Choreographer Parris Goebel Born to Dance
If you were one of more than 500 million recent YouTube views for Justin Bieber’s song “Sorry” and were dazzled by the dancing, know that the moves originated from the mind of New Zealand-born…
Blog Archives
Pat Deavoll in Training for Tirich Mir Ascent
New Zealand mountaineer Pat Deavoll, 56, is planning ahead to 2017 when she will climb Tirich Mir (7708m), the highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayan/Karakoram chain. Ahead of that, she will…
Manu Bennett and Jed Brophy Take up Noalath
In a Shannara Chronicles “Behind the Scenes” MTV video, New Zealanders Manu Bennett, who plays the druid Allanon, and Jed Brophy, demon king Dagda Mor, reveal their thoughts about the made-up language entitled Noalath…
Measuring the Anzacs for Online Database
Researchers at Waikato University are calling on the public to help create an online database of all the New Zealanders who served during World War One for a project called Measuring the Anzacs. Volunteers are…
Everyone’s Listening to Nadia Reid’s Debut
Singer Nadia Reid’s highly rated debut,Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs is included in the Guardian’s annual roundup of “The Albums We Missed” column. Reviewer Michael Hann says: “It took 24-year-old New Zealander Reid seven…
Barnie Duncan’s …him a Living Thriving Piece of Art
“New Zealander Barnie Duncan has created an unusual yet intriguing piece of art that is somewhat unpleasant in a refreshing way, and yet able to draw in the audience with subtlety … in a…
James Bertram’s Mao Zedong Letter Sold at Sotheby’s
A letter from Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong sent to British Labour leader Clement Atlee and typed by New Zealand-born journalist James Munro Bertram, has sold at Sotheby’s for £605,000, more than…
Scott Kelly Creates Flags for Star Wars Galaxy
New Zealand-born Scott Kelly, an advertising art director based in London, has spent “way, way too long” designing flags for 103 planets in the Star Wars universe. Kelly has created flags for planets featured not…
Marlon Williams Debut a Rolling Stone Favourite
Marlon Williams’ solo debut was one of the albums that defined the year, according to Rolling Stone Australia, which includes the self-titled debut in their 50 Best Albums of the Year list. Rolling Stone writes: “The…
Lyttelton Is Banking on Time
When the port town on Lyttelton was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, a time bank – the first of its kind in New Zealand – helped the community harness the resources to rebuild. Time banking…
Helen Clark Says Living Standards of 2 Billion Better
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), led by New Zealander Helen Clark, says that 2 billion people have lifted themselves out of low human development in the last 25 years. The Human Development…
Pataka Taonga Returned to New Plymouth
Five intricately carved storehouse carvings have been returned to New Zealand after 150 years buried in a swamp and 40 years exile in Europe. They are the Motunui epa and once were almost sold off…
Andrew Nicholson Breaks round the World Record
New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, a former Olympic speed skater, has cycled around the world in 123 days breaking the world record set by Englishman Alan Bate by two days. Nicholson, 45, a part-time gym instructor…
Maggie & Rose Kids’ Club Opens in Hong Kong
Exclusive private children’s club Maggie & Rose, founded in Kensington, London by New Zealander Maggie Bolger (pictured left) and Briton Rose Astor in 2007, has opened its doors in Hong Kong. The aim of the…
Dan Carter BBC Overseas Sports Personality of 2015
New Zealander Dan Carter has beaten tennis champion Serena Williams and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to take the title of BBC Overseas Sports personality of the Year. The Paris Racing 92 fly-half was crowned World…
Robin Hammond Portraits Some of TIME’s Best
Two of New Zealand-born photographer Robin Hammond’s images from his Where Love is Illegal series have been included in a list of TIME magazine’s best portraits of the year. The photographs, one of which made TIME’s…
Lorde’s Second Chapter Is about to Begin
Lorde, in Marques’ Almeida, poses together with American singer and actress Zendaya, 19, in Vogue magazine’s January 2016 issue for a “Be Yourself” spread which includes athletes, artists, writers, dancers and models. “As fashion, following…
Jemaine Clement the Protagonist
New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement’s performance in the “not quite rom-com” People Places Things “is understated, often characterised by the type of deadpan wit familiar to fans of his breakout HBO series Flight of…
Where to Find the Best Meat Pies in NZ
“The mystical New Zealand of contemporary cinema is replete with hobbits and talking trees. But the real New Zealand is rich with leaf-lard crusts containing the unctuous delights of braised mutton, minced beef, and…
Bruce Russell’s Plum Sauce a Breakfast Charmer
Back in March 1992 in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, The Dead C vocalist Bruce Russell and his wife Kate McRae entertained Siltbreeze record label owner Tony Lax over breakfast where they enchanted him with a…
Louis Schulz One of Turner Prize-Winning Assemble
A collective of 18 young architects called Assemble – one of whom is New Zealander Louis Schulz – has become the first group of “non-artists”, and the youngest, to win the annual £25,000 British…
Charlie Smith Trades in Wedding for Dream Sail
Former ITV weather presenter and model New Zealander Charlie Smith, 27, and her fiancé, who goes by the name, Captain, 34, made the choice to sell their house and put their wedding plans on…
Where Chef Margot Henderson and Family Dine
New Zealander Margot Henderson, chef of London’s beloved Rochelle Canteen lets Lucky Peach magazine in on the south London spot, Canton Arms where she and her family unwind. “ serves the sort…
On the Waiheke Wine Trail
When you land in New Zealand, the wine is closer than you think according to Lori Rackl, a freelance journalist writing for the Los Angeles Times. Rackl begins her vineyard tour on Waiheke Island…
Mark King Photographs the Pristine Pre-Railway
New Zealand-born photographer Mark King, 41, has used state-of-the-art lasers to show how a controversial planned high-speed railway in the UK will cut through the countryside. King’s photos show two laser beams replicating the track…
Marvel Gives Lydia Ko Comic Book Treatment
Lydia Ko, 18, might as well be a super hero, according to Korea Times correspondent Brian Han. That’s why Marvel teamed up with ESPN to give the New Zealand golf champion the comic book…
Brain-Eating Rose McIver Owns TV Role
New Zealander Rose McIver, star of iZombie, one of the Los Angeles Times’ best new television shows of 2015, is “incognito as a coroner’s assistant, find the space between Veronica Mars and Buffy the…
Karen Walker Hits The Slopes
A surprise return to snowboarding has prompted New Zealand designer Karen Walker to reconsider the beauty of old-school ski suits. Last winter, Walker’s seven-year-old daughter convinced her to strap into a snowboard for the first…
Legions of Fans Greet Author Lang Leav in KL
Best-selling poet and author Lang Leav’s cult following of devoted fans from all over the world, began with her poetry being shared by millions on Tumblr and eventually culminated with the publication…
Mark Inglis Looks Back at the Top of the World
In Hyderabad, India to give a talk to the students of Woxsen School of Business, the first double amputee to climb Mt Everest, New Zealander Mark Inglis said the best decision he ever made…
Long-legged Arachnids Go to Battle
Entomologists from the University of Auckland have found that harvestmen, Pantopsalis cheliferoides, which live in the wet forests of the North Island, are the first animals found to have different types of weapon in…
Christchurch an Absolute Delight
Disembarking in Christchurch after a TranzAlpine rail journey through “knockout” landscapes, Economic Times reporter Charukesi Ramaduri says that though there are signs of the devastating earthquake of 2011 everywhere, it is equally clear Christchurch…
Jess Johnson’s Wurm Haus an Otherworldly Experience
New Zealand-born artist Jess Johnson’s new exhibition, on at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is arresting – a series of geometrical, pastel-toned psychedelic prints that bring to mind fantastical worlds and video games….
Great Food and Beer Intersect in Wellington
“Like Melbournians, Wellingtonians take their food and drink culture extremely seriously,” Jason Lim reports for Forbes. “The city is said to have more restaurants, bars and cafes per capita than New York. “Wellington is blessed…
Virgin’s Tom Mockridge Talks New Challenges
New Zealander Tom Mockridge, chief executive of British cable group Virgin Media, talks with the Financial Times about broadband, News Corp and why UK football television rights need a big shake-up. Mockridge is so habitually…
John Metcalfe Blends Influences on Sycamore
One-time member of post-punk band the Durutti Column, composer, arranger and viola player New Zealand-born John Metcalfe has written “Sycamore,” which draws on the disparate influences of minimalist composer Steve Reich and the electronic…
Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty
New Zealander Rachel Hunter, once one of the world’s most-photographed supermodels, is now on a quest to discover the secrets of lasting beauty, great health and extraordinary longevity in diverse cultures around the world,…
Works by Susan Te Kahurangi King a Miami Must See
The booth of Auckland artist Susan Te Kahurangi King is one of seven must-sees at this year’s Art Basel Miami, according to New York’s Observer. “It’s impossible to pick a favourite, but it will be…
Jess Murphy’s Kai Cafe Making Fans
Kai Cafe and Restaurant was opened by New Zealander Jess Murphy and her Irish husband, David in 2011, with a simple formula – high-quality produce, preferably organic or wild, sourced locally and cooked intelligently….
New Zealand a Majestic Set for Shannara Chronicles
MTV’s new fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles is set in the future but features elves and gnomes and promises plenty of old-fashioned adventure all filmed in the town of Kumeu, in New Zealand’s scenic…
Norman Harris – Not Bad for an Old Jogger
New Zealand-born sportswriter Norman Harris, organiser of London’s Sunday Times National Fun Run, and quite possibly the inventor of the word “jogger”, has died in Britain. He was 75. Harris worked as a sports reporter…
On the Road with Strictly Dancer Brendan Cole
Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing star, New Zealand-born Brendan Cole breaks off from a journey to Blackpool to speak about this year’s show and his new tour, which will call in to Dorset early next…
Fighting the IS Publicity War
New Zealander Janna Hamilton, who has worked for Oxfam in the Middle East and Africa, largely with Syrian refugees on the Jordanian and Lebanese borders, argues in an opinion piece for the New Zealand…
Tiny House Fits Lily Duval to a T
A home is not just a building, it’s also a state of mind. For Christchurch woman Lily Duval, 28, it meant creating a charming, cozy space out of her self-built 14sqm tiny home, where…
Compliments on Nadia Reid’s Extraordinary Debut
New Zealand singer-songwriter Nadia Reid’s Look for the Signs is an “extraordinarily assured debut”, Guardian reviewer Kitty Empire writes. The track Call the Days “suggests an Antipodean Laura Marling, a talented 24-year-old with a preternatural…
Artist Gary Yong Sand Bags Dubai Beach
New Zealand-born street artist Gary Yong has been in Dubai participating in the UAE Innovation Week, which saw him place 1600 bags of sand along Jumeirah Beach Residence’s open beach for a piece he…
Why New Zealand Shouldn’t Be a State of Australia
The Australia liberal senator Ian Macdonald has caused a media ruckus joking that New Zealand should become Australia’s “seventh and eighth state”. Guardian correspondent Eleanor Roy, who is “half Aussie, half Kiwi”, explains that…
Golfing Star Lydia Ko Picks up Another Trophy
Eighteen-year-old Aucklander Lydia Ko has scooped the US$1 million LPGA Tour jackpot and has been named the women’s LPGA Player of the Year, becoming the youngest in its 49-year history to do so. Ko retained…
Simon Denny Merges Tech and Art at Serpentine
For an artist, Simon Denny has an unusually agile grasp of corporate jargon, according to the Independent. Discussing his forthcoming Serpentine Sackler Gallery exhibition in London, Products for Organising, the 33-year-old New Zealander’s chat…
Dan Carter Says Future of NZ Rugby Bright
All Blacks great Dan Carter, 33, is unsure of his own plans once the time comes to hang up his boots but he is confident the game in New Zealand is in safe hands….
Bcc Your Way into Brian Fuata’s New Show
As the Performa 15 biennial geared up for a month of performances throughout New York City in November, Wellington-born performance artist Brian Fuata and Australian curator Susan Gibbs’ performance began in cyberspace, causing smartphones…
Marton Csokas Enters Into the Badlands
New Zealand-born actor Marton Csokas, 49, told reporters at the recent New York Comic-Con he is happy to star in the martial-arts drama Into the Badlands because it is unlike anything else on American…
Felix Kelly’s Surreal Truro to Be Auctioned
An oil painting depicting a Cornwall town’s landmarks by New Zealand artist Felix Kelly and commissioned by Prince Charles is to go under the hammer. Auckland-born Kelly, who has exhibited alongside names such as Lucian…
Peter Arnett at Vietnam’s First Major Battle
An archivist at the New York Times has discovered a small trove of photographs correspondent Neil Sheehan took 50 years ago while covering the first major clash of the Vietnam War between the American…
Cassandra Ellis Welcomes the Return of the Quilt
With quilting growing in popularity and a new wave of designers exploring age old techniques in their work, the Telegraph looks at how the humble hand-stitched blanket is back in favour precisely because it…
Peter Jackson Ad-Libbed Shooting Hobbit
Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson, 54, admits he was “winging it” and “was making it up as I went along” for much of the Hobbit trilogy’s chaotic shoot. Jackson has revealed he began filming the blockbuster…
