Maria graduated from UNITEC in 2006 with a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts majoring in contemporary dance, training under various leading NZ dance artists including Michael Parmenter and Malia Johnston. After graduating Maria went on to perform in short works for Late Night Choreographers and Tempo Dance Festival. In 2008, she travelled around Australia and after returning to NZ in early 2011, Maria joined the cast of In Flagrante, a neo-burlesque show choreographed by Mary-Jane O’Reilly. She has performed in GoGoDo (winner) for Short and Sweet Dance Festival, Birds of Paradise for New Zealand Fashion Week, and has danced in various works for Tempo Dance Festival and the Auckland Fringe Festival. She also performed Boxed for the 2012 Living Room public art event, a solo dance piece originally commissioned by the British Council, choreographed by Susanne Thomas of Seven Sisters Group. Maria has been touring with In Flagrante since 2011 nationwide and internationally, recently being invited to the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a five week long season, and to the Seychelles for a private event. Maria has been involved in the development process of Mana Wahine with Okareka Dance Company since December 2012 and is excited and privileged to be premiering the all-female work.

Maria’s Mana Wahine story:

“I would say my mother and grandmother’shave to be the women I identify as mana wahine in my life. My grandmother Trix has passed away now, but my brother and I spent a lot of time with her growing up, and I remember her as such a generous and loving person – the quintessential Nana (even when we were young and naughty). Her husband died when my father and his siblings were still young so she would have had to have a lot of strength to raise them on her own in those days. The other, Pauline, is now 93 and still full of vitality – especially for such a tiny person! The last time I saw her we went hiking in the bush! I hope to be as resilient as she is if I get to that age… Of course my mum is a very strong female influence in my life and I rely on her a lot even now at 29. I would be lost without her! I feel blessed to have had them all in my life and proud to call them mana wahine!”

Nancy is an independent choreographer and dancer based in Auckland.  A graduate from the UNITEC dance  degree which led her to the realm of contemporary dance.  She has been privileged to work for some of NZ and Australia’s most innovative and renowned dance companies/artists, which has led  her career to many exciting locations around the globe as well as connecting her to a wealth of professional experience.   Some highlights include performing at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with Atamira Dance Company, Douglas Wright’s rapt in Holland, and the selection of her choreography ‘Paarua – Double Contact’ in the Kaha touring season by Atamira Dance Company that was presented in Hawaii and North America.  She is excited to be part of the premiere of Mana Wahine and to be making her first debut with the Okareka Dance Company.

Nancy’s Mana Wahine story:

“I am the youngest of eight kids, four sisters and four brothers. My mother and my sisters are strong wahine toa that definitely kept me check and showed me love and discipline.  They were/are my teachers.  When I think of mana wahine I do think of my dad’s great aunt Whina Cooper who paved the way and created a positive and strong voice in so many ways for Maori. There are many strong wahine in this day and age. My partner Kelly is a wahine toa as a parent and friend who teaches and supports me in so many ways.”

Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue) was born in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2009 she completed a UNITEC Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts. She has since made her mark in the field of contemporary dance gracing the national and international stage with the likes of Okareka Dance Company, Atamira Dance Company, Movement of the Human, Tawata Productions and The World of Wearable Arts. Her choreographic work includes being the recipient of the first DANZ Māori Choreolab and choreographing on The New Zealand Dance Company, Tempo 2016.
Bianca was also the 2013 recipient of the esteemed Eileen May Norris Dance Scholarship, recognising outstanding dance talent in the country. Receiving this has enabled Bianca to continue the momentum she has built by opening opportunities to travel internationally as part of her on-going development as a dancer, performance artist, collaborator, teacher and choreographer.
Career highlights include: Performing in Atamira’s 2012 Kaha tour to the Pacific Arts Festival in the Solomon Islands; their 2013 tour to the Asia Pacific Dance Festival (Honolulu); The San Francisco International Arts Festival and the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, 2015; Atamira’s full length work Moko touring to The Beijing Dance Festival and The Chang Mu Dance Festival, Seoul;
Okareka’s full length work Mana Wahine performing in 15 New Zealand venues and The World’s Theatre Festival, Brisbane 2016.
Other career highlights include dancing at ‘All the World’s Futures’ Venice La Biennale 2015, participating in The Indigenous Dance Forum, led by Jack Gray at New York University, 2016, and the Indigenous Dance Residency, The Banff Centre 2016. 

Bianca’s Mana Wahine story:

“This is one of my favorite proverbs or ‘whakatauki’ that demonstrates the holistic values of the Maori, and the utmost respect of Papatuanuku, the mother of the earth. 
“Whatungarongaro te tangata toitū te whenua – As man disappears from sight, the land remains.”
Both my grandmothers have played a big part in my life. They are from two very different cultural backgrounds but both have the underlining qualities that define them as mana wahine – charisma, prestige, integrity, authority, spiritual power and strength. These two amazing women have been highly influential to my life and have allowed me to dream bigger, better, beyond and to keep dancing!  Ramari Rangiwhuia Haslem (Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue}, Peggy Hyslop (London UK, Whangarei New Zealand). And my mother, Donna Haslem. She really is, (as my father once described her) a ‘force of nature’. With such a strong and powerful wairua, she is beautiful inside and out. Thank you mum for all your love, time and energy and for being my number one fan!”

Emily began dancing at the age of five and trained in ballet and American Jazz.
In 2004 she studied contemporary full time at the New Zealand School of Dance. She freelanced in New Zealand from 2007-2010, working with Timothy Gordon (Company Z), Mary-Jane O’Reilly, Inside Out Productions and a variety of commercial works.
Emily performed and toured with the Cuban Groove Company (2009), Carol Brown (Urban Devas, 2010), London Urban Soul Orchestra (People in your neighborhood tour 2010), Vospertron (Quatar performances 2011). She has performed in the World of Wearable Art Awards (2004, 2010-2013, 2015).
Emily worked for Footnote Dance Company from 2011 until 2014. During this time she has danced in works by Kate MacIntosh/ Jo Randerson, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Ross McCormack, Lisa Densem, Malia Johnston, Kristian Larsen, Claire O’Neil, Lyne Pringle, Fleur de Their, and Olive Beiringa. Emily has toured with Footnote throughout New Zealand and overseas to London, Antwerp, Berlin, Frankfurt and San Francisco.
In 2015 Emily worked with the ‘Darkroom’ motion graphics company on their latest project using motion capture technology, and Okareka dance company devising a new work.
Since 2014 she has been working with Muscle Mouth Company (Ross McCormack) touring the work ‘Triumphs and other alternatives’ (Wellington, Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane).

Isabel graduated from the McDonald College of Performing Arts in 2013 and then moved on to study for 3 years as a contemporary dance major at the New Zealand School of Dance. During her time at the school, she had the privilege of working with some of the most inspiring and renowned choreographers/dancers from NZ and internationally. Highlights of her experiences include performing in the 2014 World of Wearable Arts and Malia Johnston’s “Miniatures” in the 2016 Tempo Dance Festival. At the School she has also performed works by Thomas Bradley, Sarah Foster-Sproull and Amber Haines as well as excerpts of works by Kuik Swee Boon and Hofesh Shechter.

In 2016 she created her first short dance work “Temenos” for the choreographic season of ‘Scope’. She is very excited to join the team at Okareka and the amazing cast of Mana Wahine.

Eikura William grew up in central Auckland, New Zealand, and began her dance training at the age of 15, where she began to explore her interest in contemporary dance in high school. In 2011 and 2012 she was introduced to the Okareka Dance Company Summer School workshops as a junior student, where she gained her training under well-known artists, Taane Mete and Taiaroa Royal. In 2012 and 2013 she performed for the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra lead by Moss Patterson and Gabrielle Thomas (Atamira Dance Company). Eikura has just completed her third and final year of UNITEC’s Bachelor of Performing and Screen Art majoring in Contemporary Dance, in 2016. During her time at UNITEC, she was trained by some of New Zealand’s top artists including Michael Parmenter, Katie Burton, Paul Young, Kimbrian Bergh and Sarah Foster-Sproull, and has had the privilege of working with various choreographers including Malia Johnston (2016- Sketch. Waltz. Jam.), Claire O’Neil (2016- Trove), Michael Parmenter (2015- Floods), Okareka Dance Company (2015- Mana Wahine) and Anna Bate (2014- The Experience Experience).,

Born in Sydney, Tiana studied her first full-time dance course in 2013 at Ev & Bow Fulltime Dance Training Centre. In 2014, she went on to continue her training in contemporary dance at The New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD) where she graduated in 2016 with a Diploma in Dance Performance.
During her time at NZSD, Tiana had the opportunity to perform in works by many influential and renowned choreographers including Amber Haines’ new work Incant, excerpts of Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother, Malia Johnston’s Miniatures at Auckland Tempo Festival 2016, Thomas Bradley’s Conditions of Entry, Kuik Swee Boon’s As it Fades, and Sarah Foster-Sproull’s Forgotten Things.
After graduating, Tiana worked with Holly Newsome and Samuel Hall on a double bill, for the inaugural Toi Poneke Dance Residency as part of the 2017 Wellington Fringe Festival.
Tiana has been given the incredible opportunity to work with Okareka Dance Company in 2017, where she will be joining the talented cast of Mana Wahine for their International tour.