ABOUT US

Staff

 

The New Zealand School of Dance boasts an outstanding faculty of staff who work to fulfil the potential of every student. To complement the skills of the permanent dance staff, we invite guest tutors from New Zealand and around the world as role models and teachers, inspiring and coaching our students to achieve consistent excellence. Specialists in fields such as yoga, dance history, anatomy and nutrition are on hand to provide the holistic approach to training that secures the New Zealand School of Dance’s strong reputation.

 

A short biography of each teaching staff member is listed below:

 

Garry Trinder, MA AdvDipEd

Director

Born in England, Garry Trinder trained at the Royal Ballet School, Rambert School of Ballet and Maurice Bejart's MUDRA. As a dancer, he worked with the Scottish Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and London City Ballet. Garry's extensive career includes six years as Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Ballet and two years as Director of Dance at South Africa's NAPAC Dance Company. He regularly serves on the jury of international ballet competitions in New York and Tokyo, is a member of the Artistic Committee of the Prix de Lausanne and an artistic adviser to West Australian Ballet.

Garry has been director of the New Zealand School of Dance since January 1998.

 

CLASSICAL BALLET FACULTY:

Christine Gunn, Dip RBS.TTC. ARAD RTS Presidents Award Classical Ballet Tutor/RAD Syllabus

Head of the Junior Associate Programme

Christine Gunn was born in South Africa to English parents. She attended Elmhurst Ballet School from the age of 13, then went on to the Royal Ballet School Teacher Training Course under the directorship of Valerie Adams. Christine then spent six years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, travelling extensively through each state to conduct workshops and refresher courses on the Art of Teaching. Christine also performed with the Associacao do Ballet do Rio de Janeiro, where she achieved soloist position and later, Ballet Mistress. On leaving Rio, Christine moved to New Zealand and started as a part-time tutor at the New Zealand School of Dance. She took up her position as a full-time tutor in January 1980, and in 2001 became head of the school’s Junior Associates Programme. In addition to her work with the New Zealand School of Dance, Christine is also a Course Tutor for the Royal Academy of Dance, helping train other teachers in the Art of Teaching Dance. She was honoured with the Royal Academy of Dance President’s Award in 2004.

 

Lidiya Klymenko

Classical Ballet Tutor

Born in Russia, Lidiya trained at the Voronezh State Ballet School. She was then offered a corps de ballet position with the Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre. After a successful tour around the Russian Federation she was promoted to soloist with the Lvov Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. After dancing with the company for over 5 years, Lidiya successfully auditioned to the Kiev State Musical Theatre for Children, subsequently dancing as a soloist in Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, France and Slovenia. As a guest soloist she toured to Canada and USA with the Kiev Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (now the National Opera of Ukraine) and Donetsk Ballet Company. Since 2002 Lidiya has worked as a classical ballet tutor at the New Zealand School of Dance.

 

Yuriy Klymenko

Classical Ballet Tutor

Yuriy Klymenko was born in Kiev, Ukraine. He graduated from the eight-year Vaganova course at the Kiev State Ballet School, subsequently dancing with the Ivan Franko State Opera and the Ballet Theatre in Lvov. Yuriy went on to become a soloist in the ballet company of the Kiev State Musical Theatre, dancing leading roles in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Harlequinade and Francesca di Rimini. He has danced in the Ukraine, Russia, Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Wales and United States.

Yuriy has taught at the Kiev Children’s Art School and at The State Musical Theatre for Children and Youth where he worked as a choreographer and coach. He has also worked as a guest teacher for the Christchurch Dance Education Bursary Trust and for various dance schools in Wellington. Yuriy joined the faculty at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2001. He is a classical ballet tutor and provides specialist coaching to the male students.

 

CONTEMPORARY DANCE FACULTY:

Paula Steeds-Huston

Head of Contemporary

Paula Steeds-Huston has spent the last 16 years working as a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer in both Australia and New Zealand. She was a Principal Dancer with Missevich Youth Ballet in Christchurch, after which she joined Wellington-based contemporary company Footnote Dance. During her four years with Footnote, Paula had the opportunity to work with many acclaimed New Zealand choreographers including Michael Parmenter, Shona McCullagh and Douglas Wright.

Since passing her Royal Academy of Dance Teachers Certificate with Distinction, Paula has taught contemporary technique, ballet and hip hop at many seminars around New Zealand. Paula has directed and choreographed for Original Scripts Theatre Company, which is widely acclaimed for producing quality children’s theatre. Paula has also worked extensively for film and television as a choreographer and performer, with projects including Lord of the Rings, The Lost World, the official promotional DVD for Cook Islands Tourism and several New Zealand music videos.

 

Helen Winchester

Contemporary Dance Tutor

Helen has been involved with the professional dance industry for nearly 20 years. After graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1987, she embarked on a career in dance, performing with companies such as Michael Parmenter’s Commotion Company, Douglas Wright and Dancers, Eric Languet and Dancers, Mary-Jane O’Reilly and Dancers and Paul Jenden’s Macleary Theatre Productions.

Helen has also held tutoring positions with numerous dance companies and in educational institutions including Footnote Dance Company, the Royal New Zealand Ballet,  TasDance,  Whitireia and Unitec.

Sarah Foster

Contemporary Dance Tutor

A graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance, Sarah has been working as a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher in New Zealand and Europe since 1997. In this time she has developed a strong reputation within the New Zealand dance community and was named ‘Best Female Performer’ in the Tempo Festival 2008 for her work in Michael Parmenters ‘Tent’. In 2007 she was named Distinguished Graduate of NZSD.

Her career to date has seen her collaborate with several theatre practitioners and choreographers working in the field of improvisation as well as more structured contemporary works.  Sarah has worked closely with Raewyn Hill (DanceNorth, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts), Michael Parmenter (Commotion Dance Company), Malia Johnston (Rifleman Productions), Deirdre Tarrant (Footnote Dance Company), Kristian Larsen (Throw Disposable Choreography), and Guy Ryan.

Sarah has recently returned from living in the UK for three years. During her time there she worked with Magpie Music Dance  (Amsterdam), Frauke Requardt (London), Sylvain Meret (Bordeaux) and she also performed in two BBC radio dramas, and secured a part in ‘28 Weeks Later’, a film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo in 2006.

Since her return to New Zealand, Sarah has choreographed several pieces for Footnote Dance and NZSD, and will soon commence work on the development stage of her first solo work ‘Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You’, supported by Creative New Zealand. Creative New Zealand has also recently supported a development workshop towards the creation of Sarah’s first full-length dance work ‘Nine Lies’.

 

GUEST TEACHERS

The New Zealand School of Dance is visited by several Guest Teachers per year. Recent guest teachers include:

 

ALLIED SUBJECTS

Matt Renata DipExSci

Anatomy/Fitness Foundation Tutor

Scott Milham, Dip. Dance Perf.

Yoga Instructor

Christine Burns, BA Psych PGDip. Sport & Fitness Mgt

Sports Psychologist

Sarah Prosser

Personal Trainer

Jo Thorpe, BA Dip. Teaching MA

Dance History Tutor

Susan Simpson DipPhys, NZRPT

Physiotherapist

Karen Beggs BA BMus

Music Tutor

 

ACCOMPANISTS - Fulltime

Phillip O'Malley

Craig Newsome

ACCOMPANISTS - Part time

Andreas Lepper

Irina Bitossi

Irina Kouzminova

Sue Alexander

 

MEDICAL CONSULTANTS

Dr. Steve Targett, MBChB, FACSP, Dip. Sports Med, DRCOG.DCH

Sports Medicine

Matthew Cooper ND, DO (UK)

Osteopath

Kath Fouhy (NZRD) BSc PG Dip. Diet

Dietician

 

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Dance Administrator – Riekje Taljaard
Marketing Manager – Celia Jenkins
Pastoral Care Manager – Sue Tuck

Venue Manager – Priscilla Gough

Business Manager – Warrick Procter

Finance Officer – Catherine Robertshawe

Library Staff – Dee O’Connor, Virginia Earle

Photographer – Stephen A'Court

 

 

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"The New Zealand School of Dance provides a caring environment for the education and training of young professional dancers. I was particularly impressed with the School's strong artistic vision. The rich and varied training ensures the students are given a sound knowledge of diverse dance genres and styles.

The ability to bring in guests who specialise in different dance techniques and repertoire reinforces and expands upon the high standards of work being undertaken daily by the teachers and staff of the School.

Thank you for allowing me to be a member of your family for a short time. I hope I may have the privilege of returning soon.

Noriko Ohara O.B.E

Ballet Mistress

New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo