Teachers / Creators
KJ Studios searches far and wide to find the best teachers, choreographers and creators to lead the way and facilitate a safe and naturing platform for the performing arts.
Kelsey- Owner/Director.
Kelsey has a huge passion for all things creative...Movement has always been a big part of her life and something she believes is very important throughout all walks of the world.
Growing up in New Zealand, Kelsey danced from a very young age (completing BBO and NZAMD exams across all genres) and moved to Australia in 2011 to pursue her love of dance. After completing her two year full time course—and gaining a scholarship in her second year—Kelsey went on to sign with a Melbourne Agency and begin dancing on various international tours, performing and travelling around the world for 4 years, living in Mexico, America and the Caribbean (just to name a few) during this time.
Kelsey has a passion for choreography, and in between tours in 2013 she choreographed ‘Seussical the Musical’ for ‘OCPAC Theatre company’ in Melbourne. Seussical did a repeat season for the ‘Melbourne International Comedy Festival’ in 2014, gaining her a nomination for the Melbourne ‘Lyrebird awards’ for her Choreography. Kelsey also Choreographed the Tauranga stage show of the NZ regional tour of 'Mamma Mia!' in 2016, and Co-Choreographed 'Rock of Ages' in 2017 for Tauranga Musical Theatre.
Currently the President of ‘Create The Bay’ Charity, and Company Director of ‘KJ Studios’ Kelsey keeps herself busy working and volunteering, travelling and continually learning to update her knowledge and style of dance, teaching and choreography. Kelsey believes in the world of Dance and creative arts and the opportunities to make a professional career within this sector. She is passionate about teaching, choreography and sharing the arts with as many people as she can. She immerses herself in all things creative arts to keep herself inspired, current, innovate and artistic, she likes to encourage her Students to find what is unique about them and their style and to empower creativity and individuality within her classes.
Josie- Creative Kids & Jazz
Josie has been dancing since she can remember across all styles in both exams and competitions. Her real passion is in teaching- she loves working with her students, as individuals, catering to their needs and getting the best out of all of her classes and dancers.
Still currently competing in dance, Josie had the opportunity to represent Tauranga with the KJ Studios troupe in 2019 at the National Young Performer of the year- gaining top 10 in New Zealand.
She is so excited to be part of the KJ Studios team for 2020 and is looking forward to creating, dancing and learning with you all.
Brylee- Contemporary & Lyrical.
Brylee started dancing at a very young age in Auckland before moving to Hawkes Bay in 2005. Brylee returned to Auckland to continue her dance training before moving to Australia where she attended Brent Street Performing arts centre in 2015, graduating from their full time training programme majoring in classic and contemporary. Brylee has been fortunate enough to learn a wide variety of dance styles and to be taught by some of the best teachers/choreographers from around Australasia. Brylee completed all of her RAD examinations up to Advanced 2. Brylee has performed as a professional dancer with contemporary dance company’s Trip The Light in their sold out season of Mixtape as well as being a current dancer with Touch Compass Dance Company recently featuring in their new work ‘Te Ranga Ika’ which they performed at Splore musical festival in Auckland which they will also perform again in July.
Brylee’s choreography has taken off around NZ and Australia winning awards in national competitions in both solo and group categories. She has also choreographed for events such as the half time show for Breakers and guest performances as part of the new national performing arts competition Showquest.
Brylee has adjudicated at competitions throughout the country and is passionate about strengthening/guiding the next generation of New Zealand dancers.
In 2016 Brylee started motivational speaking and since then has travelled throughout New Zealand sharing her story and inspiring others. Her passion for teaching and sharing her knowledge is evident in the work she does and she feels extremely passionate about connecting and working with as many young people in New Zealand as she can to inspire and motivate them to achieve their goals.
Paige- Musical Theatre & Tap
Paige has been performing on stage since she was a toddler and has trained to an advanced level in ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap. As a competition dancer for a number of years Paige attended Nationals and overseas competitions.
She began teaching at the dance house when she was a teenager a continued to teach whilst living and studying in Wellington. After some time overseas, Paige returned home to Tauranga to work as an accountant by day and be a part of the KJ team by night.
Summer - Hip Hop & Junior Jazz
Summer started as a student at the Dance house at 15 years old, coming to a Hip Hop class once a week. After winning the Dance House award and being put onto a scholarship she decided to start taking on more classes, and now we are lucky enough to have Summer with us as a teacher!
She is a creative choreographer and dancer, with her incredible musicality and work ethic. She has taken the time to discover her own unique style- Making sharp and stylish dances is Summers forte. You'll always catch Summer in the studios coming up with new and inspirational choreography!
Summer enjoys teaching all age groups and loves seeing students get excited about dancing and having fun in class! Moving and creating has always been a major part of her life and she can’t imagine her life without Dance!
Kaya - Ballet
Raised in the Bay of Plenty, Kaya started dancing at the age of seven. Her passion for dance grew and for several years competed in competitions. She continued to dance through her schooling years, completed her solo seal exam in both Ballet and Jazz.
Kaya started teaching dance classes while still at school. The passion for seeing young children grow and work towards their full potential is what keeps Kaya inspired and motivated to teach. This passion for seeing children’s potential continued as she went on to complete her Bachelor degree of Education in Early Childhood Education.
Dance is a way of expressing oneself though movement and actions rather than words, she hopes that she can share her love and knowledge of dance with many student in the years to come.
Hannah - Musical Theatre & Tap
Hannah Spedding holds a Bachelor of Arts in musical theatre after graduating the National Academy of Dramatic Art, (NASDA) in 2013.
Since graduating, she has been working professionally in the industry working for various different theatre companies including The Court Theatre, (Christchurch), and Ben McDonald productions. Some credits include: The Mikado, Mary Poppins, Waiora, (the Court Theatre), South Pacific, HMS Pinafore, Grease, (Ben McDonald).
Her career highlight would be playing the role of Sandy in the National Tour of Grease late last year. She has always had a passion for dance since she began when she was 4. She loves to teach and is loving her current job of choreographing Tauranga Musical Theatre production of Mary Poppins.
Jess - PBT Ballet
Jess has been dancing since the age of 3 and has been passionate about the art of movement ever since. With 17 years of dance education under her belt, she has studied a wide variety of genres including ballet, hip hop, jazz, and national character and in her earlier years competed at a high level throughout the North Island.
After completing her Advanced exams, Jess went on to gain her qualification in Sports Massage Therapy, with a focus on human anatomy. She then took up a post teaching a range of dance styles, putting her multidisciplinary education to use for 5 years before taking a break to start a family. Now back in the dance industry, she is more passionate about dance than ever.
Jess’ most satisfying moment as a teacher is watching her students finally accomplish something they have been working hard at. She also makes a particular effort to ensure they understand the muscular biomechanics of dance. She loves using dance to create a story through movement and using this to connect emotionally with an audience. Jess is excited to see what her future with KJ Studios will bring!
Malfy- Mascot & Just here for the Pats
Nicky - Acro, Hip Hop & Commercial.
Nicky has been dancing from the age of 12 and though it just started as a hobby it quickly turned into a love a lifelong pursuit for her. Nicky competed in many regional and national competitions and was nominated for PACZNA Young Performer of the Year award. She also spent some time on the find as a Bay of Plenty steamers cheerleader. Nicky travel to America to compete in the Nationals ‘Starpower’ competition in which she gain insightful experience into the big world of dance overseas. She continued her dance career and moved to Melbourne (Australia) learning and living for two years whilst completing her degree in Dance & Performing Arts. Nicky is now the proud Mum of a little baby girl and loves to share her experience from within the arts to her students. She is a skilled Acro teacher and also loves choreographing Hip Hop, Jazz and Contemporary styles.
Matte – Conditioning, Jazz, Contemporary & Ballet
Matte developed his passion for dance at the Cowra Ballet School in Cowra, NSW. In 2005 he entered into the Torsion Youth Dance Ensemble, setting in motion his ambition to follow down the path of professional dance. He was part of Quantum Leaps Recovery Project (2005), touring through ACT and NSW. In 2007 he attended the Australian Talented Youth Program.
Matte furthered his training at Ev & Bow full-time. In 2010 he was accepted into the New Zealand School of Dance, where he performed in numerous choreographic and graduation shows – choreographers included Jiří Kylián, Ross McCormack, and Lina Limosani. At the 2011 Sydney Festival he performed in the Inside Out Triple bill with youMOVE’s Thinking about Forever, directed by Kay Armstrong.
Matte graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in 2012 and joined Australian Dance Theatre’s ensemble in November 2012.
In 2013 Matte performed in the three-month European tour of Proximity, the Australian tour of G, Proximity at the Arts Centre Melbourne, and the premiere of Daniel Jaber’s Nought.
In 2014 Matte performed in ADT’s European tour of Proximity, the world premiere season of Multiverse and return Adelaide season of Proximity.
In 2015 he travelled with the company to France and Spain, performing in the European premiere tour of Multiverse. He joined the company on subsequent Mulitverse tours to Europe later in 2015 to France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. He also performed in the Australian national tour of Be Your Self.
In 2016 Matte performed in the world premiere seasons of Habitus at the Adelaide Festival of Arts and The Beginning of Nature at WOMADelaide. Later that year he performed in the Australian premiere season of Objekt and was a featured choreographer and dancer in ADT’s return season of Ignition. His piece WOOLF! was inspired by the film Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? (1966), directed by Mike Nichols, originally based on the 1962 play by Edward Albee.
In 2017 Matte performed in Garry Stewart’s Doppelganger, a piece featured as part of the exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia – Versus Rodin: bodies across space and time, followed by the Melbourne Premiere season of Garry Stewart’s Be Your Self and the Australian national tour of Be Your Self Redux throughout VIC, NSW and QLD. Later that year he performed in the premiere season of The Beginning of Nature in Colombia, South America.
In 2018, Matte performed in the Australian national tour of The Beginning of Nature, across SA, NT, WA, NSW and TAS and international tour throughout Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium.
Jess- Contemporary.
Jess loves all aspects of the arts and has her toes dipped many different creative pools. She was born and raised in the Bay of Plenty where she danced from a young age and developed a passion for contemporary dance choreography.
Jess has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre and Media Studies and an ATCL performance diploma in Speech and Drama. While studying, Jess taught for Human Dance in Wellington and also completed her NZAMD solo performance diploma in Contemporary dance via correspondence under Jasmine Sargent. Throughout her degree, Jess used movement as the foundation of her theatre pieces and choreographed their third year production of Our Town. Jess has since interned with Sacha Copland (Java Dance Theatre Company), Jackie James (Rata Studios) and Toi Whakaari NZ drama school.
Above all else, Jess is extremely passionate about the physical and mental wellbeing of dancers and artists and is looking forward to spending 2020 dancing and growing alongside the KJ tribe!