NZ Arts Foundation 2020 arts laureate choreographer and artistic director Moss Te Ururangi Patterson. Photo / Supplied
By NZME
Tūrangi-born New Zealand arts laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, has been appointed chief executive and artistic director of the New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC).
New Zealand Dance Advancement Trust Board chair Greg Innes congratulated Patterson, saying his appointment in May this year concluded a 15-month “re-establishment process” brought about by Covid-19 disruptions.
“Moss comes to us with a history of consummate excellence in the dance sector and we’re delighted to confirm his appointment.
“The enforced inactivity caused by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted the company’s long-term planning.
“The inability to produce and present new work, and to earn commercial performance revenues, created ongoing challenges.”
A need to adapt to significant change resulted in the appointment of a completely new team of trustees, and the company also negotiated a new triennial funding agreement with Creative New Zealand.
It had also re-established the integrated chief executive/artistic director role that existed until 2020, Innes said.
Influential NZ dance figure
One of the most influential figures in New Zealand contemporary dance over the past 25 years, Patterson was the first artistic director of Atamira Dance Company.
Under Patterson’s leadership, Atamira received its first Creative New Zealand funding in the same round that NZDC received its first funding.
He has vast experience as an artist, director and producer, having toured locally and internationally.
Patterson said “art making” in Aotearoa required “an absolute passion for the craft and a dedication to the people you were creating with.
“I’m honoured to be leading such an incredible team of New Zealand’s most amazing dancers and choreographers into our next phase of creativity, celebration and courageous leadership in the arts. Ka mau te wehi."
Interim chief executive Caroline Bindon would remain with the company as a member of the leadership team.
A biography of Patterson, supplied by NZDC, says he was born in Tūrangi, and his “proud ancestry comes from both the central North Island and northern tribes of Aotearoa, New Zealand”.
He has been a professional dance artist for 25 years and studied physical theatre and music in Dunedin before moving to Auckland to study dance and choreography at the Unitec Performing Arts School.
He has worked with Footnote Dance, Black Grace, Touch Compass, Atamira Dance Company and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Patterson became a freelance choreographer and director in 2002 at the age of 25 and was appointed the first artistic director of Atamira Dance Company in 2010, taking the company to major new heights as New Zealand’s leading indigenous dance company, touring both nationally and internationally.
In 2007, his first major work, Whakairo, won best choreography and design at Tempo Dance Festival. In 2013, his works Moko and Haka were presented at the prestigious Jacobs Pillow USA, opening the way for international touring of Patterson's distinctive work.
In 2015, Moko toured China and Korea, and from 2016-2018, two newly commissioned major works - Pango and Marama - toured Taiwan, China, Korea and New Zealand.
From 2011–2017, Patterson collaborated with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra choreographing and directing a series of six large-scale dance works drawing artists from diverse communities all over Auckland city and presented at the Auckland Arts Festival.
Patterson has choreographed major international ceremonies including the widely lauded Rugby World Cup opening ceremony at Auckland’s Eden Park in 2011 and the League of Legends World opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Stadium in 2017.
He has worked closely at grassroots level with acclaimed indigenous artists, which has stimulated the flow of indigenous knowledge exchange and contributed positively to Māori arts practices and research.
Patterson recently featured prominently in two international dance film documentaries, Te Manu Ahi in 2015 and The Heart Dances in 2019, presented at the NZ and Film Festival and many other international festivals.
Patterson is a 2020 NZ Arts Laureate, recipient of Creative New Zealand’s Tup Lang Dance scholarship and the Te Whakahaungia Choreographic Award from Toi Māori Aotearoa.
In 2019, he established a whānau company label called Tohu, where he has initiated a series of new works. In 2020, Moss was scheduled to develop new work in Taiwan, South Korea and present his work Pango in New York.
Patterson is poised to start two new choreographic commissions with dance companies in Australasia, to be announced this year.
He continues to be a passionate advocate for the empowerment of Māori culture, te reo Māori, and contemporary dance in Aotearoa, New Zealand.