Jade Harper-North
owner/director
Jade grew up in Hawke's Bay, completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts & Design. Once completing his degree, his love of education and working with youth - led him to complete his teaching diploma.
After completing his teaching diploma, Jade went on to teach within some of Hawke's Bay's leading schools, then directed some of the best Art Departments across the country.
His passion and combined love for the arts and education have come to life with DANZA, and Jade is excited to see the influence DANZA has upon it's students. Jade believes that DANZA will provide more than just classes to it's students, more so; role models and a place for students to ignite their passion for the arts.
Ben Harper-North
Owner/director
Ben started dancing at the age of 13, training in styles of Contemporary, Jazz and Ballet. Growing up in Auckland – he trained at L'Academie de Danse, until later leaving to further his career overseas.
In 2010, Ben moved to America to work for the “Young Americans” who are a non-profit arts education company based in Los Angeles, California. Throughout his 5 years with them, he taught and performed to audiences right throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Returning home from America in 2015, Ben had the dream to open a dance studio that provided dynamic classes to grow a new generation of dancers. Ben believes that DANZA provides great opportunities to their students, and fosters a highly supportive community that allow dancers of all levels to flourish.
Greer Ritchie
Jazz teacher
Greer began dancing at a young age training in Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Musical Theatre and lyrical. Her training has lead her to compete in international competitions on the Gold Coast and Los Angeles.
In 2017 Greer graduated from Brent Street Studios in Sydney, Australia with a Diploma of Dance and Performing Arts.
Since returning home Greer has worked as a professional dancer at many professional and corporate events such as Dancing with the Stars, the Vodafone Pacific Music Awards, and Momentum Production's "Duality" at the Q Theatre.
More recently Greer has completed her Barre teacher training course under The Method NZ as well as graduating from the Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communication Studies.
Greer is passionate about combining her skills to maintain a safe and healthy environment for young people to share their love of dance.
Claire Rowley
Studio development manager
Claire qualified as a dance teacher in 2012, and followed it by training professionally in dance performance in Australia.
She completed her Certificate IV in Elite Dance Performance at Village in Sydney, followed by a Diploma in Musical Theatre. In 2018 she took part in the Christchurch International Summer School Emerging Professionals Program, where she had the privilege of personal mentorship from Jonathan Groff.
Claire performed as a dancer in the Amici production of Mamma Mia in Auckland and is a NAPTA Award nominated choreographer. She is also a registeredexaminer of the Asia Pacific Dance Association and has a diverse experience across all genres of dance.
Mikey Te Whata
head of hip hop
Mikey currently works as a freelance dancer, teacher & choreographer. He is a self taught hip hop dancer since 2010 and has been sharing his love for people and dance ever since. For the last 8 years he has taught at a variety of local Auckland dance studios and has worked with some of the country’s best hip hop crews. He has been to the World Hip Hop Championships three times with crews such as Akenza ,Kaleidoskope, and ID Megacrew. In 2018, he competed at the Global Dance and Cheer games, in Hawaii, leading crews that took out all 5x divisions and winning gold medals for NZ.
Mikey is a kind, highly energetic and passionate teacher who is all about creating an environment that not only allows people to feel comfortable with dance, but encourages people to be comfortable and confident with themselves.
Brooke Mowbray
studio Administration manager
Brooke has been dancing since the young age of 3. She has been trained with the exam syllabus B.A.L as well as NZAMD through the styles Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Contempoary.
While competing in the styles Tap and Jazz Brooke has managed to work with many amazing industry professionals and attending elite training sessions.
She has also received 3rd place at the prestigious National Young Performer Awards for Tap as well as 3rd place at the Noel Burnett Tap award at the Caledonian Competition Society.
Dancing has managed to get Brooke jobs on Nickelodeon’s Power Rangers, Jono and Ben, Singing in the Rain national promo video as well as touring nationwide as a guest act for the ‘Showquest Competition’. Brooke is passionate about dancing and is extremely excited to share that with her pupils.
Ellena Woodhall-Martin
Jazz, Ballet & Company Teacher
Ellena grew up in Auckland where she began dancing at the age of 3. Ellena trained in JDNZ for Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary and BAL for Ballet and Tap. After realising she wanted to pursue a career in dance, Ellena moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2016 to study dance fulltime at Transit until September2019 and attained a Diploma in Elite Performance.
During her fulltime training she has been involved in a wide range of performances and shows at various venues, including Melbourne’s Crown Casino, Langham Hotel and in flash mobs around Melbourne.
Ellena has recently discovered her passion for teaching after receiving her Certificate 4 in Dance Teaching and Management. She loves inspiring others and helping them achieve their own goals. She has returned to Auckland to continue her dance career and is thrilled to have joined the teaching crew at DANZA. Her passion is to instil the enjoyment and love of dance for all her students.
Kayla Paige
contemporary & Company teacher
Kayla Paige is a New Zealand choreographer, dancer and director passionate about dance, music and art.
Kayla has been a working choreographer and director for over 10 years, creating work in several genres of movement.
Kayla trained in a variety of performance mediums throughout her formative years of training, most notably graduating from APO arts academy/dance world studios in Melbourne with a diploma in performing arts before embarking on her professional career in 2007.
Upon graduating in Australia, Kayla went into choreographing and performing across several facets of the entertainment industry in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, The united states and Europe. From television shows and commercials to theatre, live events, arts and music festivals.
Alongside Kayla’s work as a choreographer and director she continues to mentor and train emerging artists through her work as a dance educator.
Kayla prides herself as a leader in the New Zealand dance community and works to honour the role she has as a mentor and a creative.
Kayla is passionate about continuing to evolve as an artist, harness her authenticity while showcasing her versatility as a choreographer and through her work, inspire others to forge a career in performing arts.
Stephen Dallow
Head of Musical Theatre
Stephen has spent his life making theatre and started directing at the young age of 16. Over the last 30 years Stephen has staged countless productions, directed and managed touring shows, written several full scale musicals and taught weekly drama classes with Kids 4 Drama.
Stephen is no stranger to the theatre scene both nationally and overseas and his passion is bringing the most out of a young performer so they can find their special space in the musical theatre world.
Shannon Spray
Ballet & PBT teacher
Shannon commenced dancing at the age of three, training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, lyrical and character dance; completing exams in Cecchetti, RAD, BAL, NZAMD and JDNZ syllabi.
In 2016, Shannon accepted a scholarship for full-time training in the Post-Graduate Program at Canada’s Alberta Ballet School. She was fortunate to learn from an extremely experienced and accomplished faculty, including the ballet teacher of the real Billy Elliot.
Since returning to New Zealand, Shannon completed her Teaching Certificate 3 (ballet) and has been teaching for five years. She is also a registered and practicing musculoskeletal physiotherapist. Shannon aspires to instil in her students, passion, knowledge and an appreciation of ballet as a deeply traditional art form.
Taylor Rogers
MUSICAL THEATRE TEACHER
Taylor is an acting graduate of Te Kura Toi Whakaari, NZ Drama School. Since graduating she has performed in many works across the stage and screen industry. Her most recent credentials include working with The Court Theatre and being a key presenter on TVNZ’s Toi Time.
As well as being a performer, Taylor wears multiple hats within the industry such as producer, director, intimacy coordinator and teacher. Taylor loves that she can combine her acting craft with her passion for working with young people while teaching DANZA’s musical theatre classes.
Brooke Moody
Acrobatics & Company teacher
Brooke has been dancing since she was 10 years old. She has trained in many genres specializing in jazz, commercial, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and acrobatics. Brooke graduated from Brent Street in Sydney, Australia with a Diploma of Performing Arts in 2017.
Since graduating, she has been actively involved in a wide range of commercial work including: dancing for Rita Ora at the Rugby Woman’s World Cup and backup dancing for Six60 at Eden Park. She has appeared on Ella Monnery’s music video ‘Work That’ and most recently Lorde’s music video ‘Solar Power’ and ‘The Path’. Brooke is currently dancing professionally with Kayla Paige, NZXNext and represented by 3WJ + Boy.
Brooke has been a part of a number of professional shows including: All That Jazz (2016), Duality (2018), Autonomy (2020) and Chromatic (2021) with Momentum productions and Collide (2020) and Next Step (2022) with NZXNEXT. She was also taken down to Wellington for Spotlight 8 featuring in Kayla Paige and Bianca Ikinofo’s pieces in 2020.
Brooke is an extremely passionate teacher and committed to working with her students to develop their style, confidence and love for dance.
Thea Rockel
contemporary, Jazz & Hip Hop teacher
Thea is an experienced performer with 13 years training in modern and classical dance styles. She has trained with the syllabus NZAMD and APDA in styles Jazz, Tap and Ballet Receiving top world marks and scholarships. Thea has also trained and competed in Contemporary and Hip Hop styles. Throughout her training she has taken classes from many of the industry's most respected choreographers from New Zealand and Australia and has had the opportunity to travel New Zealand with competition teams as well as a solo performer.
She is working towards commencing a career in performing arts. Her passions are for theatre, commercial dance, and tap which she has complemented with acting opportunities, stage, camera, and gig work.
She is excited to work with her students to achieve a higher level of self confidence, dance ability and encourage her students’ own artistry/exploration of movement in the classroom.
Mya Pritchard
Jazz, Acrobatics & Company Teacher
Mya is a versatile dancer, with a love for performing and all things creative. Starting dance at the age of 6, she has trained in many different styles ranging from Ballet and Jazz to Contemporary, Hip-hop, and Musical theatre.
She has gained experience with dance troupes and hip-hop crews, competing in dance competitions around the country and internationally - as well as having opportunities with film work and performing in live gigs.
Through teaching, Mya hopes to create a positive environment where students are able to feel comfortable to express themselves creatively but also develop their skill and love for dance.
Nina Simpson
Ballet & Contemporary Teacher
Nina started dancing at age 10 training in styles Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical and Contemporary. Nina has danced in competition teams since she was 12 and began troupes at DANZA in 2020. She has sat exams in BAL, NZAMD, JDNZ and has completed her APDA exams in Jazz and Ballet.
Her experience in dance has been an exciting journey filled with exploring creativity, making positive connections and learning all the amazing aspects of dance.
Nina is excited to share her experience with dance and is passionate about creating a positive environment for students to express their individuality and develop their dance skills further.
Thoma Perin
Musical Theatre Teacher
Thoma has been performing from a young age. Starting in music, briefly stepping into dance and then finding his passion in drama and musical theatre. Attending classes with Kids4Drama for many years he has built up a range of skills in devising and performing within the theatre world. Along with his annual drama class productions, Thoma has performed and been involved with Playhouse Theatre Inc, Auckland Music Theatre, and Seed Theatre and is continuing to explore new opportunities.
After graduating from drama classes at the end of 2022 Thoma has joined the teaching team, training to share his skills and help a new generation of performers find their love of musical theatre. He enjoys working with all levels of performers, building up their confidence and sharing his experience and passion for the wonderful world of musical theatre.