DANZ
Iosefa Enari (Sefa) - Founder of Pacific Dance New Zealand (PDNZ) - has been awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific Dance in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Sefa was a founding member of Pacific Theatre in 1987. He trained as a professional dancer at LIMBS Dance Programme, UNITEC School of Performing Arts and holds a masters degree in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland. He is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and educator.
Through PDNZ, he has been integral in organising a number of national events including the Pacific Dance Artist in Residence, the Pacific Dance Choreographic Lab, various symposiums, educational and community programmes, and the annual Pacific Dance Festival.
As a choreographer he created dance works for the World War One centenary commemoration at Auckland Museum in 2014 and the opening performance for the 2014 televised National Rugby Awards Ceremony. He has created works for art galleries, professional live theatre, television programmes and films. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and throughout the Pacific.
Sefa is former convenor of the Pacific Music and Dance programme at the University of Auckland’s Centre of Pacific Studies and was the curriculum leader for Polynesian dance studies at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and PIPA.
Lynn Gilbert-Smith has received the Queen's Service Medal for services to dance education.
Mrs Lynn Gilbert-Smith has been teaching dance for 50 years and established her own studio, the Lynn Gilbert Dance Studio (now LGS Dance), when she was 16 years old.
LGS Dance currently has 280 students, which Mrs Gilbert-Smith oversees with the assistance of her teachers. She has been a committee member of the New Plymouth Competitions Society for the past 30 years and is convenor of the ballet and jazz component of this festival.
She is an examiner and adjudicator for national competitions and examinations. She established the Gilbert-Smith Trust in 1987, with the goal of raising funds to assist dance students to progress their skills and achieve their goals.
Mrs Gilbert-Smith has also been involved as a choreographer for the New Plymouth Operatic Society.