OUR CLASSES
OUR TEACHERS
Origin Studios offers a wide range of classes and genres of dance. Our studios work alongside the NZAD syllobus and .....
CLASSICAL BALLET
Classical Ballet is a dance style that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread, highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary based on French terminology. It has been globally influential and has defined the foundational techniques used in many other dance genres. Ballet requires years of training to learn and master, and much practice to retain proficiency. Origin is very lucky to have Miss Amy Macdonald teaching our RAD Ballet syllabus. Amy has 27 years of experience teaching classical ballet and is a highly trained Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher.
OUR CLASSES
Origin Studios offers a wide range of classes and genres of dance. Our studio offers NZAMD, ISTD, RAD and Acrobatic Arts syllabi.
CLASSICAL BALLET
Classical Ballet is a dance style that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread, highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary based on French terminology. It has been globally influential and has defined the foundational techniques used in many other dance genres. Ballet requires years of training to learn and master, and much practice to retain proficiency. Origin is very lucky to have Miss Amy Macdonald teaching our RAD Ballet syllabus. Amy has 32 years of experience teaching classical ballet and is a highly trained Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher.
JAZZ
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. Jazz dance was an integral part of jazz until the end of the swing era in the late 1940s. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance — modern jazz dance — emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins. At Origin we teach the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance Jazz syllabus created by renowned Dance Master Mr. Keith Clifton. This syllabus, taught correctly, can give students the skills to pursue a career in dance both in New Zealand and abroad.
TAP
There are two major variations on tap dance, Rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the dance movement and it is widely performed in musical theatre. Rhythm tap focuses on musicality, and practitioners consider themselves to be a part of the Jazz tradition. Origin offers two different styles of Tap, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) which is a british based style and similar to Broadway Tap and the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance (NZAMD) American Tap, developed by Mr Keith Clifton, which is a mix of both Broadway tap and Rhythm tap.
CONTEMPORARY
Contemporary dance is a dance genre that developed during the mid twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world. Although originally developed by borrowing from classical and jazz styles, it has since come to incorporate elements from many other styles of dance. Due to its technical similarities, it is often perceived to be closely related to jazz and ballet. Origin teaches a Contemporary syllabus that was developed by internationally renowned Anne Dewy for the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance. Since introducing our contemporary classes in the mid 2000’s our students are still loving every class.
HIP HOP
Hip hop culture (or hip-hop) is a cultural movement that formed during the late 1960s among African American youths residing in the South Bronx in New York City. Hip Hop is a style of dance but also a music genre and as the Hip Hop music evolves so does the dancing. At Origin our Hip Hop classes are based on syllabus work created by the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance. This hip hop syllabus was created by New Zealand’s own Gandalf Archer and has recently had three new levels added with choreography by Andrew Cesan.
MUSICAL THEATRE
At Origin Studios we offer examinations in Musical Theatre with the NZAMD. This syllabus allows our pupils to take examinations in group settings or individually and gradually learn the fundamentals of theatre craft and performance. Our Musical Theatre classes are great for pushing our pupils to extend their performance skills into other areas of theatre other than just dance.
ACRO
Acro is the latest addition to what is on offer at Origin. After completing the first qualification for Acro teaching with the internationally recognised Acrobatic Arts at the beginning of 2024 we began our Acro journey with some very enthusiastic pupils. Acro is a strength and conditioning class that needs to be trained alongside at least one other dance form. This class has been hugely popular since it's introduction and we look forward to continuing our learning as we attend more training courses in 2025.