Students from the New Zealand School of Dance are once again in demand with dance companies.
2013 students Jiang Peng Fei, Oscar Hoelscher and William Fitzgerald have joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet this year. Oscar, who has been named as the Todd Scholar, and Peng Fei are touring with the company to the US in January, appearing in Los Angeles and New York. Several others have travelled further afield to take up contracts; Benjamin Obst with Queensland Ballet, Samuel Wilson with Nevada Ballet Theatre, and Ruth Austin, Stefaan Morrow and Chen Ruifeng with Singapore Dance Theatre. This brings the number of NZSD graduates who have danced full-time with Singapore Dance Theatre to 17 since the company was founded in 1988.
Several students from the class of 2013, are launching their professional careers with New Zealand contemporary dance companies. Katie Rudd has joined The New Zealand Dance Company, Michael Gudgeon and Sarah Gatzonis are soon to be performing with Java Dance and Luigi Vescio is joining Footnote Dance. Both Java and the New Zealand Dance Company are directed by distinguished alumni of the School; Shona McCullagh (NZDC) and Sacha Copland (Java). The New Zealand School of Dance continues its legacy of contributing to the Asia Pacific region’s vibrant dance culture, with its graduates receiving offers of employment after graduation each year.