St Paul’s Dance Studio Staff
Strengthen your Passion to Dance
Excellence is not only a skill, it is an attitude and we surround ourselves with people whose heartbeat resonates with our values to create a space of harmony, trust and authenticity.
— Harrietanne Norman
Mrs Harrietanne Norman - Owner and Head Teacher
Harriet’s dancing career - from New Zealand to Australia to China to England
Ballet & Jazz & Contemporary.
Harriet is classically trained in RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) Ballet to Advanced 2 as well as NZAMD Jazz and Contemporary. She achieved distinction in all 29 exams and received 6 NZAMD scholarships.
Harriet was a Contemporary Junior Associate with the New Zealand School of Dance for 4 years.
She competed in many dance competitions around New Zealand including the RAD 14+ Scholarship and PACANZ for classical ballet.
Ballroom & Latin Dance
Harriet competed in many competitions around New Zealand and won the New Zealand Open Championship for both Ballroom and New Vogue.
She lived in Melbourne for two years to pursue her Ballroom dancing and trained under top international coaches
Harriet competed throughout Australia as well as China and at the world Championships in Blackpool, England
Teaching
Harriet has a Bachelor of Teaching - Primary at the University of Waikato
She also completed an additional directed study and research scholarship on Community Dance.
Harriet was awarded a University of Waikato Blues Award for Dance.
She has worked as a primary school teacher for 3 years and also taught ESOL for 1 year at St Paul’s Collegiate
In 2024 Harriet was a Teaching Fellow at the University of Waikato, teaching dance in the Arts paper of the Bachelor of Teaching (primary).
Mrs Harrietanne Norman
Previously Harrietanne Embling
Harrietanne is very passionate about creating a dance studio that accepts everyone and allows students to strengthen their passion for dance in an authentic and kind environment. She is an extremely enthusiastic and bubbly person, and she wakes up everyday inspired to make a difference.
Miss Lily
Lily began her dancing journey when she was 4 years old, starting with Ballet classes. She then picked up Jazz knowing she wanted to excel as a dancer.
Lily joined St Paul’s Dance Studio in 2021 and was one of the first students at the studio. She has completed many levels of IDTA Ballet exams at her previous studio and Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary NZAMD exams at St Paul’s receiving high marks across all and being awarded NZAMD scholarship nominations for Contemporary and Hip Hop. She is currently training in Advanced Ballet, Advanced 1 Jazz, Level 6 Contemporary, Level 8 Hip Hop, and Acro, as well as competing at competitions around the North Island with many solo dances. Lily also regularly trains in her own time using a variety of online platforms. In addition she attends workshops and conventions around the country to further her learning and challenge herself to keep improving.
In 2023 Lily assisted Mrs Norman in some Ballet and Hip Hop classes, knowing that she would love to share the passion of dance she has to her peers and younger generations. In 2024 she took up teaching her own classes and really enjoyed the experience of passing on her knowledge and helping her students strengthen their passion for dance. Lily is super excited to be part of the 2026 teaching team at St Paul’s Dance Studio, aiming to create a high-energy, positive, fun and safe environment to help and inspire others to grow and reach their goals in their own dancing journeys.
Lily is very excited for what 2026 has in store. She can’t wait to meet her students, help them achieve and have a fantastic year!
Miss Imbi
Imbi started her dancing journey at four years old, when she started ballet classes. Later in her dance journey she picked up Jazz and Contemporary. Imbi was one of the first students at St Paul’s Dance Studio.
Imbi has finished training in Advanced Ballet, Advanced 2 Jazz and Level 6 Contemporary; she received exceptional results enabling her to sit the Solo Performance Diploma in all three styles. Imbi was previously a competition dancer and competed around the North Island in Classical Ballet and Lyrical solos. She was also a part of a St Paul’s dance studio duo in 2023.
Performing Arts has always been a strong aspect of Imbi’s life, she always auditions for her school production and for the past two years has landed speaking roles and in her schools 2025 production she has been cast as a lead role. Besides dancing, Imbi is in numerous singing/musical groups and has competed in Regionals and Nationals for singing in 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2024, her singing group won bronze in their category and then 3rd overall in the country.
In the later weeks of term 4 2023, Imbi shadowed Mrs Norman in a few ballet classes. In 2024 Imbi began teaching her own classes where she was taking one ballet class, but by the end of the year Imbi was teaching 9 classes!
Imbi cannot wait for 2025, and is excited to meet all her students and share her passion.
Miss Gracie-May
Gracie-May has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She describes dancing as her happy place and a sport that she is extremely passionate about.
Gracie-May started her dancing journey at Auckland City School of Arts (ACSA) and trained in all dance styles. She started competing as a soloist and in dance troupes at 5 years old with Pink Cadillac being her very first Jazz solo.
Gracie-May then relocated to Hamilton and was one of the first students to dance at the St Paul’s Dance Studio when it opened. Gracie is currently training in Intermediate Ballet, Advanced 1 Jazz, Level 5 Contemporary, Senior Acro and Level 6 Tap. She is a competition dancer and competes around New Zealand with a jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, contemporary and tap solo as well as being a part of the St Pauls Dance Studio Trio.
Gracie-May has been an assistant teacher alongside Mrs Norman since the beginning of the St Paul’s Dance Studio and in 2023 she began teaching her own classes. She loves teaching dance, and especially enjoys passing on her passion for dance to her students, so that they can grow their love for movement and music. Gracie-May is wonderful at building relationships with the students, she is extremely hard working and is a great role model to inspire students to reach their full potential. She has a positive and enthusiastic personality and reflects the St Paul’s Dance Studio values in her classes.
Gracie-May cannot wait to start 2024, to meet all of her students and explore dance together.
Miss Carol
Carol started dancing when she was 3 years old while living in Brazil.
She is currently studying Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary. Carol competes in competitions around New Zealand throughout the year and is extremely passionate about dancing. Her favourite style is Ballet, in 2023 Carol sat her Elementary Ballet exam and received Distinction as well as a NZAMD scholarship for gaining 97% or higher.
In 2023 Carol taught along side Mrs Norman and is very excited to be teaching the Intermediate technique class and grade 4 ballet this year. On top of Carol's weekly dance classes at home she follows a number of extension programs from international tutors and therefore has a wealth of knowledge to share with her students.
Carol is excited to support her students to develop the same love and passion for dance that she has.
Miss Kyla
Kyla began dancing at the age of three, and throughout her dance journey has gained experience in most dance styles, but favours tap, along with cabaret/musical theatre and jazz.
She has completed the TDI tap syllabuses, both Traditional and Beat It, achieving Distinction and Distinction Plus in the highest levels, and successfully passing the Solo Seal exam. Kyla has also completed the AJDA jazz syllabus and competed in dance competitions for many years.
Kyla found a love for teaching dance through coaching and choreographing competition troupes for her high school. This and many other teaching experiences inspired her to continue to pursue her passion for teaching through tertiary study, as Kyla is in her final year of study towards a Bachelor of Primary Teaching.
Kyla strives to create a fun and positive environment where everyone feels supported and recognised. She’s excited to work with new and returning dancers and looks forward to a year of growth and learning!
Miss Ashleigh
Ashleigh started dancing when she was 5, beginning with jazz. As she got older, she slowly found a love for Contemporary and enjoyed pushing herself to improve. Not long after that, she picked up hip hop, which quickly became one of her favourite styles and helped her find her own way of moving and expressing herself.
When Ashleigh first joined St Paul’s Dance Studio in 2022, she picked up Jazz and Contemporary. She has worked incredibly hard and has already completed several dance exams, achieving a consistently high standard including gaining her Solo Diploma in Contemporary.
Ashleigh has recently joined the hip hop troupe and is looking forward to embarking on this new journey, continuing to grow as a dancer while sharing her passion and enthusiasm with others.
This year, Ashleigh is especially excited to begin teaching hip hop, a style she is passionate about and eager to share with her students. She’s looking forward to an exciting year ahead, full of energy, creativity, and growth, and can’t wait to inspire dancers to have fun, build confidence.
Miss Ella
Ariella started dancing as soon as she could walk with a natural love and desire to dance. She began ballet lessons at 3 years old where her passion for dance and exploring movement through music grew.
Ariella has trained in both RAD and BBO syllabuses for ballet, and later on picked up jazz and lyrical. She has a love for performing on stage and expressing herself through choreographing dances. In school, she signed up for any dance competitions and opportunities offered, choreographing dances for classes, and receiving high places in group dancing competitions.
As well as dance, she is also passionate for teaching and inspiring children to learn and grow. Ariella has experience working with children through her volunteer work at a local kindergarten and also has organized and taught art lessons at a primary school. After finishing year 13 this year, she will study to become a primary school teacher.
Ariella is creative, enthusiastic and fun and is excited to begin her journey teaching at St Pauls Dance Studio, looking forward to a year of learning and growth, with a strong motivation to inspire and uplift her students.
Miss Danika
Danika is a passionate and a versatile dancer. She has been dancing for 12 years, mastering styles including Ballet, Contemporary, Afro-styles, Indian folk styles and more.
Danika moved to Hamilton from South Africa in 2022, and so far has done exams up to Advance Ballet and her Level 6 contemporary.
In 2021 Danika got promoted to be a member in a professional Indian Dance Company in South Africa, where she trained with talented dancers and choreographers in the industry from South Africa and overseas, for gigs and several dance productions.
Recently she has recently performed at Africa Day in Hamilton, partnering with Afroconnectnz, which then led to her hosting a few afro-styles workshops to share more about the style.
By training in many styles and techniques, Danika aims to create a dynamic fusion in her dancing, that’s both powerful and elegant! With a rich background of performances across theatre stages in both South Africa and New Zealand, she’s now on a mission to inspire and share her love for dance through teaching and helping students reach their full potential while having lots of fun.
Danika is determined and hard working and she and strives to create a positive environment. She is extremely excited to be teaching again in 2025 and to share her passion with the students.
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