NEWS — The Call for Proposals for Trem Presentations is now open with this form.

As we celebrated the New Year, I felt a spark of excitement—no more saying "next year"! Freedom and Focus is happening this year, and I can’t wait to welcome you to Aotearoa New Zealand.

This newsletter has details on how to register for the conference and submit proposals for workshops, research presentations, and performances. Your input is invaluable, as the heart of this conference is sharing our work, ideas, and practices—not just with one another but also with our hosts and the local community.

Last month, I shared our goal: to Connect with the Land here in Aotearoa. This month, I want to highlight our second key aim: Collaborate with our hosts and learn from Te Ao Māori, as expressed at Toi Whakaari.

We are thrilled to co-create this conference with Toi Whakaari, a truly unique training institution both in Aotearoa and globally. Toi Whakaari was where I trained as an actor decades ago, back in the 1980s. It was known then as The New Zealand Drama School. Over the years, it has transformed—not just in name but in culture—embracing our bi-cultural heritage and producing graduates who 'know who they are and where they stand'. These artists, designers, and craftspeople deeply enrich Aotearoa New Zealand’s vibrant performing arts community.

I encourage you to visit their website at www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz to discover the school’s journey and vision in their own words.

We can’t wait to see you in July 2025! Please register and submit your proposals—we’re eager to hear from you and make this conference extraordinary together.

Perry and the Conference Planning Team

REGISTER HERE FOR TREMDAYS
and also
REGISTER HERE FOR THE F&F CONFERENCE (Trems choose the Description ‘Full Fee’ in the Description pulldown menu and then use code TREMNZ which is a 30% off Trem discount code on the final page of registration)

Venue: Toi Whakaari 
Date: 31 July - 3 August 2025 (Trem only dates are 30 July & 4 August)
Early Bird: $USD275/$NZD450 (Deadline 3/3/2025) equals 20% off
Full Price: $USD350/$NZD560
Students: $150 USD/$240 NZD

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Nau mai, haere mai ki Aotearoa! 

As I write this, it is less than one year until the conference in Aotearoa, New Zealand.  On this day we will walk together, as a group, into the building called ‘Te Whaea’ - ‘The Mother’ - home of Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School. 

We may be welcomed with whakatau, or accorded a pōwhiri, a traditional Māori welcome of speeches, song and movement, which recognises the importance of the guests and welcomes them into the space. If offered, the pōwhiri will be a collaboration between Toi Whakaari and Te Atiawa Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira iwi: The Drama School, and the iwi who support it.

The traditional pōwhiri has a finely crafted structure. Voice, space and relationship is deliberately woven to bring us together - to make links between the home people and the visitors, articulating a clear purpose for our time together.  

The opportunity to be in each other’s presence ‘kanohi ki te kanohi’ as Māori say - 'face to face', is so precious. Catherine has taught us much about the value, the complexity and the dimensions of presence. This conference is very much about the deliberate and purposeful act of ‘being together’, in Aotearoa. The act of venturing to the other side of the world to connect to the land, the people of this land, and to each other is no small thing.

It is my heartfelt wish that this conference be inextricably connected to place, to the land which will host us and its traditional Māori guardians, and to people: our hosts at Toi Whakaari, who will give us a home for this time, to those we will reconnect with and those we meet for the first time.

We look forward to welcoming you. Registrations will open in January 2025.  Our theme is Voice is Action! Make space in your lives for this time next year in Aotearoa!

Ngā mihi maioha,
Perry