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.

Kia ora, I’m Danielle and I’ve been part of Rasa since 2008.

Through dance, I have been able to grow my confidence and reach goals I never thought were possible. My two main highlights have been competing at the 2017 HHI in Arizona with ‘Akenza’ and having the privilege of being able to dance and choreograph the opening for the 2021 Royal Family Dance Crew Dunedin show with our teen crew ‘Allies’.

During the day I am a high school Performing Arts teacher, so it’s safe to say I live and breathe anything to do with the Performing Arts, whether Dance, Drama, or Music.

I’ve been teaching at Rasa since 2015 and what I love about it is that I can share my passion and creativity with all my students. I aim to create an environment where students learn to back themselves while working hard and having fun. I am very grateful for every student I have crossed paths with through teaching and look forward to seeing new and familiar faces to share energy within classes this year.