Jan Patricia Bolwell (born 1949) is a

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

-based

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and teacher of dance. She established the Crows Feet Dance Collective in 1999 and remains its director.

Biography

Bolwell was born on the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

but grew up in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

where she was educated at

Columba College Columba College is an integrated Presbyterian school in Roslyn, Otago, Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. The roll is made up of pupils of all ages. The majority of pupils are in the girls' secondary, day and boarding school, but there is also a p ...

. She then completed a Bachelor of Arts at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, majoring in history. Having set up and run the dance curriculum for the

Dunedin College of Education The Dunedin College of Education (''Te Kura Akau Taitoka'', also known as ''Dunedin Teachers' College'') was a former teacher training college in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 1876, the college was the oldest teacher training college in New Ze ...

she was promoted to senior lecturer, before moving to the

Wellington College of Education Wellington College of Education (formerly Wellington Teachers' Training College) was established in 1888 with the purpose of educating teachers in New Zealand. It became the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, formed from ...

as head of performing arts from 1987 to 1997. In 2018 she directed Kate JasonSmith in ''I'll Tell You This For Nothing: My mother the war hero'', a play written by JasonSmith about her mother's experiences in World War II, performed at BATS Theatre in Wellington.

Awards and recognition

In 1995, with

Sunny Amey Sunny Amey (born 1928) is a theatre director and educator born in New Zealand. She worked at the National Theatre of England during its formative years alongside Laurence Olivier, as artistic director of Downstage Theatre in the 1970s and the d ...

and

Keri Kaa Hohi Ngapera Te Moana Keri Kaa (194226 August 2020) was a New Zealand writer, educator, and advocate for the Māori language. She was of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Family and education Kaa was born in 1942 in Rangitukia on Ne ...

, she won Production of the Year in the

Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, from 1992–2014, and have been succeeded by the Wellington Theatre Awards. Established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm Chapman Tripp, t ...

for ''Takitoru.'' Bolwell was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for "service to dance and theatre" in the 2020 New Years Honours.

Plays

* ''Standing on My Hands'' * ''Here's Hilda!'' – writer and performer, 2007 * ''Double Portrait: Finding Frances Hodgkins –'' writer, first performed 2009 * ''Dancing In The Wake: The Story of Lucia Joyce'' – writer, first performed 2012

Published work

* ''Milord Goffredo'' (2002) ''-'' Published by Steele Roberts, Wellington, NZ'','' (pbk.) * ''A pretty piece of driving : Hilda Gardiner, my grandmother'' (2005) - Published by Steele Roberts, Wellington, NZ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolwell, Jan 1949 births Living people New Zealand choreographers New Zealand dancers Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Writers from Oamaru Entertainers from Dunedin University of Otago alumni People educated at Columba College