FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Olivia began dancing in Christchurch, New Zealand at a young age. By 11 years old she realised dance was to be a lifelong journey for her and so commenced full-time training, completing her education by correspondence. By 15, Olivia was being recognised in the industry having received 2nd Runner-up at the prestigious Alana Haines Australasian Awards and 1st Runner-up at The New Zealand National Ballet Awards, and a finalist for various other national and Australasian competitions. After dancing many lead roles with the Southern Ballet Theatre Company as a pre-professional dancer, she was ready to commence her first professional contract. At 19, she faced the sudden loss of her father and circumstances dictated a change of plans, and unfortunately, she was unable to accept her first contract. At 22, after 3 years away from dance Olivia decided to pursue it professionally again. At this point, she ventured overseas to train with ex-ballet masters from The Paris Opera. She entered an intense season of training and coaching that she will be forever grateful for. Olivia was fortunate enough whilst in class at Dance Works in London to receive an offer of a contract with Ballet Ireland.

Olivia danced throughout Europe for some time before returning home where she founded Dance Masters International and Convergence Dance Studios and became a qualified teacher. In 2014 Olivia won the Canterbury AMP scholarship for the vision of a National Youth Ballet Company which she launched in 2021.

ITP PERMANENT TUTOR

Abigail Boyle was born and trained in New Zealand, joining the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2006. She has received acclaim for her performances in both classical and contemporary works and inspired many choreographers to create roles especially for her. During her time with RNZB, Abigail danced soloist and principal roles and was appointed Ballet Mistress for Tutus on Tour 2017. In addition to Ballet, Abigail starred in the TV series ‘Secret Lives of Dancers’, Toa Fraser’s ‘Giselle’ (2013), and ‘The Heart Dancers’, a documentary film concerning the development of the making of The Piano: The Ballet, by Rebecca Tansley (2018).

Abigail is celebrated as “one of New Zealand’s finest stage artists of recent years” recognised for her authentic, honest, fluid, and expressive style. Abigail’s principal roles include Carmen in Didy Veldman’s Carmen, Odette/Odile in Russell Kerr’s Swan Lake, Aurora in Greg Horsman’s The Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Ethan Stiefel, and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle and Ada in Jiří Bubeníček The Piano: The Ballet. Her final ballet, Artemis Rising, was written as a celebration of her career. Critics acclaimed her “power, sensitivity and effortless grace”, concluding that “Boyle is emerging from a remarkable thirteen-year career with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, a woman and an artist in ascension”.

Following retirement in early 2019, Abigail completed the Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate with the Royal Academy of Dance and founded her own ballet coaching company, Abigail Dance Coaching (www.abigaildance.co.nz). From her company, Abigail is delighted to share her knowledge and experience working with established ballet schools and individual students, to inspire, motivate, and develop New Zealand’s emerging ballet talent.

Abigail is currently Ballet Mistress for the New Zealand Youth Ballet Co. located in Christchurch.

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH

MSpEx, BDance

Erin is a qualified strength and conditioning coach with a background in dance, having trained in RAD ballet up to Advanced 2 level. She holds a Bachelor of Dance (Top Scholar, 2010) and a Master of Sport & Exercise from AUT University where she carried out her research at the Australian Ballet School in conjunction with High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) looking at the risk factors for overuse injuries in elite adolescent ballet dancers. Erin is an accredited strength and conditioning coach with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association. From 2016-2018 Erin was based in London where she worked as a strength and conditioning coach at the Royal Ballet School White Lodge and the National Centre for Circus Arts. In both roles Erin had the privilege of being at the forefront of developing and implementing the strength and conditioning services. Before moving to the UK Erin trained with and worked for Dance Pilates in Auckland (2009-2016) during which time she was heavily involved in the development of a number of their conditioning programs that are currently used and endorsed by the New Zealand School of Dance. Erin is also a qualified personal trainer and a published author in peer reviewed journals. Erin has worked with many young dancers that have gone onto train at and dance with some of the leading vocational dance schools & companies both in Aotearoa and internationally, including; the New Zealand School of Dance & the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Australian Ballet School & the Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet Academy, Queensland National Ballet School, Royal Ballet School & Royal Ballet Company, English National Ballet School & the English National Ballet, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Dutch National Ballet, John Cranko Schule, Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin, European School of Ballet, Alberta Ballet School and many others. Since returning to New Zealand in 2018 Erin has been working across multiple facets of the dance industry including providing healthcare support & supplementary training to several of NewZealand’s leading contemporary dance companies, in particular the New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) and also the newly established New Zealand Youth Ballet Company. Erin was credited with providing the NZDC with an injury-free international tour of Canada in 2019. She also trains a large portion of the freelance contemporary dance professionals in both Auckland and around New Zealand and has links with Axis Sports Medicine in Auckland and Queenstown and Pinnacle Sports Physicians in Christchurch. She is experienced in both rehabilitation and pre-habilitation and is incredibly passionate about working together with both artistic staff and health professionals to provide support for and to improve dancers’ health, wellbeing and performance.