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Rodney Bell
Rodney Bell
Rodney Bell
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AXIS Dance Company members Sonsherée Giles and Rodney Bell perform an award-winning dance piece by Joe Goode in 2008.

Rodney Bell (born February 6, 1971) is a male dancer born in Te Kūiti, North Island, New Zealand.[1]

Rodney is internationally famous for physically integrated dance, which is a contemporary modern dance style that combines people with and without physical disabilities.[2] He is of Maori descent, from the Ngāti Maniapoto tribe.[3]

Rodney acquired a disability as a result of a motorcycle accident as a young adult. Specifically, the accident left him paralyzed from below the chest, and he depends upon a wheelchair for mobility.[4] His artistic expression demonstrates elements of traditional Maori culture, yet at the same time he's continually seeking new ways to enhance his creative process.[5]

Rodney has been dancing professionally since 1994. He began as a founding member of Touch Compass Dance Trust, which is an internationally renowned physically integrated dance company based in Auckland, New Zealand.[6] In 2007, he relocated to California, U.S., to join AXIS Dance Company, based in Oakland, where he remained principal dancer until 2012.

Dancers Rodney Bell (l.) and Chloe Loftus (r.) with rigger Gregor Kolbe (m.) after The Air Between Us performance at the street festival in Kaiserslautern in 2024

Rodney has been nominated for numerous awards. He won an Isadora Duncan Dance Award in 2008 for an ensemble performance with Sonsherée Giles titled "To Color Me Different," performed under AXIS Dance Company, choreographed by Alex Ketley (artistic director of The Foundry).[7] In 2011, he appeared with Sonsherée Giles on So You Think You Can Dance where he performed the duet "To Color Me Different."[8]

Rodney has increasingly worked across all forms of media, including film, commercials, modeling, and fashion catwalks. He teaches dance to disabled and non-disabled dancers through workshops and dance intensives. In 2008, he was in the documentary The Art of Movement which was directed by David Levitt Waxman.[9] In 2009, he modeled for Vale (a mining company in Brazil); and in 2010, he did a commercial for Liberty Mutual, San Francisco, California. In March 2013, he was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for an ensemble performance with Sonsherée Giles titled "Full of Words", performed under AXIS Dance Company, choreographed by Marc Brew.

Rodney is currently one of three members of Touch Compass's Artistic Direction Panel.[10]

In 2024 Bell co-choreographed a work called Imprint in the New Zealand Dance Company programme Whenua.[11] Collaborators include choreographer Malia Johnston, sound designer Eden Mulholland and designer Rowan Pierce.[12]

Awards

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See also

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References

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Rodney Bell

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''Rodney Bell'' is a New Zealand Māori dancer and choreographer known for his pioneering work in physically integrated dance and wheelchair dance. He has gained international recognition for blending contemporary movement with disability perspectives, creating performances that challenge traditional notions of dance and promote inclusion. Following a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed, Bell discovered dance as a transformative medium, evolving from street busking to professional stages and global tours. His career, spanning since the mid-1990s, includes collaborations with renowned companies and artists, as well as leadership in advancing accessible arts practices in New Zealand and beyond. Bell has been honored with awards such as the Arts Access Award for Artistic Achievement and the Attitude Award, reflecting his impact as both a performer and advocate for disabled artists in the performing arts. Notable works include his autobiographical show Meremere and aerial dance piece The Air Between Us, which highlight his personal story and innovative approach. As a Ngāti Maniapoto artist from Te Kūiti, Bell continues to influence the field through teaching, choreography, and efforts to foster equity and representation for disabled and Indigenous performers.

Early life

Birth and background

Rodney Bell was born in Te Kuiti in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. He affiliates to the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He grew up in a humble, loving whānau and was raised alongside disabled uncles and aunties, learning to treat them equally and view them as "just different" rather than disabled. Before his accident, Bell was physically active. He played rugby, worked as a butcher, and performed kapa haka. In 1991, he suffered a motorcycle accident that left him paralysed from the chest down. Details about his early family life and upbringing remain limited in available public records.

Career

Rodney Bell began his professional dance career in the mid-1990s after becoming paraplegic following a motorcycle accident in 1991. He discovered dance as a transformative medium post-injury and became a founding member of Touch Compass Dance Trust, New Zealand's first mixed-ability dance company, around 1994–1997. He performed and collaborated internationally with Touch Compass before relocating to California in 2007 to join AXIS Dance Company as a principal dancer, where he remained until 2012. During this period, he toured extensively across 32 US states and won the Isadora Duncan Dance Award in 2008 for ensemble performance. After leaving AXIS, Bell faced homelessness in the US from approximately 2012 to 2015 before returning to New Zealand. He rebuilt his career, focusing on choreography, teaching, and advocacy for accessible arts. Notable works include the autobiographical solo show Meremere (premiered around 2016), which tours internationally and incorporates wheelchair dance with Māori cultural elements, and aerial piece The Air Between Us. In 2018, he performed HuriHuri at the Commonwealth Games. In 2024, he co-choreographed Imprint for the New Zealand Dance Company. Bell continues to lead in physically integrated and wheelchair dance, teaching workshops globally, serving on Touch Compass's artistic direction panel, and advocating for equity for disabled and Indigenous artists in the performing arts. He has received additional recognition including the FAME Mid-Career Award (2022) and Arts Access Award for Artistic Achievement.

Death

Rodney Bell is alive and active as of 2024. No death has occurred for the New Zealand Māori dancer and choreographer Rodney Bell. The death and burial details previously in this section pertain to a different individual, American actor Rodney Mabrey Bell (1915–1968).
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