Photographer:    Monir El Haimar

Biography

Dr. Mark James Hamilton returned to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2020, after nine years in London. There he was Principal Lecturer in World Stages at Regent’s University London. Mark was introduced to yoga in his early teens and his practice (supported through many years of study) continues to be central to all his work. He first trained in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham (BA & MPhil). At Birmingham, Nadine George educated Mark in her development of the embodied voice work of Alfred Wolfsohn and Roy Hart. In extramural learning, Mark was taught the work of Jerzy Grotowski by Zygmunt Molik and Jolanta Cynkutis, both directly connected to Grotowski’s first company. Mark later trained with bharatanatyam (South Indian classical dance) with Priya Srikumar and her guru Paramasiva Menon, with astanga vinyasa yoga teachers Jude Hynes and Peter Nilsson, and CVN kalaripayattu (Kerala martial art) with senior instructor Rajasekaran Nair and his gurukul Sathyanarayanan Nair. Mark was the performance coach for Torotoro, a Maori Pasifika dance troop, for four years. He supported their international touring and their creation of television programmes. His doctorate was awarded by the University of Canterbury (NZ) and his thesis explored the interface of martial arts and dance in the work of international performance companies from Aotearoa New Zealand, Kerala in Southern India, and China. In the course of his doctoral studies, Mark trained in tai chi, judo and capoeira (Brazilian movement art). He is also a practitioner of nuad boran (Thai yoga massage). Mark now combines his skills to support the educational work of a range of charities and organisations, focusing in all contexts on the holistic development of individuals and groups.

The link below features Mark dancing a bharata natyam piece dedicated to Ganesha in a production called United States of Celebration (Sky City Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand: November 2005).