Meet our teachers

Kia ora, I'm Rowan! I've been teaching at Rasa for over 10 years now and dancing for over 25, with experience in a wide variety of styles including Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, Bollywood, and Musical Theatre Dance.

I have attained NZAMD Hip-Hop and Contemporary Level 6 as well as APDA Urban Ignition Hip-Hop and Encore Theatre Dance Level 10, obtaining a scholarship for NZAMD Hip Hop Level 6 in 2012 and a Top Tier award for APDA Encore Theatre Dance Level 7 in 2019. I am currently working towards Solo Seal in Encore Theatre Dance.

Outside of Rasa I have studied at the Bennett School of Ballet and Jazz, performed in the Otago Gang Show, performed and choreographed with GASP! Dance Collective for Dunedin Fringe and Body Festival Christchurch, as well as running workshops, performing with Pretty Gay Productions, and as a member of Lizzie Hewitt Dance Company. I have also been involved with a variety of independent productions over the years. In my spare time, I volunteer with Dunedin Pride facilitating events and social groups for Dunedin's rainbow community and I am the resident choreographer for Drama Party Productions. 

My favourite thing about teaching is helping young people discover their passion and creativity, and seeing the confidence and joy dance can bring.

Hey, I’m Cody. I started at Rasa as a breakdance student in 2011 and developed a passion for breakdancing almost instantly. I continued breaking at Rasa up until the end of 2016. Even throughout this break I still loved to practice breaking at home or in conjunction with training of my other passion, Parkour.

I started training in Parkour in 2012 and continue now. I enjoy incorporating aspects of breaking and Parkour together as the two practices lend their skills to each other quite well. With Parkour, I won first place at the national style competition in 2018 and placed 3rd in 2019. In 2021, my parkour team and I were awarded a community award from the NZ Parkour Association.

I started teaching at Rasa halfway through 2021 and have loved shifting more of my time and focus into breaking and re-learning old skills, continuing to progress, and learning more. It is also very rewarding to see my students progress and so sick to see their skills, confidence, and style develop over time. I’m very grateful to be able to keep breaking alive in Dunedin and make sure there’s always a space for those who are passionate about breakdance.

Hi my name is Tahlia. I started dancing at Rasa in 2020. I took one class a week and was just so excited to do more. I am now trained in many genres; hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, and musical theatre. I took the opportunity to start teaching in 2023, and I have fallen in love with sharing my knowledge and styles with others. I now do six classes a week. I have competed in numerous hip-hop competitions, recently gaining 1st nationally with my crew and within the top 5 nationally for my duo NEXUS.

Dance is a main priority in my life, and I strive to learn new things and push myself through everything I do. When I leave school, my goal is to study full-time dance and hopefully become a professional dancer somewhere in the world. I look forward to making new connections and lifelong friends with everyone in the Rasa community.