Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

The Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance was established in 2003 and honours Caroline Plummer (1978-2003).

The annual fellowship is for six months (usually February until July), and is open to community dance practitioners, teachers and researches from New Zealand and overseas who have a proposed programme of activity, or project, that furthers Caroline's belief and aspirations for community dance in New Zealand. It provides the recipient with an office/dance space and not less than the minimum salary of a fulltime University Lecturer for a six-month period.

Learn more about Caroline Plummer

See the list of all previous Caroline Plummer Fellowship recipients

Marcela Giesche is the 2024 Caroline Plummer Fellow in Community Dance

Marcela Giesche imageMarcela Giesche

Marcela Giesche is a freelance choreographer, performer, curator, researcher, dance teacher and artistic director of her own dance venue LAKE Studios Berlin in East Berlin.

She has presented her choreographic work and shared her movement techniques across Europe, South and North America in schools, universities, festivals, companies, and dance studios to professionals and amateurs alike.

One of the main goals in her art making is to bring contemporary dance out of its bubble and make it more accessible to the general public.

“I wish to open as many different minds and bodies to the transformative and communicative power of movement as possible,” she says.

As part of her project during the Fellowship, Giesche is reaching out to members of diverse communities all over Ōtepoti Dunedin, weaving them together into a moving self-portrait of the city.

“I have always been fascinated by Aotearoa – New Zealand, and in the process of searching, I found myself very attracted to the smaller arts scene accompanied by the university setting of Ōtepoti – Dunedin.”

Through the Fellowship, Giesche is combining many of her skills as a facilitator of community dance workshops, as a creator/choreographer, and curator and host, with supportive events for the community and the University.

She aims to work practically and theoretically with students, teachers, and researchers in diverse fields of study including Sciences, Information Technology, Humanities and the Arts to raise awareness of, and stimulate the exchange of diverse knowledge: “One of the things I find most inspiring about being hosted within a university environment, is the possibility for what I like to refer to as ‘cross pollination’”.

Giesche feels a connection with Caroline Plummer in their celebration of diversity and a motivation to connect community through dance.

“I was very touched to get to know about Caroline Plummer’s work and her lasting legacy and support for the continuous development of dance in the communities of Ōtepoti Dunedin.

“It is an inspiring example of how one person can make a long-lasting difference through their visions, and I feel grateful for the possibility to be able to share my work under the name of this Fellowship and what it stands for.”

Back to top