Bella Waru (Ngāti Tukorehe, Taranaki Tūturu, Celtic) is a takatāpui dancer/choreographer, musician & eternal student of the Māori martial arts, living and listening on Wurundjeri lands. They recognise Indigenous knowledge & worldviews as means for communal wellbeing & futurity, celebrating living culture, land & community in their work. They are a member of TO GATHER pan-Indigenous dancer's collective and FAMILI, a queer Oceanic & First Nations music collective. 

Waru has performed in the work of Victoria Hunt, Amrita Hepi, Jacob Boehme, and their own works, TOA III (Matriarchs Uprising Festival, Vancouver, 2025) and HANA; with Julie Ann Minaai and the Wadaiko Rindo Taiko Drummers (RESONANCE, Melbourne Museum, 2023). 

They were the 2025 DETOUR Fellowship recipient and a 2025 BUNDANON Artist in Residence and were previously invited to Banff Intercultural Indigenous Choreographic Lab (Canada, 2019), Bmotion Festival's Choreographic Research Lab (Italy, 2019) and Artshouse's MAKESHIFT PUBLICS (2022-23).