Our Instructors

Jodie’s childhood revolved around attending classes, competing and performing on stage in a variety of dance styles - ballet, jazz, hip hop, classical, contemporary and character. As a trained and registered school teacher, she has spent the last 23 years running dance programmes in schools and directing and choreographing School Productions, preparing hundreds of children for the stage. Jodie’s love for Latin dance began 21 years ago, when she attended her first Salsa class in Wellington. Over the years she has taught and assisted with Latin dance classes and teams and performed on the stage numerous times. With over 38 years of dance experience, Jodie understands the fundamentals of dance and is passionate about sharing the joy of dance with others.

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Yanita’s love of dance began from a very young age, starting with ballet. After a long hiatus from the dance world, she picked it back up after high school, competing and performing in Hip-hop and Jazz. Following a year studying full-time musical theatre and dance, Yanita discovered Latin dance and has never looked back. Over the past 17 years, Yanita has competed and performed nationally and internationally in both teams and as a dance partnership. She has taught for various schools around New Zealand, including Salsa Con Coco, Viva Latino, and Dance Connexion and has had the privilege of performing on several TV shows. Yanita’s key passion is social dancing and believes everyone should experience the beauty of it at least once in their life!

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Yanita is currently living and teaching Bachata & Salsa in Brisbane.

Originally born in Okinawa, Japan, Ryo's ancestral links to Peru saw him grow up around Salsa dancing at family special occasions.  After studying Japanese business law, Ryo moved to New Zealand in 2020 and began working as a Chef.  Despite his early introduction to Latin dancing, only in the last 2 years has Ryo started taking classes at Alegria, becoming an instructor in 2023.  His natural rhythm, smooth lead, and warm and approachable demeanor makes Ryo a key part of our teaching team.

Forest started dancing ballet from the early age of three, shortly followed by jazz, contemporary, and competition work.  An assistant ballet teacher for a number of years, she also performed on stage with the RNZB in 2018.  Forest took a break from dancing in 2021, and after wanting to try something new, joined Alegria as a student in 2022.  She instantly fell in love with the dance styles, people and community.  Forest quotes, "Alegria truly ignited my passion for dance again and it has been a beautiful journey full of love, laughter and joy".

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Forest's natural ability and warm, kind nature makes her a valued member of the Alegria teaching team.

Sophie's love for dance began at the age of 6, starting with jazz classes in Perth, Australia.  Sophie first became aware of Latin dance, specifically Salsa, during a trip to Cuba in 2016.  Following this trip, she began attending Salsa, Kizomba and Bachata classes.  After moving to New Zealand in 2018, Sophie continues to be hugely passionate about Latin dance.  She believes one of the greatest things about social dancing is that you can travel nearly anywhere in the world and instantly meet and connect with people.

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Sophie is enthusiastic about supporting the growing New Plymouth dance community and encourages new dancers to get involved.