FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
31 MAY, 2005
Kiwi Students Take Flight
Two students from the New Zealand School of Dance will shortly take up international scholarships to further their
studies in America and Australia.
Auckland-born Paul Mathews (aged 18), a 3rd Year classical ballet student, leaves Wellington next month for the United
States of America to take part in the Ballet Programme at Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts and also study at the San
Francisco Ballet School. The New Zealand School of Dance has had a long relationship with the Jacob’s Pillow programme,
where, for the past five years one of the School’s male students has been granted a full scholarship to attend the
two-week intensive.
Accepting only 22 students from around the world, this programme features an international faculty, and provides the
opportunity for participants to study the choreography, musicality and artistic qualities of repertoire performed on
stages worldwide. In previous years, dancers have attended from such companies as New York City Ballet, Royal Danish
Ballet and Dutch National Ballet.
At the conclusion of the programme at Jacob’s Pillow Paul will travel to New York to see some of America’s finest dance
companies in performance before joining San Francisco Ballet School for a one-week intensive in their professional
summer programme.
Originally from Christchurch, 2nd Year classical ballet student Yolanda Beulink (aged 17) will spend two weeks in August
attending the Australian Ballet School, on a full scholarship. The scholarship is being offered as part of a tactical
initiative that will see the New Zealand School of Dance and the Australian Ballet School - both national schools for
professional dance training - working more closely together. Already plans are afoot for the two schools to share the
cost of bringing several international guest tutors to Australasia.
Speaking of the two student’s achievements, New Zealand School of Dance Director Garry Trinder had the following to say:
“As the reputation of the School and its training is increasing globally, so are there more and more opportunities for
our students to gain international experience. It is a cliché to hear people sum up experiences such as these as ‘life
changing’ but, in reality, they are. Accepting an international scholarship is one of the best investments a student can
make. They learn so much about themselves while sharing in the vast experience of others.”
ENDS