The Royal New Zealand Ballet congratulates long-standing Board member Candis Craven on being named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2017.

Candis was Chair of the RNZB Board from 2011 – 16 and remains a Trustee. During her tenure as Chair the company marked its 60^th anniversary as New Zealand’s national ballet company (2013) and undertook critically acclaimed tours to China, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Italy. In 2016 the RNZB’s success at home and abroad was acknowledged with a significant increase in government funding through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Artistic highlights during this time include Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s production of Giselle (2012), which toured to China, the USA, the UK and Italy and was the subject of a feature film (2013) by Toa Fraser; Liam Scarlett’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2015) and Francesco Ventriglia’s The Wizard of Oz (2016), as well as a substantial expansion of the RNZB’s community and education programme. She has also worked closely with the New Zealand School of Dance, now recognised as the Official School of the RNZB.

Outside her commitment to the RNZB, Candis has enjoyed a 30 year involvement with the New Zealand Family Planning Association, as well as serving on the Board of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. She is Chair of the Cognition Education Trust and a Director of Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board.