In 2025, thanks to our generous funder Mercury, the course is FREE to Manawatu students aged 15 to 18.

Running into the Sun is an international theatre project, The professional version debuted at Melbourne Fringe 2024 and won the prestigious Best in Theatre award. Co-directors Ben Ashby and Nadiyah Akbar are connecting young artists around Aotearoa and Australia and asking them; how does it feel to look at the state of the world right now? Ashby and Akbar will work with workshop participants to create moments of physical theatre full of fear, rage and importantly hope for the future.

Participants can expect to gain skills in how to translate an idea into performance, how to layer movement, text and music and discussions examining what is the role of a young artist in the world right now? There will be an invited, informal showing at the end of the weekend to friends and family.

Director, Producer. Ben graduated from Toi Whakaari, The NZ Drama School in 2020, and became the Artistic Director of Long Cloud Youth Theatre. Ben specialises in devised theatre, He created 8 devised theatre projects with Long Cloud, winning the 2021 Wellington Theatre Award for “Artistic Leadership” and the 2022 “Emerging Artist” award from Performing Arts and Young People Aotearoa (NZ national awards). As a screen actor he has featured in TVNZ’s The Panthers and Wellington Paranormal. Ben migrated to Naarm in April 2023, and is currently producing comedy for Token Events and teaching at St Maritn’s Youth Arts.

Choreographer, Nadiyah Akbar, (she/her) is a contemporary dancer born and raised on Eora Land (Sydney) Nadiyah is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance (2017-2019) and spent two years dancing for Footnote New Zealand Dance, Aotearoa's longest-running contemporary dance company, frequently touring nationally. Nadiyah has performed in Berlin with Sam Coren, as part of the B12 Festival. She frequently tours with Australian choreographer Joel Bray Dance's 'Considerable Sexual Licence', has presented her solo work 'Freestyle In Shades Of Yellow' at the NZ Fringe Festival as well as performing in 'Modals of Lost Opportunity' with InPlay Projects at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2023. Most recently Nadiyah has travelled back to Aotearoa to perform 'Belle - Performance Of Air' by Movement of the Humans at the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Register your interest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLgQss70ximb9dMOvVn4YREHt7xtZDFZ7VseEXyGt-g5Bw_g/viewform