Malia Johnston BPSA

Director/Choreographer

Malia is the director of Rifleman Productions through which she develops her own work and collaborates with other artists on new work. She is also the current Artistic Director and principal choreographer for the World of Wearable Arts Awards and has been their principal Choreographer and Stage Director since 2001.

Malia is a guest choreographer and technique teacher at the New Zealand School of Dance and Unitec's dance programme and presented a work for each school for their Graduation performance in November 2010.

Malia has had a long collaborative association with Eden Mulholland who composes music for her work. Eden, who is also lead singer of pop band Motocade released an album titled Music for Dance in 2010 which features some of the many pieces he has composed for her.

Malia has had a close choreographic relationship with and is regularly commissioned by Footnote Dance Co, and has been choreographing works on the company since 1999. Her latest work Instances (when we are like horses) is being performed later in 2011 and recently she made a new work Perlieu on the company that toured to Shanghai for the New Zealand National Day performance as part of the 2010 World Expo in China. Previous works made for Footnote include: One way pendulum, Left Untilted, Broken by Design, Miniatures, False Waltz, Crash Test Dummies, Lens I, Purlieu, Weather I wear you.

Malia has also had a significant performance and choreographic relationship with Touch Compass Dance Co for whom she has made the works Ten of Hearts, Infinite Sides, Spoke and The Big the Bad and the Beautiful.

Malia's work has toured extensively to venues and arts festivals throughout New Zealand. Terrain, a duet made in collaboration with Guy Ryan, has also been performed in Melbourne, Australia.

Malia has recently completed Body Fight Time a new full length collaborative work that is being co-produced with Footnote Dance. Body Fight Time is being performed by Footnote Dance in Wellington & Auckland later in 2011.

A longer biography of Malia written by leading NZ dance writer and critic, Raewyn Whyte, can be found on the Goethe Intstitute's Tanzconnexions website.