- Diploma in Commercial Dance
- LNZAMD
- NZAMD teaching certificate with distinction

Hannah joined Judith Fuge Dance Studios at the age of 3 years old, starting as a dancer and progressing to teacher. 2024 is her first year as the studio owner/director.

Hannah has trained in NZAMD Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, Hip Hop and RAD Ballet. She has her Solo Diploma with Distinction in Jazz, Contemporary and Hip Hop, and was a NZAMD Nationals finalist in Contemporary and Hip Hop. Following her school years, Hannah went on to study dance full-time at the Whitireia Performing Arts Company (now Te Auaha). She was accepted directly into 2nd year, gaining a Diploma in Commercial Dance.

Upon graduating, Hannah landed her dream job as a professional Dancer, Singer and Aerialist with the Norwegian Cruise Line Company in the USA. She was able to combine her passion of both dance and travel by performing nightly to large crowds, and at the same time travelling to 40+ countries.

Hannah has had involvement in many local projects such as cheerleading for the Hurricanes, performing in Wellington Musical Theatres productions such as Grease (playing the role of Marty), and 'Glee' the Stage Show, modelling for the World of Wearable Arts (WoW) shows, Lord of the Rings, and singing at local events.

Hannah is passionate about dance, supporting the youth in our community, and our Sweet Studios families. Her goal is to maintain a supportive and encouraging space for students to thrive, allowing them to give everything a go, and have loads of fun while doing so!

Alisha’s journey in the world of dance began at the tender age of 3, when she took her first steps into the magical realm of movement with Ballet. Her dedication led her to train extensively in RAD classical ballet, progressing to advanced levels, while also exploring jazz, contemporary, tap and hip hop dance styles.

In 2011, Alisha embarked on a significant milestone in her dance career as she graduated from Whitireia Performance Centre (Now Te Auaha), earning a Diploma in Commercial Dance.

Throughout her career, Alisha has graced numerous dance shows and musical productions, including 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' in 2004 and 'Nine' in 2011. Additionally, she had the honour of opening for esteemed events such as the Rugby Sevens and All Blacks games.

Continuing her passion for dance education, Alisha pursued further qualifications, obtaining the Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies and earning recognition as a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance as well as being a registered teacher for the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance. In 2011 she was also the recipient of the Criena Gee Memorial award to help further her training.

Alisha's dedication to dance education led her to expand her expertise further in becoming a qualified Pilates instructor, certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and also ventured into Aqua fitness.

Alisha is so excited to be part of the Sweet Studios Family and passing on her passion and love of dance to the Kapiti Community

● New Zealand Association of Modern Dance - Jazz Solo Diploma (Distinction)
● New Zealand Association of Modern Dance - Tap Solo Diploma (Distinction)
● Royal Academy of Dance - Intermediate ll Ballet
● Bartuccios Performing Arts School, Melbourne, Australia

Aynsley started her passion for dancing/performing at the young age of 3 where she began training with the Deborah Hale School of Dance. She later also trained under the Katie Haines De Vere Academy of Dance and then Graduated from Bartuccios Performing Arts School, Melbourne, Australia in 2000.

Aynsley was an extremely successful and respected dancer in the New Zealand Tap/Jazz Competition Circuit, winning numerous Scholarships and Awards including Most Outstanding Performer, Most Versatile Performer and numerous monetary scholarships, including at the LA Dance Force Conventions.

In a career that expands over 20 + years both here and overseas, Aynsley has been involved in numerous Musical Theatre Shows including Wellington Musical Theatres Productions of - 42nd Street - Principal Role (Phyllis Dale and Dance Captain), Spotlight on Broadway (Lead Dancer), The Sound of Music

Aynsley has performed in numerous corporate floorshows, fashion shows and music videos. She has been a featured dancer in many television events and commercials. Aynsley was a Professional Cheerleader for Carlton Blues Australian Football Team, as well as the Hurricanes and Wellington Lions. A highlight was also representing New Zealand at the World Aerobic Championships.

Aynsley has Adjudicated Dance Competitions around NZ and is extremely passionate about the Performing Arts and teaching the next generation of performers, including her own 3 children.

Courtney has been in love with dance since the age of three, completing examinations in many styles including Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet and Contemporary. Courtney received many high examination results, dancing her way to National Scholarship Nominations in Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary, and was a NZAMD National Scholarship Finalist for Contemporary. She also holds her NZAMD Solo Diploma in Contemporary.

At College Courtney was heavily involved with the arts, and through captaining dance teams at College and at JFDS she was able to develop strong leadership skills that helped carry her through her role as arts captain and as the Kapiti College Head Girl.

After graduating Kapiti college in 2021, Courtney continued to teach at Sweet Studios while working as an HR Coordinator. She is currently starting her second year at Massey University, studying a Bachelor of Arts - majoring in Business Psychology.

Courtney loves nothing more than the freedom dance offers and believes that dance expresses what words cannot. She is so excited to let her creativity flow and pass on her knowledge to the students, while watching them blossom into beautiful strong dancers.

Georgia grew up dancing at JFDS from the age of 3, training in multiple genres including NZAMD Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Hip Hop, as well as RAD Ballet and DNZM Hip Hop. Throughout her time training Georgia achieved many great examination results at advanced levels, including national scholarship nominations in both NZAMD Jazz and Hip Hop, two national champion titles in DNZM Hip Hop and achieving her NZAMD solo diploma in Hip Hop.

After completing secondary school and spending a few years at university, Georgia decided to further her teaching and dance education through Whitireia at Te Auaha NZ Institute of Creativity, where she graduated with a Diploma in Commercial Dance.

Since she began teaching in 2012, Georgia has found a passion for choreography and teaching. She has been actively teaching a range of genres as well as competition teams and soloists at a regional and national level. Dancing is her happy place and Georgia thoroughly enjoys passing her passion and knowledge down to the next generation of dancers, and enhancing them to reach goals of their own.

I am a driven and enthusiastic Dance teacher with a passion and strong commitment for the Arts. Having started dancing at the age of 5 In South Africa, I went on to dance professionally for ten years both in South Africa and internationally, performing in theatre shows, on cruise ships , music videos and corporate events.

I successfully ran a dance school that specialised in Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop, lyrical and Ballet and was at the forefront of fast becoming one of the most innovative and competitive dance schools in the country. I am RAD Ballet trained up to my Intermediate exams, and I am AIDT (Internationally recognised) trained in Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Hip Hop.

Being highly committed and driven I am very excited to get involved in a studio that it as passionate about dance as I am.

Kanan is a young Maaori performer and choreographer who has spent the majority of her life learning and performing many different dance styles including Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Contemporary, Tap and Hip-Hop. She has performed on stage in front of crowds measuring in the thousands in many different settings, including competitions, sports games, corporate events and shows.

Kanan has been taught by some of New Zealand’s most experienced teachers, completing all levels of Ballet (grades and vocational), Jazz, Contemporary and SLS, and is now using this wealth of knowledge to further enhance her students' dance abilities. Kanan has a great passion for the art and works incredibly hard, not only to inspire her students to feel the same way about dance but, with her strong focus on technique, to help her students to reach their full potential and to achieve personal goals.

Kanan is also a qualified counsellor, encouraging students to use dance as an outward expression of emotions, and believes that stories can and should be told through dance.

Since her early childhood, Sasha has loved to dance and perform.

She trained in jazz with Tracey Bowker Dance School in Kapiti for several years, and was also part of the (self-named) dance group, Joie de Vivre, which focussed on hip hop and modern dance styles. They visited and performed throughout the Wellington area to different congregations and community groups. Sasha has also acted, danced and sung in Community Productions through her local church.

Sasha really enjoys working with pre-schoolers, and for a few years while working for a kindergarten, ran ‘mat’ and music times. This gave her the opportunity to blend learning with fun, using instruments and action songs to grow coordination, and language, and build confidence.

Shortly after her eldest child was born, Sasha began helping with the pre-school music and dance programme ‘Mainly Music’ which she later went on to manage for six years, an involvement she really enjoyed.

Sasha's children began dancing with JFDS, and she became active in the pre-school dance scene, which she finds to be a lot of fun. One of the benefits is she's getting to know so many beautiful families on the fabulous Kapiti Coast! Sasha is married with three children aged 10 to 15 years.

Natalie has been involved with dance and drama in Kāpiti for nearly 40 years. She began dancing at age three and has trained in RAD ballet, and NZAMD jazz and tap. In her teen years she began performing in theatre with Coasters and Kāpiti Playhouse and hasn’t looked back!

Natalie is currently on the committee of Kāpiti Playhouse and has directed three shows in the last three years - Addams Family (co-directed with Shelley) in 2022, The Last Five Years in 2023, and Oliver (co-directed with Shelley) in 2024.

Natalie is also the Extra-Curricular Arts Director at Paraparaumu College and directed Grease this year for the college.

Natalie is excited about taking on the Drama and Musical Theatre at Sweet Studios this year and is looking forward to working alongside Shelley in this role.

Shelley brings a rich background in both education and performing arts, offering a unique blend of teaching expertise and real-world performance experience to our studio.

Growing up on the Kāpiti Coast, Shelley began her arts journey at the age of three under Alison Pond, training in NZAMD Jazz and RAD Ballet. Shelley competed in local competitions, with her favourite being her demi character performances, which were her forte. Her passion for sport and the arts led her to graduate from Canterbury University and Christchurch College of Education in 2002 with a degree in Education, specialising in Physical Education, Health, and Drama.

With 22 years of teaching experience, Shelley currently teaches in the Supported Learning department at Paraparaumu College. Here, she incorporates dance and drama into her curriculum, with one of the highlights of her year being the direction of the annual class show.

Shelley’s love of theatre has also seen her perform in numerous local productions. In recent years, she has expanded her experience by joining the Kāpiti Playhouse committee and venturing into directing, co-directing productions such as The Addams Family and Oliver.

As a mother of two primary-aged children, including a daughter involved in dance and theatre, Shelley is deeply connected to the local arts community.

Shelley is thrilled to share her love of theatre with young people, aiming to inspire creativity,
confidence, and collaboration in every student she teaches.

My name is Jess and I have been dancing at Sweet Studios (JFDS) since I was 4. I love all dance, particularly tap, jazz and contemporary. I really enjoyed representing the Studio at PACANZ in various groups and really enjoy performing on stage and competing. I also take dance at Paraparaumu College and have been part of their DanceNZmade teams and also school productions. I have enjoyed teaching tap in the past and am looking forward to teaching again this year.

Charis is from Guildford, UK and trained professionally at Laine Theatre Arts, London and the Royal Ballet School, Senior Associates. She worked on board Norwegian Cruise Lines as a dancer and aerialist as her first job.

Her London West End debut was in Sinatra: The Man and his Music at the prestigious theatre, the London Palladium. She worked in Disney's Tarzan the Musical, Germany for 3 years, as Assistant Flight Captain, aerialist and dancer. In her career, she has also performed in many UK professional dance shows, modelled for the olympics as an athlete, an actress for ITV, a dancer for TV shows, choreographed shows for Holiday resorts, adjudicated competitions, and more…

Charis has taught at various dance schools throughout the UK and NZ, including Te Auaha Wellington training young adults to go on to have a career in dance. Alongside dance, Charis was a high jumper for Great Britain and Northern Ireland competing at the World Youth Championships, and placed 6th in the world.

Since moving to NZ 7 years ago, Charis set up Charis O’Connor Theatre Arts, a dance school in Waikanae Beach to train and inspire young kids. Now being a mum, Charis teaches just a handful of classes and can freelance for other schools to have more family time, and teach a wider range of dancers. She specialises in acrobatics, being Acrobatic Arts qualified and examiner in training. She is also trained in ISTD, and has her teacher qualifications AISTD.