Louise Pōtiki Bryant is a choreographer, dancer, video artist and film-maker. Her iwi are Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe and Waitaha. She is a founding member and choreographer for Atamira Dance Company, and has choreographed for companies such as The New Zealand Dance Company, Black Grace Dance Company and Ōrotokare, Art, Story, Motion. With her practice she aims to honour her whakapapa, mana wahine, and mātauranga Māori, and is dedicated to the creation of works which inspire the care, protection and regeneration of the whenua, moana, and waterways. Louise also has a body of solo and collaborative works, such as the highly acclaimed Kiri, a collaboration with clay artist Paerau Corneal.

Louise’s works have a strong interdisciplinary focus. She designs the staging for her works, and is responsible for the design, production and editing of the projected video elements - an integral part of each performance.

As a video designer, Louise has designed for many opera, music and dance productions, most recently for Te Wheke, by Atamira Dance Company, and for Bird Like Men by the quartet Tararua. Other designs include for three of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre productions; Re-quickening, Blood Tides and Blood Water Earth.

Louise’s practice also includes the creation of digital dance installations, such as her three-channel video installation Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain, a collaboration with Ariana Tikao and Paddy Free, currently installed as part of Māori Moving Image ki te Puna o Waiwhetū, Christchurch Art Gallery. Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain tackles the effects of climate change particularly in relation to extreme weather patterns. Another installation is the three-channel video installation Blood Water Earth, a collaboration with artistic director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Santee Smith.

Louise has also directed and edited many dance films, and music videos, including Ariana Tikao’s Tuia which won Best Music Video at the ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada. In 2014, Louise was awarded the Harriet Friedlander Residency, by The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, which saw her based in New York City for 2016. Other residencies include the Ngāi Tahu Artist in Residence at the Dunedin School of Art in 2003, and a Wild Creations Residency in 2007.