Pre-eminent American choreographer Keith Clifton was in Masterton this week setting a national dance syllabus for young dancers throughout New Zealand.
In the mid-1990s Mr Clifton restructured the jazz and tap syllabus for the New Zealand Association of Modern Dance (NZAMD).
He had set nine grades each of jazz and tap for the female syllabus, he said, and also had set a syllabus comprising a dozen male combinations of dance.
Over the past three days in Masterton he has been leading rehearsals with a pair of young Wellington dancers that will comprise amendments to the syllabus for low-to-high intermediate grade female dancers.
He said that during his 10-day visit to New Zealand from his California home in Huntington Beach, where he and his wife Linda run the Clifton Dance Project, he will choreograph about 20 short combinations of dance and teach the set pieces to eight young Kiwi dancers.