KO WAI AU?
(Who am I?)
Tēna Katou Katoa!
"Kei a te Pō te timatatanga o te waiatatanga mai a te Atua.
Ko te Ao, ko te Ao mārama, ko te Ao tūroa."
(Māori Whakataukī, sourced from Te Ara Puoro, Richard Nunns with Alan Thomas).
Ko Ākaroa te mauka
Ko Ōhinehou te moana
Nō Koteraka me Ikaraki ōku tūpuna
Ko Grant raua ko Gunn ōku hāpu
Ko Heather tāku ikoa.
My name is Heather Grant, and I am a New Zealand Pākehā descending from the Grant and Gunn clans of the Scottish Highlands. I was born and bred in the hills of Banks Peninsula and the Canterbury Plains, where my ancestors arrived in 1880. I acknowledge this place, with Akaroa standing above me and the waters of Ōhinehou cleansing me, as my tūrangawaewae (standing place), and Kāi Tāhu, the indigenous kaitiaki (guardians and protectors) of this land.
I currently live in Tāmaki Mākaurau and acknowledge Ngāti Whātua, Kawerau a Maki, Tainui, Ngāti Pāoa, Wai-O-Hua and Ngāti Rehua as mana whenua of the place where I live, breathe and dance!
I'm passionate about making rhythm and joy visible through dance!
I've been experimenting with rhythm since an early age. As a child I practised a diverse range of musical instruments. In 2007, as a young adult I was exposed to Latin Dance through which I began to "feel" the music in my body, which sowed the seeds for perceiving my body as an instrument and capable of incredible musicality and improvisation. I became interested in African dance lineages in Latin America, in particular Afro-Cuban Dances including the Santeria spirituality, the dances of the Oricha, and the rumba complex - the precursor to our much loved Salsa. In 2010 I began studying the Afro-Brazilian song/dance/game forms of Capoeira and Samba; and in 2012, West African Dance from Guinea and Senegal. These three spheres of music and dance now form the principal 'focuses' of my dancing.
Concurrent to engaging in a practice of dance and music, I was also working towards and completed tertiary studies in Anthropology, Nutrition, Spanish and two postgraduate papers in Dance Education and World Dance Perspectives and Choreography. In the latter, I completed a literature review on the African aesthetic of play in Capoeira and developed and performed choreography based on this research. Ihuoma Dance is the practical application and continuation of this embodied research, along with developing my professional profile as a dancer, choreographer and performer of African and Afro-Latin Dance.
In 2018 I completed my Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning (Primary) and I am now a fully registered teacher with the Education Council of NZ. I have also completed ORFF Music, Movement and Play Level 1 and have aspirations for continuing and completing my Masters of Dance Studies in 2024.
QUALIFICATIONS
Graduate Diploma Teaching and Learning - Primary (Dec 2018) - Victoria University of Wellington
Graduate Diploma endorsed in Anthropology (2015) - The University of Otago
Graduate Diploma endorsed in Spanish (2015) - The University of Otago
Bachelor of Science majoring in Human Nutrition (2014) - The University of Otago
Postgraduate Studies:
Dance Education (2014) - Dance Studies, The University of Otago
World Dance Perspectives and Choreography (2014) - Dance Studies, The University of Otago
ORFF Music, Movement and Play - Level One - ONZA Aotearoa
TEACHER AFFILIATIONS
Naby Bangoura
Guinea Master Dancer/Teacher
Guinea Dance Community Workshop & Djole, Mendiani, Yoqui private instruction, 2016, 2017
Bismark Koffi
Ghana Master Dancer/Teacher
Ghana Dance Community Workshop & Ewe Dance private tuition, 2017.
Mohammed Bangoura
Guinea Master Dancer/Djembefola
Guinea Dance/Drum Community Workshop, Auckland & Hamilton 2015.
Greydis Montero Liranza
Cuban master dance workshop
Community Workshop and Afro-Cuban Dances (Eleggua, Ochun) private instruction, 2014-ongoing.
Israel Vivio Ramos
Cuban Master Dancer/Teacher
Community classes and Afro-Cuban Rumba private instruction, Auckland 2015.
Alfonso Rios
Latin Percussionist
Latin Musicality Private Tuition, Mar 2016, Dec 2017
Lamine Sonko
Senegalese Master Dancer/Teacher/Musician
Sabar Private Instruction, March 2017
Ojeya Cruz Banks
Associate Professor of Dances of the African Diaspora
West African Dance Dunedin community classes 2012-2015
Soli, Yankadi/Makru, Dundunba Private instruction;
Academic mentorship - Dance Education; World Dance Perspectives and Choreography
Yan Agate (mentored by Mestre Jogo de Dentro)
Grupo Semente de Capoeira Angola, Wellington 2017 (ongoing).
Mitzi McRae
Melbourne Djembe
West African Dance - community dance classes, 2017 - ongoing (Skype)
Sökö, Soli Private tuition - March 2017.
Robert Koffi Fugah
Kadodo West African Drumming and Dance
West African Dance - 2015 (ongoing)
Rafael Ferrer
Cuban Fusion
Afro-Cuban Dances (Yoruba, Arara, Kongo), 2017 (ongoing).
Yamina Soreya
Brazilian Samba, workshop and private tuition, 2016.
Kussi Hurtado (mentored by Perere/Joao Rosa Batista)
Ungu Capoeira, 2012-2015.
DANCE/CAPOEIRA MASTER HUI
Mestre Jogo de Dentro, Wellington, August 2023
Camp Samatou (Mouminatou Camara Mohammed Bangoura, Bassidi Koné, Jean-Marc Agbogba, Lam Lakiz), Melbourne, Nov 2019
Mestre Lua de Bobo, Wellington, March 2019
Mestre Jogo de Dentro, Wellington, October 2018
Maputo Mensah, Wellington, May 2018
Naby Bangoura, Wellington, 2017
Bismark Koffi, Wellington, 2017
Chris Berry, Wellington, 2017
Naby Bangoura, Auckland, 2016
Mohammed Bangoura, Hamilton, Auckland 2016
Aotearoa Cuban Festival, Rotorua, 2015, 2016
Camaradagem, Ungu Capoeira, Wellington, 2015
Capoeira Mandinga Aotearoa 14th International Capoeira Encounter, Wainuiomata Marae, 2015
Axe do Sul, Ungu Capoeira, Dunedin 2012
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
- Current -
Samba Passion Intermediate Class, Auckland - 2023 (ongoing)
Grupo Semente de Capoeira Angola, Wellington - 2017 (ongoing)
Cuban Fusion, Wellington - 2017-2021
Wellington Batucada - 2016 (ongoing)
Samba Colectiva Aotearoa, Wellington/Auckland - 2016 (ongoing)
- Past -
Africa Day, Wellington 2017
Africa Day, Auckland 2016
Sambatron, Hamilton - 2015 - 2016
Tauranga Samba - 2015
Ungu Capoeira, Dunedin - 2012 - 2015
West African Dance, Dunedin - 2012 - 2015
"The Salsa Scene" - Auckland (2007-2008); Le Mans, France (2009-2010); Dunedin (2010-2015)
