for the work ‘Souvenirs of what I once described as happiness’. She was also awarded the Tup Lang Choreographic award to create “MEME skin”and “Indigenarcy” toured to multi centres in the USA and Hawaii. She was most recently Co-Directing and rehearsal directing for “Te Wheke”, touring the USA, with a highlight of performing at the Joyce Theatre in New York.

Recently a dancer for Daniel Belton’s Intercultural/Interarts/Multimedia Web-VR Project with Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead/New Zealand String Quartet and Taonga Pūoro titled ‘Ad Parnassum -purupuruwhetū’ and dancer and mentor for Bianca Hyslop and Rowan Pierce’s show ‘He huia Kia Manawa’ for the AAF.

As a director for the Te Ha Te Ka films they have been awarded “Best First Time Director” at the Japan International Film Festival, Toronto Indie Filmmakers Festival, Munich New Wave short film festival and Seoul International Short Film Festival. Winner of ‘Best Nature film” and ‘Best Sound Design” at the LA Experimental Dance and Music Festival. Official Selection for Roma Short film Festival, Experimental Dance and Music Film Festival LA, Tokyo International short film festival, Maoriland Film Festival, ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, Kia Mau Festival, Earth Beat Festival NZ and Matriarchs Festival Canada.

Nancy Wijohn

Director / Executive Producer / Artist
& Performer

From the sports fields to the dance stage, Nancy Wijohn's journey has been a whirlwind of movement and passion. Growing up, she played competitive netball, touch and rugby, setting the foundation for her transition into dance.

Graduating from Unitec's Bachelor of Screen and Performing Arts degree in 2007, Nancy has carved out her space as an influential artist, choreographer, and performer in Aotearoa.

Since 2008, Nancy has been a proud member of Atamira Dance Company, bringing to life works like ‘Tuhoe Whakapapa’ (2010), ‘Paarua’ (2013), and ‘Pito’ (2016). She has toured worldwide with the company having recently toured to Hawaii and the USA as part of their Te Wheke Tour seeing her perform in the prestigious Joyce Theatre in NYC.

Nancy was also an original dancer for Okareka Dance Company's "Mana Wahine" production that toured throughout Aotearoa, Holland, Australia, Canada, Tahiti, and Hawaii from 2012 - 2023. She was also a tutor for the company’s summer school programme that allowed her to share her love for dance with the next generation.

Recently, Nancy wrapped up an enriching stint at Te Pou Theatre’s He Kei Kai Aku Ringa Producer programme. Producing events like the Kōanga Festival, Rangatahi Season, Kōpū, The Handlers, and Dakota of the White Flats was a fulfilling challenge that sharpened her skills in project management and creative producing

Nancy draws inspiration from mentors and fellow artists like Lisa Reihana, with whom she collaborated on the installation exhibition 'IHI,' currently showcased as a live installation at Aotea Square's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre.

She is a regular collaborator with Daniel Belton’s Good Company Arts, contributing to numerous works for his company, including "Ad Parnassum - purupuruwhetū" and the upcoming "Pepe Matariki."

Known for her powerful performances, Nancy also excels in project management and creative producing currently the Executive Producer for Scotty Cotter’s play NEKE that will premiere at Te Pou Theatre’s Kōanga festival and Mangere Arts Centre 2024.

Carol Brown’s Flood in PQ at The Prague Quadrennial 2015 - Charles Bridge

As Co-Director of Body Island and Co-CEO of ConTact C.A.R.E Central with her partner Kelly Nash, Nancy is dedicated to blending Te Ao Māori, indigenous knowledge, holistic well-being, and takatāpui/queer narratives into their work. It’s about creating art that’s real, raw, and resonant.

Nancy's collaborations include performances in Douglas Wright’s "Rapt" and Carol Brown’s "Flood in PQ" at the Prague Quadrennial 2015. With Body Island, she co-choreographed "Ahua" (later ‘Lick my past’), showcased at various festivals. Nancy's commitment to working with indigenous artists around the world has taken her to various countries, where she has led workshops and performances that celebrate and preserve indigenous cultures including The Banff Artist residency, Santee Smith’s Choreographic Laboratory.


Lisa Reihana - IHI installation - Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre - Auckland

Advisory Group

  • Lisa Reihana


    Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist from Aotearoa New Zealand, working in film, sculpture, costume and body adornment, text, and photography.

    Since the 1990s, she has been a significant figure in contemporary and Māori art, known for her complex photographic and cinematic works. Her portraits explore identity, history, place, and community with high production values.

    Reihana represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale with her acclaimed video installation in Pursuit of Venus [infected], a landmark in New Zealand art history. Notable solo exhibitions include Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha at Te Papa Tongarewa (2008) and Digital Marae at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2007).

    Her work has featured in major group exhibitions worldwide, including Oceania at the Royal Academy, London (2018), Global Feminisms at Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007), and Paradise Now? at Asia Society Museum, New York (2004).

    Reihana has received several prestigious awards, including the Arts Laureate Award (2014), Te Tohu Toi Ke Te Waka Toi Maori Arts Innovation Award (2015), and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (2018).

  • Dan Wildridge


    With over 30 years in electronic and mechanical design, both as an employee and contractor, I've honed my skills in design for manufacture, catering to production needs in NZ and abroad. My portfolio boasts a diverse array of products across sectors like farming, sports, safety, and more. From concept to completion, I've tackled design challenges, specialising in PCB layout, embedded software, and resolving EMC issues.

    Experienced in high-volume production, I've collaborated with teams or worked solo, ensuring quality and efficiency. Proficient in Altium and other tools, I've navigated various technologies like Bluetooth, LTE, and NB-IOT. Moreover, I've cultivated strong supplier relationships globally. With EST electrical registration and expertise in solid mechanical design, including waterproof and rugged products, I bring a comprehensive skill set to every project, aiming for innovation and excellence.

  • Georgia Goater


    Georgie Goater is a dance artist from Aotearoa, based in Helsinki. She was born and grew up bi-lingual with her twin brother in Nagoya (JP) and Ōtautahi (NZ), and is of Irish-Scottish descent.

    She performs, choreographs, writes, facilitates workshops and collaborates independently, with Kaaos Company (FI) and with collectives Body Island and Mome: memory as medium. Her dance practice has been developing over the past two decades between Aotearoa and Finland, through multiple threads. Working with diverse embodied perceptions across disability and multi-cultural contexts has been a ground.

    The practice of improvisation is a fabric of this ground. It has been cultivated with Shameless Crowd Pleaser (NZ), Bangers and Mash (NZ), Vitamin S (NZ), Touch Compass (NZ), Kaaos Company and its Sunday Inclusive Movement Improv classes (FI), as well as through Contact Improvisation, somatic practices and dancing outside in natural and urban places. Georgie gained her BPSA in contemporary dance from Unitec School of Performing Arts (NZ) in 2006, and her MA in dance pedagogy at the Helsinki University of the Arts in 2019.

  • Daniel Belton


    Daniel Belton is an internationally celebrated dance-film maker, choreographer, Co-founder and Artistic Director of Good Company Arts. He is an accomplished multi-media arts practitioner with 30 years experience working in and researching film, cinematography, digital post production techniques, projection mapping, motion capture, fine art, sound, and design. He was the recipient of Creative New Zealand’s Choreographic Research Residency at Otago University 2004, visiting Media Artist in Residence at Massey University 2008, and Arts Council of New Zealand’s Choreographic Fellow for 2010. In 2015 he was made an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Arts Laureate. In 2019 Daniel and Good Company Arts were awarded first place in the prestigious Sino x Niio Illumination Art Prize, Hong Kong.

  • Andrew Melville


    In 2004 Andrew Melville established Spoke, a communications agency specialising in engagement, facilitation and media content.

    Drawing on over two decades of powerful and diverse community engagement through storytelling and team facilitation, Spoke offers a people-focused communications practice that centres on innovative storytelling and the diversity of the human experience.

    Andrew’s methodology grew out of his time working alongside Sir Robert Harvey at Waitakere City Council. Through the use of storytelling and the facilitation of workshops, Andrew worked with the Council’s strategic development team to bring the voice of the community and of mana whenua into government in a tangible way. To this day, elements of this work is recognised as best practice in local government throughout New Zealand.