Jan Patricia Bolwell (born 1949) is a

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

-based

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

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 * ''Di ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. 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, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) 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 coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

but grew up in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

where she was educated at

Columba College Columba College (Irish language, Irish: Coláiste Choilm) 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 ...

. She then completed a Bachelor of Arts at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, 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 Zeal ...

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 th ...

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 BATS Theatre is a theatre venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Initially founded as the Bats Theatre Company in 1976, then established in its current form in 1989. BATS Theatre has seen the development of many performing arts talents of New Zeala ...

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 New ...

, 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, ...

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 rend ...

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 People from Oamaru Entertainers from Dunedin University of Otago alumni People educated at Columba College