Former Block star steps into teaching dance
Yanita Hall has traded in her work boots and tool belt for dancing shoes and lycra.
The former Block NZ contestant has started New Plymouth’s first Latin dance school with friend and fellow dancer Jodie Leach.
‘‘We both come from quite a big dance background and teaching backgrounds, and we just had this real desire to see that happen here as we’ve never had anything very consistent,’’ Hall said.
Hall, who has a PhD in sports science and teaches for the Naturopathic College of New Zealand, moved to Taranaki from Auckland four years ago when her first baby was six weeks old.
‘‘She was really colicky and had reflux and I just absolutely was not coping, so my husband’s family lived here.
‘‘In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best time to move when she was a month and a half but we moved in with his family for a year and just got settled and managed to buy a house before the market went crazy.’’
Hall and Leach, a part-time intermediate school teacher, met at Leach’s regular dance class and got chatting.
Hall said living here was never meant to be long term, but now she loves living in New Plymouth.
Opening a dance school never would have been an option in the big city, she said, as it is already a saturated market.
The school, Alegria Latin Dance, which hosts classes at the Academy of Dance studios on Devon St West, predominantly focuses on salsa and bachata and has 46 students enrolled for their first term. ‘‘We know we’re going to extend at some point, but we just have a core group of four teachers with one key male lead at the moment.’’
Their two other teachers are Fede Iriartes, from Argentina, and Maja Novakova, from the Czech Republic.
For casual students, classes are $15 each, but people can also sign up for an eight-week block for $100.
Leach said there was a big misconception about partner dancing.
‘‘I hear a lot of, ‘it’s very sexual’, or ‘they must be hooking up’ and that kind of thing, and it’s just not like that. Anybody can do it, any age, any stage, any culture, it’s a really inclusive environment,’’ Leach said.
‘‘We have boundaries in class, if you’re feeling uncomfortable, tell your partner, it’s really important. You’re not going to enjoy the class if you’re feeling a bit uneasy,’’ Hall added.
Hall was on the Block in 2017 and came second with best friend Stace Cottrill getting $20,000 over the reserve price.
She hadn’t watched the show before going on and hasn’t watched since .But life has changed massively for her since then, as she is now married with two kids. But she says the one thing that has stayed consistent is her love of dance.
‘‘The Block was a huge, huge learning experience for me, good and bad. It’s such a crazy experience when you’re in it, that when you watch it you kind of pick it apart because you know what is behind the scenes, and it’s hard to watch it again.’’