Now, Perth dancer Daisy Sanders plans to explore it as a bridge to health, with a focus on youth, mental wellbeing and healing.
It will be her main project after becoming the University of Otago’s 2023 Caroline Plummer Fellow in Community Dance.
The emerging arts leader, director, dramaturg, choreographer and performer in sensory theatre and dance will conduct a four-part series of research and community events, culminating in an interactive installation.
"I am most looking forward to meeting artists and students in Dunedin and discovering how my somatic, choreographic and community-building approach can offer them deep rest through dance.
"Community strength and rest are so urgent and deserved by us all in these challenging days."
Ms Sanders is one of five university arts fellows announced this week and who gathered at the Hocken Library in Dunedin last night.
Wellington writer Ruth Paul will be the 2023 University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence.
She has written and illustrated 30 children’s picture books — many of which have won awards.
She plans to work on three picture book stories and develop a partially illustrated novel, inspired by conservation areas in the South.
The Robert Burns Fellow will be Dunedin multidisciplinary writer Kathryn van Beek, who has published a collection of short stories, authored plays, written and illustrated children’s books, authored television and podcast series and contributed to news media.
During her fellowship, she plans to work on a second collection of short stories, titled Delight.
"The fellowship will give me the opportunity to experiment, dream and play," she said.
The Frances Hodgkins Fellow will be Wellington artist Emily Hartley-Skudder, who has a resume of solo and group exhibitions in New Zealand, China, Japan, Australia and the United States.
She plans to explore Dunedin’s architecture — especially domestic dwellings — by delving into the Hocken Collections, as sources of artistic inspiration.
The Mozart Fellowship has been awarded to composer Sean Donnelly for a second term.
The songwriter, contemporary composer and studio producer has released eight albums under the nom-de-plume SJD and has composed soundtracks for many leading New Zealand films and television productions.
He plans to spend the year completing a new album, working in the electroacoustic medium and further developing his already widely acknowledged profile as a songwriter.
"This puts me in such a strong position to go out on a limb with some new and weird musical directions," he said.
The fellows receive a stipend for between six months and one year and space at Otago’s Dunedin campus to pursue their creative projects.
