Date of birth

8 February 1962

Parents

Dawn and Bill Gudsell

Education

• Marchwiel Primary School
• Watlington Intermediate
• Timaru Boys High School

Career

• Kiwi Cabaret Artist
• Dancer, singer, actor, drag queen
• Best known in New Zealand as a drag queen and entertainer
• Featured as an artist at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Tokyo and Kyoto Fringe Festivals
• Has toured overseas in the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan
• Performed with Elton John in London
• His choreography fuses Maori, Polynesian and European dance traditions into an ‘urban Maori dance style’
• More recently Mika runs an educational programme to nurture young dancers, and offers scholarships
• The ‘Te Mika Show’ was launched on Maori Television in 2006
• Mika now focuses on fostering Maori diversity and promoting Maori language and culture through his work

Last updated: 16 Sep 2021