Rotorua's Anne Samson still passionate about teaching ballet after 50 years

Ann Samson has been teaching dance for 50 years

Rotorua's Anne Samson never wakes up in the morning thinking, "Oh, I've got to go work today".

She has now been teaching ballet for 50 years and still loves every minute of it.

Anne was introduced to ballet at a young age, when her mother played piano for the Auckland Ballet Academy.

She says her and her sisters would sit for hours and watch the classes while her mum played.

She started assisting the class teachers from the age of 10, and Anne and her sisters had the opportunity to learn ballet at the academy for free.

Anne passed her exams with the highest of marks, and once she passed her elementary exam she was able to become a teacher there.

Having no car, she would bus to the academy's five branches, and at times it would take two buses to get there and back.

Anne Samson is passionate about ballet and teaching the craft at Anne Samson School of Ballet. Photo / Andrew Warner

However, this didn't matter to her as she found it such a rewarding job.

Anne taught ballet in Auckland for 15 years and moved to Rotorua in 1986 to bring up her children here. She has now been teaching ballet in Rotorua for 35 years.

She says she had the privilege to work within the local primary schools for 15 years running a specialised dance programme, but as her ballet school grew, she had to give the schools programme away.

It's amazing to see exceptional children go on to achieve in dance, and Anne says a highlight is seeing children who love dancing, but find it very difficult, slowly and surely getting better and better.

"It's also seeing the joy they gain from it. A lot stay for 14 years, and by the time they leave they've had that discipline instilled in them and they go on to achieve great things in their lives."

A great work ethic and attitude is more important than a gold award, she says.

"Ballet is hard mentally and physically, but for a lot of them it's their happy place. It's unbelievable what some of the children go on to do and that is so special."

She says she loves the response she gets from the children while teaching, and that the students love learning knowledge about the body parts and their movement in ballet.

"You look at their faces and they are soaking it up like a sponge, it's really awesome. It's just knowing you can touch someone's life and they have cherished memories forever."

She says she also loves the classical music, and that ballet was a life link for her at one stage, having had a lot of trauma in her life.

Some of Anne's past pupils include Nikki Wilkinson who runs Amjazz, Emily Campbell who is with Asia Pacific Dance, Sophie Voss who is in China and spent two years dancing in Turkey, and Saul Newport who is now a dancer with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Anne says she is now teaching a lot of second-generation children.

"I'm not ready to stop. I know you need to be sensible, but while I'm an able-bodied person I will just keep going."

To celebrate her 50 years of teaching there will be her biannual production on November 20 at Energy Events Centre.