Rotary Meeting 28 June 2023

28 June 2023 Meeting at the Wellington Club 

SPEAKER: Deirdre Tarrant

This will be the first meeting with our new Club President Tony Robinson at the helm. Join us to welcome him into his new position, have a delicious breakfast and listen to our speaker Deirdre. Her bio is as follows:

Deirdre Tarrant is the name all Wellingtonians associate with dance – whether it was as a student attending the famous Cuba St Dance studios or participating in the School’s Arts splash, or through watching her students perform at Chinese New Year or at the Christmas Parade. Deirdre Tarrant has made dance accessible and fun to Wellingtonians for generations.

Born and bred in Wellington, Deirdre danced with the New Zealand ballet company 1963-1965 while she was completing a BA at Victoria University. After finishing her degree, she left NZ to dance in London. On her return, Deirdre established Tarrant Dance Studios in the heart of Wellington’s busy central shopping district. RAD member since 1960, Deirdre was also a vocational Examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance for over 30 years.In 1985, Deirdre established Footnote New Zealand Dance – one of very few ongoing professional dance companies in NZ and its longest running contemporary company. As Director for 25 years, Deirdre grew the company to one that not only performs internationally but is also known for creating and commissioning bold new work by NZ artists.

Deirdre has always sought and created opportunities for a wide range of artists and innovators, New Zealand choreographers and composers and established Choreolab for that purpose. Choreolab is an important annual event in the Wellington dance calendar and provides an opportunity for graduate dancers to participate in three weeks of classes and workshops with experienced dancers and choreographers, as well as introducing them to other aspects of the profession through talks by composers, representatives of the funding bodies and creators in other sectors of the performing arts.

Deirdre has always been a strong supporter of the RAD. She was instrumental in the fundraising for the Genée in 2012 and is a founding member and Chair for RAD NZ’s scholarship programme – the 14+ Dance Scholarship Foundation – since its inception in 2002.

Deirdre was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ‘services to dance and the community’ and a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2013 for ‘services to contemporary dance’. She was one of the first Distinguished Alumni to be appointed by the Victoria University of Wellington in 2006, and was awarded a Wellington Council person of year Absolutely Positively Award in 2012.

Notes for the coming weeks meeting:

• RSVP no later than Monday 26 June 5pm (best do it now). Please make sure you register to assist the Wellington Club staff.
• If you have any dietary requirments please note them in the comments section of the registration
• Include your email address and mobile phone number in the response
• If you wish to bring guests/spouse/partner, please add them when you register
• Remember to click "Save" at the bottom of the page
• If you do not recieve a confirmation immediately after you have registered, you have not completed the process.
• Check the bulletin to see if you have been rostered for a duty at the meeting