MEET THE TEACHERS
Dedicated Professionals
KATHLEEN CURWEN-WALKER LCBA (Cecchetti) artistic director
Kathleen is an internationally recognised dance school instructor and choreographer, teaching and choreagraphing dance performances since 1980. In 1976 she was a Cecchetti gold medal winner and in 1982 was awarded the coveted Enrico Cecchetti Diploma…
KIMBERLEY COUSINS (Studio Manager)
Kimberley has 40 years of dancing experience and has trained in ballet (RAD), jazz, and contemporary, and spent her pre-adult life performing in New Zealand dance competitions and performing arts shows and ballets. As an adult, Kimberley has performed and choreographed…
Alysha Hilder B.DanceST (Head of Modern & Performance)
Alysha started dancing at the age of four. She studied Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary & began teaching at sixteen. After being awarded a dance scholarship, she went on to gain a Bachelors in Dance at the University of Auckland. In 2017 Alysha…
Rosalie Hornung A.(Dip) C.B.A. – C.I.C.B (Head of Junior Ballet)
Rosalie is from Melbourne, Australia. She started her ballet training as an adult at Dance for Life Academy in Auckland in 2016 and trained seriously in the Cecchetti method under Kathleen Curwen-Walker, progressing through all of the grades to Intermediate with […]
Petra Piroska Póda
Petra is a dedicated and passionate professional dancer and educator with extensive experience in classical ballet and contemporary dance. She began her dance training at the age of six in Hungary, leading her to professional studies at School of Dance […]
Libby Thomson
Libby Thomson is a high school trained French and Dance teacher. After completing both her Bachelor of Arts and her NZAMD Advanced Ballet and Jazz examinations, Libby went on her OE and lived in France for four years teaching English to a variety of age groups. When she came back…
Chloe Devcich
Chloe started dancing at the age of three, starting with Ballet, then Jazz and Contemporary and as an adult is working towards finishing her advanced exams. In 2016, she began teaching both children and adults in many genres and community’s; including ballet, jazz, lyrical, […]
Claudia Evans (Tap)
Claudia Evans is an NZAMD registered teacher with a deep passion for Tap Dancing. Under the guidance of Jackie Boyd, she excelled in Tap and achieved Distinction in all NZAMD Tap Levels, including the prestigious Solo Performance Diploma. Her dedication […]
Isabella Guyan
Isabella Guyan is a New Zealand–born dancer professionally trained in England at Moorland International Ballet Academy. She holds an ISTD Diploma in Dance Education & Teaching (Cecchetti Ballet) training in ballet, contemporary, and flamenco. Isabella has performed internationally with Ballet and […]
Natalie Hiew
Natalie Hiew is an experienced & qualified ballet teacher with over 10 years of teaching experience, working across several dance schools on Auckland’s North Shore. She has coached many students through RAD examinations and competitions, consistently achieving strong results. For […]
Diana Kirk (Cover Teacher)
Diana’s training in the U.K. included classical ballet (BBO Advanced, ISTD Advanced, IDTA Advanced), tap (BBO Advanced), modern theatre dance (ISTD Advanced), acrobatics and highland dance (UKAPTD). This was followed by formal teaching qualifications in classical ballet with ISTD (Hons) […]
Rachel Kitchens (Cover Teacher)
Rachel is originally from Atlanta, GA, USA where she trained in ballet with The Atlanta School of Ballet. She was invited to perform in The Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet and continued her dance training in contemporary and […]











