Wedding/First Dance

I love being sent videos and photos from the couples I work with. Every couple is unique and every wedding is special. Kelly and Simon danced to You’re The Inspiration by Chicago and shared the following testimonial:

For a couple who had never done any sort of formal dancing, Elly made us feel very relaxed and at ease within all of our sessions. We were always excited to come to our lessons to learn the next part of our routine. Elly has a wonderful way of breaking it down and explaining how to do each move, also demonstrating each move – both female and male version. We had so much fun with her learning and practising our routine.

Another thing we didn’t realise prior to our lesson, is that Elly gave us our own “showcase” dance routine. We turned up thinking we were going to learn a bit of something or how to dance nicely together, and came out with lifts and dips and all sorts of amazing moves that we felt so confident doing as she had taught us so well.

We highly recommend Elly to anyone looking for a dance instructor – Elly is very talented!

Thank you so much Elly!

Kel and Si

If you are also looking for something either a little traditional or a little different for your first dance, private lessons for couples can be arranged.

2026 is a great year to learn social partner dancing.

I run 6 week group classes that cover 1 Latin American dance and 1 Ballroom dance over the 6 weeks. These are $60 per person for the series. Each lesson in the series builds on the previous ones so I usually don’t accept new students after the series starts.

If you don’t want to attend regular lessons or group classes please call or email, I’m sure I can help and I do promise that we will have fun. I also will take you and a group of your friends for a small personal group class if this is what you want.

As one of my wonderful dancers said “…Thank you for all the joy you have given me on my dancing journey…. I’ve really appreciated that not only have you considered my limitations and worked with these, but you’ve made it so interesting and so much fun.”

Elly (027 215 1430) or hi@dancecompany.co.nz

2026 is a great year to learn partner dancing.

I run 6 week group classes that cover 1 Latin American dance and 1 Ballroom dance over the 6 week block. Group classes will be starting late January.

Each lesson in the series builds on the previous ones so I usually accept new students after the series starts. If you are interested send me an email or phone for more details.

Classes with a strong social focus are run on Sundays from 5pm – 6pm and Tuesdays from 7.30pm – 8.30pm.

In 2026 I’m also offering two new group classes for singles and couples:

Monday night 7pm – 8pm. This Latin American/Ballroom class will be more focused on dancing precision and if dancers wish there will be the opportunity to take exams, and or dance in competitions. All ages are welcome.

Monday night 8pm – 9pm. This class will focus on New Vogue/Social Sequence dancing. There are many lovely dances that suit the social scene here in Tauranga. This is the best class to both learn and practice what you know.

If you don’t want to attend regular lessons or group classes please call or email, I’m sure I can help and I do promise that we will have fun. As one of my new couples said “…its great to try something new and we both (think) you are an amazing passionate teacher”.

Wedding/First Dance Advice

Every couple has some specific questions, however these are two of the more common ones:

How much time do we need to put in?

This depends on what exactly you want your first dance to be. If you want something that’s fairly formal, or with complicated moves or a very slick performance you will need to put aside about 3 months of weekly lessons. If you want something a little more casual you could set aside 4-6 weeks. If you just want a few simple moves you could have just one lesson.

You do need to be able to practice between lessons too. Not hours and hours, but enough so each lesson can build on what you both already know. Practice also gets rid of the need to count, look down and all those things that will make you look unconfident.

When should we start?

Its a good idea to have your choreography done at least 2 weeks before the big day if you can – then you have less to stress about. You can also learn your choreographed wedding dance well in advance and come back for a final run through in the week before their wedding – and that works well for some couples.

Do consider booking your wedding dance lessons in advance – that means one less thing to worry about closer to the actual day.

Dance Company has times available commencing 11th January. I teach Wedding Couples, Wedding Parties, Brides and Dads and Grooms and Mums. Its your wedding, contact me if I can help you make it even more memorable.

Christmas Break

Dance Company will be closed for the holiday break after the 12th of December and will be back teaching from the 11th of January.

Elly (027 215 1430) or hi@dancecompany.co.nz