DECEMBER , 2008
Attitude Award winners announced
Suzanne Cowan
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Talented dancer and choreographer Suzanne Cowan beat a gold medal winning paralympian to win the ACC Supreme Award at
the Attitude Awards this evening.
The Attitude Awards are a new initiative developed to honour the outstanding achievements of New Zealanders living with
disabilities.
Suzanne, also the winner of the Attitude Arts Award, is currently doing a Masters at the University of Auckland where
her thesis is on how dance and disability can be combined as a powerful way of shifting perceptions around disability.
Suzanne says she wants to see if through dance she can break the idea of disability. By exploring the ‘grotesque’, she
hopes to move away from classic dance movements. Suzanne has been invited to present her work at the ‘Art of Difference’
festival in Melbourne in March 2009.
Other Attitude Award category winners announced on December 3, World Disability Day, were Samuel Gibson (Enterprise
Award), Kerri Bonner (Youth Award), Mike and Lyn Ryan (Community Award), Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman (Spirit Award),
4Dice Business Group (ACC Employer Award), Cameron Leslie (Sportsman Award) and Sophie Pascoe (Sportswoman Award).
Sophie Pascoe and her sister
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Kerri Bonner and Mum
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Samuel Gibson and Campbell Easton
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The awards were conceived by RSVP Productions Ltd, producers of the weekly series Attitude which screens on TV One on
Sundays. One of the masterminds behind the Awards, Attitude presenter and associate producer Curtis Palmer, plans to
make this an annual event.
“Disability isn’t just some add on to society, it isn’t some sub group. The biggest message we want to get across is
inclusion. We want to open the public’s eyes to the contribution made to New Zealand by people with disabilities by
celebrating their successs,” says Palmer, himself a Wheelblack Paralympian.
ACC was the principal sponsor, supporting the Attitude ACC Employer Award and Attitude ACC Supreme Award.
“ACC was extremely proud to be the principal sponsor of these Awards,” says Dr Jan White, ACC Chief Executive. “We work
closely with people who live with disabilities every day, and hear wonderful stories about rehabilitation and injured
people returning to their jobs and their communities. Now, with these Awards we have the opportunity to showcase and
celebrate the achievements and determination of the finalists.”
Southern Cross Healthcare, Air New Zealand, NZ Trade and Enterprise, The Lion Foundation, NZ Relay, Invacare, Westpac
and the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust were also key sponsors of the event, supporting the Awards with travel prizes,
business mentoring and grants.
ENDS