meet our team

EMMA JOHNSON

OWNER / DIRECTOR

Emma is passionate about instilling a love of dance in children and enjoys the challenge of helping each student to realize and achieve their potential. In addition to teaching, she is strongly committed to ongoing professional development, and the continued growth of Extreme Dance as a studio that is known for its innovative programmes.

A dancer since she was a pre‐schooler, Emma began her teaching career in 1990, completing her teacher training under Suzanne Denton & Paula Hunt. Emma has been teaching full time since 1995, and in 2005 together with her husband John, founded Extreme Dance. Extreme Dance has grown into one of the most innovative and well‐known dance schools in the greater Wellington region, with students going on to pursue full time professional training, and professional careers on the stage and as teachers.

JOHN LINKHORN

OWNER / DIRECTOR

John grew up studying Classical Ballet, Tap & Jazz, and spent much of his childhood on the stage, performing in numerous productions and shows. In 1990 he was the first male to be awarded the NZAMD Solo Performance Diploma for Jazz. John commenced full‐time tertiary dance training at the Victorian College of the Arts (Melbourne) in 1991, but was forced to abandon training following a dance injury. In 1999 John began teaching HipHop and Tap classes and in 2008 left his ‘real job’ to work at the studio full‐time. In 2010, John was one of the first teachers to successfully achieve the NZAMD Teaching Certificate, and in 2018 graduated the RAD Classical Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS) programme to become a RAD registered teacher. John is proud of what Extreme Dance has achieved and is excited about the future direction the studio is taking.

OWNER / DIRECTOR

John grew up studying Classical Ballet, Tap & Jazz, and spent much of his childhood on the stage, performing in numerous productions and shows. In 1990 he was the first male to be awarded the NZAMD Solo Performance Diploma for Jazz. John commenced full‐time tertiary dance training at the Victorian College of the Arts (Melbourne) in 1991, but was forced to abandon training following a dance injury. In 1999 John began teaching HipHop and Tap classes and in 2008 left his ‘real job’ to work at the studio full‐time. In 2010, John was one of the first teachers to successfully achieve the NZAMD Teaching Certificate, and in 2018 graduated the RAD Classical Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS) programme to become a RAD registered teacher. John is proud of what Extreme Dance has achieved and is excited about the future direction the studio is taking.

ESTHER ROBINSON

INSTRUCTOR

Esther’s love of dance started at age 4 with her first Ballet class and she knew from a very early age that she would spend her whole life dancing. She studied many styles of dance including Jazz, Contemporary, and Lyrical but will always think of ballet as her first love.After College, Esther went on to study full-time at Wellington Performing Arts Centre gaining a Diploma in Commercial Dance(with distinction). Following graduation, she moved to Melbourne to pursue a career in dance, while here she successfully auditioned and got a contract at Tokyo Disneyland, she loved every moment of her time living and working in Japan as a princess. After this, Esther began working as a dancer for Princess Cruises and felt like her dream of working as a dancer had finally come true. During her 5 contracts, she was lucky enough to travel the world and feels very fortunate to have made a career out of something that makes her so happy. At the beginning of 2014 she retired from performing and came back to Wellington. Since then she has been back teaching full time and gets so much joy out of passing on her passion and experience to the students at Extreme Dance.

Emma Warmouth

INSTRUCTOR

Emma was trained at Extreme Dance in multiple genres of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical and Hip-hop. Emma has achieved many great examination results such as completing the NZAMD syllabus in Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Hip hop gaining her solo diplomas. She also gained a solo diploma for Ballet with BTDA. After completing secondary school, Emma wanted to continue training, learning and take her dancing to the next level. She has now completed a degree in commercial dance at Whitireia Performance Centre where she developed her technique and knowledge in dance. Teaching dance has always been a passion of Emma’s and after growing up in the world of Extreme Dance she is beyond thrilled to be in the teaching team and to pass her love and knowledge of dance down to the younger generations.

INSTRUCTOR

Emma was trained at Extreme Dance in multiple genres of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical and Hip-hop. Emma has achieved many great examination results such as completing the NZAMD syllabus in Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Hip hop gaining her solo diplomas. She also gained a solo diploma for Ballet with BTDA. After completing secondary school, Emma wanted to continue training, learning and take her dancing to the next level. She has now completed a degree in commercial dance at Whitireia Performance Centre where she developed her technique and knowledge in dance. Teaching dance has always been a passion of Emma’s and after growing up in the world of Extreme Dance she is beyond thrilled to be in the teaching team and to pass her love and knowledge of dance down to the younger generations.

Brooke Reti

INSTRUCTOR

Brooke has been dancing at Extreme Dance since age 3, where she has been trained in Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Hiphop, Tap, Musical Theatre & Lyrical. From age 7 to 18, Brooke regularly competed on the Australasian competition scene. Outside of Competitions, Brooke has had opportunities to perform at many events and shows across New Zealand. Brooke holds an NZAMD licentiate for completing her Hiphop, Jazz, and Contemporary solo diplomas. From 2017 to 2022, she gained NZAMD scholarship nominations in these genres. She has also successfully completed exams in the RAD and BTDA syllabi. Since leaving college, Brooke has shared her knowledge teaching dance at a summer camp in America, and a musical theatre program in Wellington. She has been thrilled to continue her passion for dance through teaching & choreography.

Maia Browne

INSTRUCTOR

Maia began her dance journey at the age of 3. Growing up she trained in a variety of dance genres including ballet, jazz, contemporary, hiphop and musical theatre. At age 17, Maia moved to Sydney to pursue full time training at Ev&Bow, where she graduated in 2020 with a Cert IV in Dance. Since then, Maia has developed a passion for choreography and teaching. She loves being a part of the Extreme teaching team and is excited for another epic year!!

In 2024, Maia begins study towards the RAD Certificate in Dance Teaching. She is thrilled to have been awarded funding through the Nikau Foundation’s Warren Douglas Scholarship to support her teacher training.

INSTRUCTOR

Maia began her dance journey at the age of 3. Growing up she trained in a variety of dance genres including ballet, jazz,

contemporary, hiphop and musical theatre. At age 17, Maia moved to Sydney to pursue full time training at Ev&Bow,

where she graduated in 2020 with a Cert IV in Dance. Since then, Maia has developed a passion for choreography and

teaching. She loves being a part of the Extreme teaching team and is excited for another epic year!!

In 2024, Maia begins study towards the RAD Certificate in Dance Teaching. She is thrilled to have been awarded funding

through the Nikau Foundation’s Warren Douglas Scholarship to support her teacher training.

Molly Kelly

INSTRUCTOR

Molly Kelly has been teaching at Extreme Dance from the start of 2024. She is passionate about all things musical theatre and enjoys bringing musical theatre to youth. In addition to being a qualified Primary School teacher, Molly started FastForward Musical Theatre in 2023 and has brought many Musical Theatre International titles to life on stage, including Finding Nemo, Jr., Elf, Jr., Alice In Wonderland, Jr., and Shrek, Jr. Molly has also worked on Seussical, Jr. and The Lion King, Jr. through regional community theatre companies. Her musical theatre training includes professional development at Junior Theatre Festivals in Auckland and Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She has been a member of the Extreme Dance Family since 2012 when her two daughters started dancing and is excited to have the opportunity to bring Musical Theatre to the dancers at Extreme.

Testimonials

Luna has had two terms at extreme dance and absolutely loves it! She started at 4 years old and although she was a bit shy at first, the extreme dance teachers were amazing at helping her relax and enjoy moving her body. Her confidence has grown inside and outside of the studio. She loves that I can watch her First Steps class on the big screen in the waiting area, and we both enjoy talking about the moves she learned after class. I highly recommend extreme dance to any future “dance mums” and kids out there.

JANELLE

Extreme dance is my kids second home, the teachers and their friends are like a second family (which is so important when they spend so much time there!). They learn so much from the amazing teachers, who 100% have the kids best interests at heart when it comes to dance and them growing as a person and they have built such amazing and strong friendships with the other dancers. Both the teachers and kids are so supportive of each other and I couldn’t ask for a better dance studio for my kids to attend.

AIMEE

Contact Us

5 Paremata Cres Porirua, Paremata 5024

Mon – Sun : 9:00am – 10:00pm

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