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Rodney Bell (born February 6, 1971) is a male dancer born in 
Rodney has been nominated for numerous awards. He won an
The Big Idea, Creative Momentum: Rodney Bell In 2011, he appeared with Sonsherée Giles on ''
Rodney Bell (born February 6, 1971) is a male dancer born in Te Kūiti
Te Kūiti is a town in the north of the King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highways 3 and New Zealand State Highway 30, 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk rail ...
, North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
, 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 ...
.
Rodney is internationally famous for physically integrated dance
The physically integrated dance movement is part of the disability culture movement, which recognizes and celebrates the first-person experience of disability, not as a medical model construct but as a social phenomenon, through artistic, litera ...
, which is a contemporary modern dance style that combines people with and without physical disabilities. He is of Maori descent, from the Ngāti Maniapoto
Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...
tribe.
Rodney acquired a disability as a result of a motorcycle accident as a young adult. Specifically, the accident left him paralyzed from below the chest, and he depends upon a wheelchair for mobility. His artistic expression demonstrates elements of traditional Maori culture, yet at the same time he's continually seeking new ways to enhance his creative process.
Rodney has been dancing professionally since 1994. He began as a founding member of Touch Compass Dance Trust, which is an internationally renowned physically integrated dance
The physically integrated dance movement is part of the disability culture movement, which recognizes and celebrates the first-person experience of disability, not as a medical model construct but as a social phenomenon, through artistic, litera ...
company based in Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, 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 ...
. In 2007, he relocated to California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, U.S., to join AXIS Dance Company
AXIS Dance Company is a professional physically integrated contemporary dance company and dance education organization founded in 1987 and based in Oakland, California. It is one of the first contemporary dance companies in the world to consciou ...
, based in Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
, where he remained principal dancer until 2012.
Rodney has been nominated for numerous awards. He won an Isadora Duncan Dance Award The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards or Izzies honor San Francisco Bay Area dance artists for outstanding achievements in a range of categories including: choreography, sustained achievement, individual performance, company performance, costume design, a ...
in 2008 for an ensemble performance with Sonsherée Giles titled "To Color Me Different," performed under AXIS Dance Company, choreographed by Alex Ketley (artistic director of The Foundry).The Big Idea, Creative Momentum: Rodney Bell In 2011, he appeared with Sonsherée Giles on ''
So You Think You Can Dance
''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...
'' where he performed the duet "To Color Me Different."
Rodney has increasingly worked across all forms of media, including film, commercials, modeling, and fashion catwalks. He teaches 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 ...
to disabled and non-disabled dancers through workshops and dance intensives. In 2008, he was in the documentary ''The Art of Movement'' which was directed by David Levitt Waxman. In 2009, he modeled for Vale
A vale is a type of valley.
Vale may also refer to:
Places Georgia
* Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Norway
* Våle, a historic municipality
Portugal
* Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...
(a mining company in Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
); and in 2010, he did a commercial for Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is an American diversified global insurer and the sixth-largest Property insurance, property and Casualty insurance, casualty insurer in the world. It ranks 87th on the Fortune 100, ''Fortune'' 100 list of larges ...
, San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In March 2013, he was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for an ensemble performance with Sonsherée Giles titled "Full of Words", performed under AXIS Dance Company, choreographed by Marc Brew.
Rodney is currently one of three members of Touch Compass's Artistic Direction Panel.
In 2024 Bell co-choreographed a work called ''Imprint'' in the New Zealand Dance Company programme ''Whenua.'' Collaborators include choreographer Malia Johnston, sound designer Eden Mulholland and designer Rowan Pierce.
Awards
* 2008 - Isadora Duncan Dance Award * 2022 - FAME Mid-Career Award ( FAME Trust)See also
*List of dancers
A
*Fred Astaire ( – ), American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor. He was an innovator in dance. He made 31 musical films, 10 featuring his dances with Ginger Rogers, and was honored with the fifth ...
References