About

"Tēnā koutou, Cyfarchion i gyd, Hello, I’m Hannah Tasker-Poland, a flame-haired Welsh-Pākehā based in Tāmaki Makaurau, and I truly believe that dance is ritual. I’ve spent my life dancing, creating, shape-shifting, inhabiting characters, creatures and forms of creative expression. To me this is ‘movement alchemy’ as opposed to just dance, theatre, or performance, because of how potent and transformative it is".

Hannah's first and most potent form of creative expression is dance. She studied R.A.D ballet from the age of five, was a New Zealand School of Dance Junior Associate from 2000-2004 and is a 2008 graduate of Unitec New Zealand with a BA in Performing & Screen Arts majoring in Contemporary Dance. Her dance background includes Borderline Arts Ensemble, Atamira Dance Company, Footnote NZ Dance, World of Wearable Arts, Southern Lights Dance Company and as a founding member of The New Zealand Dance Company from 2012 - 2015, touring throughout Australasia and Europe. Hannah's unwavering commitment to exploring, harnessing and inhabiting creative curiosity, powerful performance and clever artistry in all facets of her dance career has earned her high recognition from the arts industry:

“Her [Hannah’s] nature exudes confidence, professionalism and expert craft-making. She is a prolific artist who’s performance lifts any collaborating artists work to an outstanding level. As a solo performer Hannah is mesmerising, clever and lifts our gaze out of the mundane into the truly extraordinary”. - Kelly Nash, Choreographer.

In her time off-stage Hannah enjoys connecting with the dance community as a guest tutor at Unitec New Zealand, The New Zealand Dance Company, Independance NZ and by facilitating movement and performance workshops for artists from multiple performance backgrounds such as dance, theatre, circus, pole dance and burlesque. Hannah is the Director of projectMUSE - a project-based arts company creating innovative, interdisciplinary and compelling dance, theatre, performance and visual art works. Her current dance focus is her first full-length work, projectMUSE, debuting at Aucklands Q Theatre , and a new physical theatre duet Les Misanthropes with her partner Emmanuel Reynaud.

She is a familiar face on the NZ theatre stage having appeared in three of Auckland Theatre Companys major seasons, Lysistrata (2015), Chicago (2013) and Cabaret (2010) and most recently brought her wild energy to the arena extravaganza Pleasuredome:The Musical.

Her work as an actor and stunt performer in the Film & TV industry includes feature films Ghost In The Shell, Mortal Engines, Deathgasm and The Hobbit,  TV series Ash vs Evil Dead, Spartacus and Legend of The Seeker and was a core-cast member of the 2007 TVNZ drama Rude Awakenings. She collaborates on a number of short film and visual art projects and is amassing an impressive collection of music videos, having appeared as the lead in several high-level productions for some of New Zealands biggest artists.

Hannah has been a SPFX body paint & prosthetics  performer and model for over 18 years, collaborating predominantly with leading SPFX company BodyFX, which has been her longest running artist/muse relationship to date. Her experience in this realm involves everything from SPFX and creature performance for film and TV, live performance at various events, festivals and shows, promotional campaigns and numerous photographic series. She was a judge at the 2018 New Zealand Body Art Awards after having been a prominent performer with the event for over a decade, bringing several award-winning creations to life. Hannah is currently focusing on forging new territory with the integration of dance and SPFX with projectMUSE - her new work which has a heavy body-paint and prosthetics component.

Hannah is prolific in the burlesque and fetish realms for her avant-garde, physically brilliant, innovative and captivating performances she has brought to the industry over the past decade. Existing as a force-of-nature, hanging somewhere between the human and the divine, her acts are more performance-art offerings of erotica, vulgarity, movement alchemy, intensity and other-worldly illusion, creating a potent live-performance experience for the audience, leaving them transfixed, with "What the f*#k did I just watch?!" being one of the most common responses after witnessing one of Hannah's performances.

Integrating her varied creative and performance background into her acts and often covered in paint, prosthetics, blood or fire, she has been a hard-hitter at events and festivals including The Menagerie Deluxe, Big Burlesque Blowout, Carousel Cabaret, Electrique Burlesque, New Zealand Fetish Ball, Capital Fetish Ball, Australian Burlesque Festival and was a New Zealand Burlesque Festival  headliner in 2013. She regularly headlines industry and corporate events, specialty private events and even performed for Mr Quentin Tarantino who gave her three separate standing ovations for her performance!

She also works as a life model, and has an extensive modelling portfolio, collaborating with numerous photographers for collections, campaigns and personal projects.

Hannah thrives on creating visually stunning, fiercely feminist, innovative and thought provoking work. She is passionate about using her platform, her voice, her body and her artistic expression to challenge perceptions of how we view womxn in art and society, presenting strong body autonomy and ownership of eroticism and sexuality. She strives to exhibit the beauty of the human form and its capacity for movement, and showcase strong female+ storytelling and performance, making bold, compelling art that empowers and inspires.