Lisa Gifford (En Pointe Dance Studio) - Altbays Table Talk #218

ALTBAYS

Do you usually light up the dance floor, or do you wait for someone else to go first and then rock it with a classic moonwalk? Meet Lisa, a skilled dancer trained in ballet, jazz, tap, funk, musical theatre, lyrical, contemporary, and Irish dancing. Lisa is the driving force behind the renowned En Pointe Dance Studio, and she's joining us on Altbays Table Talk to delve into the vibrant dance scene in Aotearoa NZ. She'll share insights on the significance of introducing the arts to children at a young age, the secrets to running a thriving business in a cozy small town, and much more! Watch it here now!

ALTBAYS Table Talk 218 – Lisa Gifford (En Pointe Dance Studio)

Welcome to the Altbays Table Talk (Feat. Fabian Roberts and Leo Magri)

Lisa started with gymnastics at the age of 2 and then dance was added by the time she was 4 years old. She began with ballet before adding jazz, tap, funk, musical theatre, lyrical, contemporary and Irish dancing.

Lisa trained under the watchful eyes of Prue and Debbie Gooch (Dance Education Centre, Tauranga) and Pat McMinn. Lisa competed in many competitions all over the North Island in dance genres of ballet, tap and jazz and also gymnastics including competing in the Performing Arts Competitions Society of New Zealand National Young Performer of the Year Award for Ballet.

During her time at school, Lisa was involved with various shows either on the stage or behind the scenes including performing with the Royal New Zealand Ballet at a young age.

Lisa attended Auckland University of Technology completing a degree in Business as well as teaching for the Carter-Chan Performance Centre in Auckland for 3 years, before moving on and teaching for the Dance Education Centre in Thames for 6 years.

In 2008, Lisa was persuaded by a number of Whitianga dance students who travelled to Thames twice a week for lessons to hold classes in Mercury Bay and thus Lisa arrived in Whitianga. Lisa is now in her 16th year of operation in Whitianga.

Finally in 2015, Lisa acquired her own premises and En Pointe Dance Studio was born.

Since then both the number of classes and amount of students have grown. Lisa’s own young daughter is following in her footsteps taking classes at En Pointe Dance Studio and has started competitions.

ALTBAYS Table Talk invites awesome people to have an honest, laid-back conversation. Our platform focuses on bringing communities together and thrive.