Te Aroha is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is 53 km (33 mi) northeast of Hamilton and 50 km (31 mi) south of Thames. It sits at the foot of 952 metres (3,123 ft) Mount Te Aroha, the highest point in the Kaimai Range.
Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, comedy, devised, and musical theatre. Her screen credits include the 1993 movie Desperate Remedies as well as appearances in The Footstep Man, the soap Shortland Street and Australian comedy series Full Frontal.
Stan Walker is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh season of Australian Idol. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. In December 2009, Walker released his debut studio album, Introducing Stan Walker, which included the hit single, "Black Box". The album debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It also appeared on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).
Nancy Brunning was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. She won the best actress award at the New Zealand Film Awards for her lead role in the film What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999). In 2000, she won the Best Actress in Drama award at the New Zealand Television Awards for her lead role in the television series Nga Tohu.
Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays Don't Call Me Bro and Flat Out Brown, were first performed at the Taki Rua Theatre in Wellington in 1996. Waitapu, a play written by Grace-Smith, was devised by He Ara Hou and performed by the group on the Native Earth Performing Arts tour in Canada in 1996.
Katie Wolfe is a New Zealand Māori actor as well as a film and stage director. She has appeared in seminal local television series such as Marlin Bay (1990s), Shortland Street, and Mercy Peak. Her screen directing work has won awards, including Redemption at the ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival and This Is Her at the Prague International Short Film Festival. More recently she wrote and directed a stage play, The Haka Party Incident, that had its touring schedule affected by the Covid pandemic.
Anita McLaren is a New Zealand field hockey player. She competed for the New Zealand women's national field hockey team from 2009 to 2018, including for the team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Fiona Jackson is a filmmaker currently based in New Zealand.
Jean Gloria Edith Puketapu or Jean Puketapu-Waiwai was a Ngāi Tūhoe Māori language native speaker and co-founder of the first kōhanga reo.
Lisa Marie Reihana is a New Zealand artist. Her video work, In Pursuit of Venus [Infected] (2015), which examines early encounters between Polynesians and European explorers, was featured at the 2017 Venice Biennale.
Lynda Chanwai-Earle is a New Zealand writer and radio producer. Her written work includes plays, poems and film scripts. The play Ka Shue – Letters Home in 1996 is semi-autobiographical and is significant in New Zealand literature as the first authentically New Zealand–Chinese play for mainstream audiences.
The 2016 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders, and to celebrate the passing of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. They were announced on 31 December 2015.
The 2001 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders, and to celebrate the passing of 2000 and the beginning of 2001. They were announced on 30 December 2000.
Edna Pahewa is a New Zealand weaver and was the head of weaving at Te Rito, the weaving school of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, for 18 years. Her work is held in the permanent collection of Te Papa.
The 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, celebrating the official birthday of Elizabeth II, were appointments made by the Queen in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. They were announced on 13 June 1992.
Greta Regina Aroha Yates-Smith, known as ArohaYates-Smith, is a New Zealand performer and academic, who affiliates to Te Arawa, Tainui, Takitimu, Horouta, and Mataatua. She is known for her research into forgotten Māori female deities.
Alexander Tarrant-Keepa, known professionally as Alex Tarrant, is a New Zealand actor. With multiple TV and film credits, he currently portrays Kai Holman in the CBS action crime drama NCIS: Hawaiʻi and Valandil on Amazon Prime's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fantasy drama.
Helen Pearse-Otene is a New Zealand playwright, actor and author.
Aroha Bridge is a New Zealand adult animated comedy by Jessica Hansell. The series focuses on the biracial twins Kōwhai and Monty Hook as they navigate the fictional community of Aroha Bridge and their pursuit in finding stardom. Aroha Bridge began as a webcomic entitled Hook Ups, which was first published in Volume magazine in 2011. It was later renamed and made into a series of 3 minute online shorts that first aired on The New Zealand Herald website. Aroha Bridge was later greenlit as a full series with funding from NZ On Air and aired on Māori Television. The animated series first aired on 23 May 2013, and stars Jessica Hansell, Rizván Tu’Itahi, Madeleine Sami, Frankie Stevens, and Scotty Cotter.
