OUR INSTRUCTORS
SOPHIE FOLLETT
Founder, Owner & Director of SJDC
Contemporary, Jazz, BALLET & Acrobatics,, &
choreography education instrUCtor
Sophie started Sophie Jean Dance Company in 2016. She studied a Bachelor of Dance Studies with Honours at the University of Auckland. Sophie is currently teaching NCEA dance in secondary schools and is working on a new choreography that is being performed at the Hawkes Bay Art's Festival. She has also created an overseas education experience for her senior dance students to head over to Canada to attend a summer dance camp with Stacey Witt at MacDonald Island Dance Company. Her choreography has been presented in Tempo Dance Festival in 2015 (performer & choreographer), Short and Sweet Dance Festival (2013) where she was awarded People's Choice Award, The University of Auckland Blues award ceremony (2013), and in 2012 Sophie was awarded The University of Auckland Blues award for Chorography. She has been a part in many performances including Camelle Pinks Choreography Unfurl performed in Sydney, Short and Sweet Festival (2013/2015), and Auckland of University Action show (2014), Monster Valley experiment her own choreography and in Helen Foy choreography (2014), Short & Sweet Dance Festival in my own choreography - 2013 (awarded People's Choice Award), Tempo Dance Festival – Tertiary Colours Choreographed by Pee Jung Lee (2012), Youth Dance Festival in Singapore collaboration choreography with Pee Jung Lee & Nita Latu – 2012, Lead performer in SACRE Performance choreographed by International choreographers Volker Eisenach & Royston Maldoom and guests Taiaroa Royal & Moss Paterson (2011)
stacey witt
JAZZ, TAP, MINI MOVERS,, CONTEMPORARY & ACRO instrUCtor
Stacey is from Canada, and brings 28 years of dance experience to Sophie Jean Dance Company. She started teaching at Sophie Jean Dance Company in 2019 & was teaching dance for 4 years in Alberta, Canada at MacDonald Island Dance Academy (2014-2018). Stacey has studied a range of dance styles from contemporary, jazz, hip hop, modern, tap, ballet, African, Acro and musical theatre at various dance academies. Stacey has trained with the Canadian National Tap Team (2007-2009) & Canadian National Jazz Dance Team (2009) cas well as the Matthew Clark Dance Company, competing in world dance competitions in Germany, Poland and Spain and taking home 3 gold medals from the experience! She also was a part of the Tap Reloaded European dance tour (2010), performing in Malta, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Stacey continued to develop her dance training at the University of Auckland in New Zealand for 3 years (2011-2014), where she also met Sophie! She also teaches private dance lessons at Iona College in Havelock North (2019-present). Stacey is also a co-creator and choreographer of The Intro Club, performing contemporary pieces in Fringe in the Stings (Hastings, Hawkes' Bay) She is extremely passionate and believes in providing a dance education that is fun, inclusive and inspiring for all ages & levels! She is excited to join the Sophie Jean Dance Company family!
MAIA BASSETT
Maia started her dance journey at the young age of 3, getting in amongst a range of many different dance styles along the way. In her years of dance training, she has learnt many hiphop street dance styles and has lots of hip hop knowledge that she is keen to share! A few favourite hip hop styles of Maia’s are; Waacking, Voguing, Krump, Popping, Locking and Litefeet. Currently, Maia has been teaching Hiphop locally at primary schools around Hastings, as well as Rezpect Dance Academy and has been doing so for 6 years. Over this time she has had the privilege of tutoring, choreographing for and traveling with a bunch of Hawkes Bay’s talented youth, and continues to open up opportunities for her students. She has been a part of Regional, National and International crews at Rezpect, and has competed and learnt in places as far as Australia and America. Maia views dance as a community and is excited to make some new connections starting at SJDC in 2024. She can’t wait to meet you!
hip hopinstrUCtor
kate norris
RELIEF TEACHER
Kate has over ten years of dance experience, dancing at a variety of studios. Kate completed four New Zealand Association of Modern Dance exams ranging from hip-hop, contemporary and american jazz in my early years of dancing at Eternity Performing Arts in Auckland (2011-2016). Kate also competed in the North Harbour Gymnastics club championships for artistic gymnastics in 2010; this was followed by the love of circus and aerial arts. Again training across multiple studios, Kate specialised in aerial silks for the first couple of years, spending most of her time at React studio in Auckland. Moving down to Hawkes bay in 2017, Kate progressed with her aerial arts training with Hawkes Bay Flying Trapeze, in which she discovered more disciplines including lyra, static trapeze, flying trapeze and cyr wheel, (amongst a bunch of acro and tumbling). Kate continues to train in some of these disciplines. Throughout these years, Kate has choreographed jazz, contemporary and acro dances for high school productions and performances including the 2018 and 2019 Showquest, winning a national title in 2018. Kate started dancing at SJDC in 2019 until 2021 (contemporary and jazz), and am now extremely fortunate and excited to be back here this time teaching and assisting!