Douglas Wright, a major figure in modern dance in New Zealand and on the international stage, has died of cancer aged 62.
The choreographer and dancer performed in the US, the UK and France before returning home to New Zealand and starting his own dance company.
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For a dancer so acclaimed and so beautiful to watch - it's hard to believe Douglas Wright only took his first dance lessons at 21. Wright's passion began with ballet.
"Everything's made up of cells that move, that's dancing - you know I think dancing's basically going on all the time, so I think it's everything," Wright said.
Born in Tuakau in Waikato, Wright joined the New Zealand contemporary dance company Limbs in 1980, and began a long friendship with co-founder and friend Mary Jane O'Reilly.
He was accepted into the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York in 1982, but it was creating his own work that Wright became noted for, returning to New Zealand to form his own company.
"I just really like people to sit down and just allow themselves to experience whatever comes along," Wright said.
Wright was diagnosed with HIV in 1990. It didn't stop him dancing, though - he went on to perfom the lead in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of Petrushka.
Wright was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to dance, and an Arts Foundation laureate in 2000 - a dancer through and through.
Newshub.
