Classical, Contemporary, Silver Swans and aDvANCE programme
Rachel Dawson; RAD RTS, ARAD, TCP Diploma in Dance Performance
Rachel trained at the New Zealand School of Dance gaining her Diploma in Dance Performance. She achieved her RAD Teachers certificate in 2001 with distinction.
Rachel danced in numerious nation dance competitions, Wellington fringe festivals, toured with Paul Jendon Dance Company in Australia and was second in line to play the role of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. She moved to England in 2007 with her two children and husband. Since 2010 Rachel has been teaching at the Royal Ballet School for their ‘Primary Steps’ programme and creative workshops in Primary school. Alongside this she headed up the junior and senior ballet schools at Cambridge Theatre School. For the last 14 years Rachel was the vocational teacher for Cambridge Performing Arts and cover teacher for the Centre for Advanced training. She also taught on the Radiates Programme developed by the RAD to offer creative dance to children. Additionally, Rachel co-delivered the primary sector dance-bance lectures to teachers to enhance their CPD for ISTD.
Rachel is delighted to have students regularly gain placement in the JA/MA associate programme and White lodge at the Royal Ballet School.
She has a passion for choreography and enjoys inspiring students through creativity and technical knowledge. She is excited to have moved back to New Zealand and to pass on her knowledge to the students at EnPointe.
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Classical, Contemporary and Lyrical
Arwen Sullivan – RAD RTS, CBTS, Rambert RTS
Arwen Sullivan began learning ballet at the age of 4, where she found a love for feeling music through movement. She has trained in lyrical dance and has recently begun learning contemporary and jazz. Arwen is also passionate about sewing and costume design as she enjoys finding ways to reflect the character, narrative, and music visually.
Originally studying in a Originally small town, Miss Arwen is passionate about making ballet accessible to a wide range of students and is dedicated towards helping others achieve their goals and dreams.
When granted the opportunity to co-teach ballet lessons, she discovered the wonderful feeling that comes with seeing students grow and succeed. This inspired her to move to Wellington and undertake a Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies with the Royal Academy of Dance. Through this she gained understanding of children’s developmental stages, anatomy, supplementary training, and further practical teaching experience.
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Classical, Contemporary, and aDvANCE Programme
Sophie Arbuckle, Diploma in Dance Performance
Sophie Arbuckle began dancing at Paula Hunt Dance Studios. She went on to achieving her diploma in dance performance, after 3 years full time training at The New Zealand School of Dance.
Sophie danced with the Royal New Zealand Ballet as a student dancer in her 2nd and 3rd year at NZSD. Then graduated with the Todd Scholarship and a full contract with The Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2016.
Miss Sophie’s dancing career took her all over NZ, Europe, England, and Canada. She is looking forward to sharing her diverse knowledge and passion with the students at En Pointe Dance Academy.
Miss Sophie moved to London to freelance in 2018, while there she also found a passion for English ceramics and pottery. Returning to NZ, she is also now an award winning ceramic artist.
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Contemporary, Lyrical and aDvANCE Programme
Hanna Hairil; Diploma in Dance Performance
Hanna Hairil began her dance training in ballet at the age of four in Singapore. She studied at the School of the Arts Singapore before pursuing a Diploma in Dance Performance at the New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD), where she graduated as a Contemporary major.
During her time at NZSD, Hanna developed her choreographic voice through numerous opportunities to create and present work, while learning from a wide range of teachers and choreographers and engaging with the wider dance community. She is now a freelance dancer with a strong passion for choreography and teaching.
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Classical and Adult Ballet
Gina Reid; RAD RTS, DDTS, BSMT, MEd, DipASEHC
Gina Reid started dancing as soon as she could walk but only started ballet training at aged 18 with Tony Fabella and Eddie Elejar. Her continued jazz training was with Marissa Aboitiz. Miss Gina is a former principal with the Manila Metropolis Ballet and Fabella-Elejar Dancers, and traveled extensively as a member of the Philippine Baranggay Folk Dance Troupe. Prior to her shifting to Scotland, Miss Gina danced briefly with the Philippine Ballet Theatre.
Miss Gina has taught ballet and jazz for many years whilst living in Scotland, teaching child through to adults and continued to teach the RAD ballet syllabus from Primary to Vocational when she shifted to New Zealand.
Having been teaching for many years, Miss Gina decided to undertake and successfully complete the Diploma in Dance Teaching Studies (DDTS) offered by the RAD, London to become a qualified Registered RAD Teacher.
Miss Gina would love to share her passion and wealth of experience for dance with her students ensuring that each and every student develops to the best of their potential whilst also experiencing the enjoyment dance brings.
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Classical and Adult Ballet
Kathiy Watson-Benseman; RAD RTS, IDTA
Kathiy Watson-Benseman has been a qualified RAD teacher for over 30 years, teaching students between
age 3 and 73. She is one of New Zealand’s first Silver Swan licensee. Miss Kathiy also assesses NZ NCEA theatre qualifications and is internationally qualified as an IDTA examiner, examining dance qualifications.
Miss Kathiy performed as a freelance dancer with ballet, contemporary and theatre companies, including the RNZB and Opera, but her passion is in seeing students achieve their potential. Qualifying as a teacher with both RAD and IDTA, Kathiy was the Principal Teacher of the Silverstream School of Dance for five years. Since then she has been in high demand as a freelance teacher around the Wellington Region. She believes in teaching the joy as well as the techniques of dance.