Kelly Nash
Ngahere – Forest
A dance film inspired by the ancient rivalry of Whiro te tipua, the master of darkness and evil ills, and Tāne Mahuta, the master of the forest. Fallen trees embody the microcosms moved by silent rhythms amidst flickering fantail fingers. A heavy canopy of carbon meets the moon's call, inviting a mesmerizing dance that explores the cosmic interplay between dark forces and the forest's guardian, echoing the divine conflict that shapes nature's delicate balance.
director Kelly Nash
concept, producer Nancy Wijohn
director of photography, editor Joshua Faleatua
costume design Daniel Williams
music composer Eden Mullholland
performers Nancy Wijohn, Taane Mete
hero photography images Māhia Jermaine Dean aka kaos13
make-up Hailee Tamore
photography Emma Cosgrove
dodecahedron sculpture Chris O’Connore
moon sculpture Magdalena O’Connor
Mātauranga Māori advisor and vocalist Tūī Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield
vocalist Milly Kimberly Grant
Kelly Nash is Co-Director of two companies with her partner and colleague Nancy Wijohn—Body I(s)land, a performance and producing company and ConTact C.A.R.E Central, a physical therapy business specialising in a martial arts based system that releases impact pressure from the skeletan. Kelly is also currently Artistic Manager for Atamira Dance Company, a Maori Contemporary Dance Company. A prolific performer and dance maker working for over 20 years in the New Zealand dance scene, Kelly has performed in Austria, Houston, Jacobs Pillow, First Nations Canada, San Fransisco, Toronto, Sydney, Holland, Prague, and participated in overseas residences including Banff, Toronto and Melbourne Directors Lab. Choreographic highlights include her work Indigenarchy commissioned by Atamira Dance Company travelling in NZ and the USA and as co-director of Te Wheke presented in San Diego and New York's Joyce theatre. Souvenirs of What I Once Described as Happiness won Best Short Production and Best Design from the Tempo Dance Festival. Meme Skin won the Tup Lang choreographic award. This film Ngahere is one of five films that where part of a first film development project for Body Island.