A “sanctuary” for dance students in Tauranga has closed its doors after decades of teaching.

The Dance Education Centre in Matua closed at the end of September. It was established in 1991 from the Prue Gooch School of Dance, established in 1975.

Co-directors, mother and daughter Prue and Debbie Gooch, have taught dance to students from age 3 to adults.

Classical ballet, contemporary, jazz dance, musical theatre, tap dancing, competition work, and stage productions were taught at the school.

The centre attracted students from across the country. Many have gone on to successful dance careers, including with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the New Zealand School of Dance, and ballet companies overseas.

Former students have spoken of the “immense” contribution the school has made to ballet and the “lifelong lessons” from the school.

Students reach ‘extraordinary heights’

Debbie told the Bay of Plenty Times it was time the family “went on with other parts of their lives”.

“We’d dedicated so many years to the Tauranga community and young children who also travelled from outside of Tauranga to us — some as far as Gisborne, Auckland, Taupō — over the years.”

When they told students and families of the closure, “there were tears”.

“It has been a sanctuary for so many children.”

Debbie said she worked with the Dance Institute in Tauranga “to make a pathway for our classes”.

She and Prue would continue to teach their competition students.

Debbie said the centre had a “solid legacy” and created its own training programmes.

Debbie — in her 40th year of teaching — said she had some “extraordinary students who have reached extraordinary heights”.

Ballet teacher Prue Gooch pictured in 2006 taking her class through a scene in her production of Beatrix Potter with Phoebe Scott and Ellen Lellman. Photo / Jimmy Joe

“It’s very humbling and it touches my heart that people have wanted the knowledge that I have, to help better their own lives.”

Her mother inspired her to be a teacher, and the pair became a strong team to “bring the best” for their students.

Asked what she planned to do next, Debbie said she was having the first of two hip replacements on December 18 and anticipated a year-long recovery.

She had a “wonderful husband” and their children were older — “so there might be quite a few adventures ahead”.

Debbie thanked “from the bottom of my heart” all the families who chose to learn at the centre.

“Because as much as we taught them, I have learned so much from being with them.”

‘The bulk of my dancing life’

Prue said this year marked her 50th year teaching dancing in Tauranga and the centre had been “the bulk of my dancing life”.

Prue Gooch, pictured in 2020 when she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to dance. Photo / George Novak

Now, “age is working against me as far as running a large business”.

Prue — who was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to dance in 2020 — said the centre would be remembered for producing a “high standard” of dancers.

She recalled a grandmother recently say to her, “You cannot give up … you’re the one person in Tauranga I know that has high expectations of the children”.

Prue thought this was a “very relevant comment for the times we’re living in” and parents needed to “elevate that expectation again, as we probably had 10 years ago and before that”.

She was still “extremely busy” with sewing, making tutus, and writing a book. She looked forward to having time for herself.

‘Immense’ contribution to ballet

Royal New Zealand Ballet artistic director and former Dance Education Centre student Ty King-Wall said it was a “sad moment” for the dance and arts community, particularly the “thousands of alumni who have treaded the boards of their Matua studios over the past 50 years”.

“Dance Education Centre has been such a constant for generations, and the contribution they’ve made to ballet in this country, nurturing and developing talented young dancers, has been immense.”

Royal New Zealand Ballet artistic director and former Dance Education Centre student Ty King-Wall.

King-Wall said the centre was “instrumental” during the formative years of his training, paving the way for his professional career.

“I will always feel enormously grateful for the time I spent there.”

King-Wall said the centre’s legacy would “live on” through the people who danced, trained, taught, and worked there.

He said many former students had become successful teachers, opening their own dance schools.

“A great opportunity presents itself for one of them to take up the mantle and continue the mahi in the region.”

He was confident the Bay of Plenty would continue to be a “source of talent” for the national ballet.

Former Dance Education Centre student and teacher Janelle Reid said her 11- and 14-year-old daughters had attended since they were 4.

The Pāpāmoa College teacher was devastated by the closure.

“I used to live there all my life like after school every single day. And so did my kids.”

She said her daughters had learned confidence and “lifelong lessons” from the school.

“Even if they don’t become dancers, it’s still so good for them.”

Reid said Debbie Gooch was still training her daughters for competitions. Their syllabus work was now at Dance Institute.

-Bay of Plenty Times