About Us

Turning Pointe Tauranga is a boutique dance studio located in Cherrywood, Tauranga. Our studio is air conditioned with polished wooden floors, purpose built barres, and off street parking. Our main focus is Ballet with classes offered through the British Ballet Organisation in both Ballet and Contemporary. bbodance is an international awarding organisation delivering a world-renowned training and qualification programme for over 90 years.

The first three terms of the year are dedicated to learning exam work and technique training and the fourth term is all about fun and performance!

Our goal is to foster a love of dance in all students of all ages. We offer extension through training programmes and competition work to assist those students who want to progress their dancing to a higher level.

What We Offer

Pointe Work

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Private Tuition

Classical Ballet

British Ballet Organisation (BBO)

NZAMD Contemporary

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BBO Jazz

Pilates, Stretch

& Conditioning

Styles

Owner & Director

Lisa Wilson

Lisa Wilson is Owner and Head Teacher. She has been teaching dance locally for many years. Whilst her passion is ballet, she has taught all other genres. Lisa is a member of British Ballet Organisation, has done her teaching qualifications through BBO and believes that the syllabus offers everything a young dancer needs to succeed in whatever path they choose. She is an examiner for BBO and adjudicates at competitions and exams countrywide.

All ballet classes are taught by our Principal Lisa Wilson.

“Life is like dancing – it’s not about getting from one place to another. Its’s about enjoying each step”

Teachers

Teaching Team

Chiara Giacon

Chiara has been teaching for TPT for 5 years and is currently our Junior levels Contemporary and Acro Dance teacher. Chiara has been dancing since she could walk and her most memorable dance moments were going to National Young Performer Award in 2024 and her exceptional score of 97% in her Advanced Two Ballet exam. She was awarded the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship for sport/art and academic excellence. Chiara is currently at University of Waikato. What she loves most about teaching is seeing the students improve and gaining self-confidence, and passing on her knowledge.

Willow Elliott-Lowe

Willow has been Assistant Teaching at TPT for the last four years and is super excited to be taking the Level Four BBO Jazz class this year . Willow is training hard towards a professional dance career and would like to own her own dance studio one day . Most recent accomplishments are selection to NZSD Associate Programme, double nominee in Ballet and Modern for Young Performer of the Year Award and selected to train at National Ballet School in Melbourne in their Summer programme . She is also in her 3rd year as an affiliate of the ITP Programme at Canterbury Ballet.

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Sophie Denham

Sophie is our Senior levels Contemporary teacher and has a passion for helping students discover their own creativity and love of movement. She has a particular love for contemporary dance and works across a wide range of styles, guiding students of all ages to build confidence, technique, and self-expression. Sophie believes in creating fun, supportive, and inspiring classes where every student feels challenged and encouraged to shine. This year, she is completing a Certificate in Dance Teaching and Management to further develop her teaching and leadership skills.

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