School of dance’s resurgence at new Thames site

Since taking over the Thames Hauraki Dance Theatre in 2022, Sarah Fitzsimons has seen a growth in children and adults wanting to tread a measure.
Sarah, who originally trained in Sydney before going on to the Royal Ballet School in London, got in touch with the owner of what was then called the Thames Hauraki Ballet Theatre, Pauline Germon, two years ago to ask about casual teaching positions.
Instead, an offer to buy the school – which had been based in Turua – was presented.
Since the handover, Sarah said the student numbers have grown from eight seniors to now more than 100 dancers across all age groups.
“I started moving things towards Thames… and over the last 12 months, it’s kept building and we’ve had the opportunity to put on more classes for children and adults,” she said.
Not only is Sarah working on projects with the local gymnastics club and Hauraki Plains College, her dance theatre has also moved to a larger premises at the Thames Racecourse.
“I still do one afternoon a week in Ngatea for our older girls, and we do have [dancers] coming from Turua because it had been a bit of a hub, but most people are more around the Thames area so it made more sense to have [the school] closer.”
The dance theatre was first shifted to Grahamstown before moving to Parawai Rd and finally, to the bigger site of Thames Racecourse. Sarah said the location was “fantastic”.
“It’s got two beautiful big spaces so we can actually run two classes at a time,” she said. “We look out over the river and the sunsets are amazing. It’s so great for the kids to have a large space to move in, it makes it feel so much better for the dancers to not be confined by walls.”
After performing internationally as a ballerina, Sarah moved into contemporary dance with the Darc Swan Dance Company and then to musical theatre as a cast member of the Australian production of Phantom of the Opera.
She moved to Wellington in 2001 for a job teaching at the New Zealand School of Dance, and it was in the city where she met her future husband, Jeremy, the youngest son of the late Jeanette Fitzsimons, former Green Party co-leader and environmental trailblazer.
Sarah said she was grateful to the community for their continued support of herself and the school.
“I know it’s hard when it’s someone new and someone [originally] from outside of the town,” she said, “but everyone ‘s been so supportive and there were working bees before we moved into the racecourse where everyone was so kind. It’s been truly phenomenal and I’m very grateful.”
DETAILS: To get in touch with Sarah and to see the course on offer, visit stage.thdt.co.nz