The Academy of Dance Taranaki and Hong Kong director Sonia Nazzer is starting up classes in Hāwera in 2025. Photo / Honey and Co Creative
The Academy of Dance Taranaki and Hong Kong director Sonia Nazzer is starting up classes in Hāwera in 2025. Photo / Honey and Co Creative
Dancing has taken her all over the world but for Sonia Lee Nazzer, there’s no place like Taranaki.
“I really love it here. It has a great lifestyle for my children and it’s a cool place.”
Nazzer is the director of the Academy of Dance Taranaki in New Plymouth and the Academy of Dance in Hong Kong.
She said her roots are deep in Taranaki and she’s looking forward to extending her reach south by starting classes in Hāwera next year.
Nazzer was born in Auckland and spent her teenage years in Taranaki. She attended New Plymouth Girls’ High School and completed her solo jazz certificate through Claire Patten in Taranaki.
While in Taranaki she trained in the British Ballet Organisation tap and ballet, and the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance Jazz to solo seal level.
She then gained distinctions in her Trinity College of London Speech and Drama examinations up to grade eight and a performance certificate, studying privately under Dorne Arthur. She furthered her studies at Auckland’s Excel School of Performing Arts with a focus on drama.
After finishing school, Nazzer said she wanted to explore the world. She went to Colombia, South America, in 2000, teaching grades one and two for two years before returning to Auckland.
Sonia Nazzer founded the Academy of Dance Hong Kong in 2007.
She taught at Victoria Phillips Academy of Jazz and Auckland University before heading to Hong Kong in 2006, founding the Academy of Dance Hong Kong in 2007.
“It started as a recreational dance studio, teaching ballet, dance, and hip-hop. Now, the students enter competitions and have travelled to Portugal for world dancing competitions.”
After teaching there for 14 years, she came back to Taranaki in 2020.
She said two years later, the opportunity came up to start a Taranaki branch.
“A space came available for me to set up a studio and now, we run 52 classes a week and have 350 students.”
Nazzer said she gets joy out of helping students achieve their full potential.
“It’s all about providing that great experience. It may not always be easy but we work with the students to help them succeed and master those skills.”
Her studios use the Asia Pacific Dance Association (APDA) syllabus.
“We’re constantly working to upskill and train our teachers, with health and safety and techniques our main focus. The APDA perfectly aligns with this.”
Using the syllabus pays off, said Nazzer, with both schools receiving top marks.
“In 2024 two of my students in Hong Kong received the top marks globally for the APDA jazz exam last year. That same year, two New Plymouth students also received high accolades, receiving the top marks for tap. As well as this, the New Plymouth hip-hop crew have been nominated for nationals twice.”
The Academy of Dance Taranaki director Sonia Nazzer said their recent performance of Breathe Me was choreographed by Kathryn Lacey. Photo / Lisa Taylor Photography.
Having the overseas studio has opened up opportunities for her staff, with one of the dance teachers, Tempany Paola, going overseas to teach there.
“She had mentioned she wanted to gain some overseas work experience, so I sponsored her visa and paid for her to get there.”
Paola returns next year and will be one of the teachers running classes in Hāwera.
“She’s looking forward to it. She will teach ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary and I plan to teach pre-school classes, acro, tap and musical theatre.”
She already has big plans for the two Taranaki dance studios, planning a big showcase at New Plymouth’s TSB Showplace in 2025.
“We ran our first show in 2023 which sold out. Both studios will be involved, combining to create a big event. I love doing community things and showing them the talent we have in Taranaki.”
Nazzer said starting classes in Hāwera is something she is looking forward to.
“To be able to continue offering dance in South Taranaki is awesome. I look forward to meeting the kids.”
