My first experience of Dances of Universal Peace - an informal little gathering in a friend's lounge in Coromandel in 1994 - had a sense of 'homecoming' about it - my soul crying out "YES!"

I'd had a taste of something which touched a place deep inside me. I was hungry for more, and began to seek out the Dances wherever I could.

In hindsight, I see that that afternoon was a very significant turning point in my life, and the Dances were to provide me with great nourishment, strength and support through some challenging personal times in the following few years. Little did I know that subsequent to that, as I regained strength myself, I would be sharing these wonderful, nourishing Dances with others.

I began leading in 2000 in Skye Isaac's circle in Napier, and thank Skye for her encouragement and support, and Anahata for the wonderful leadership example she provided in my early dancing days.

I met James Burgess during his visit to NZ in 2001 and was inspired by the depth of his attunement to the Dances, and remain very grateful for his dedicated support and mentorship over the following 3 years, during which I became a certified leader and embarked on the Sufi path. What excites me about Sufism is that it embraces all, and that its practices help me to better live out my deep commitment to truth, integrity, love and acceptance.

Attending Shafia Stevens' Dance leadership training with 23 other NZ leaders has been a rich experience and a wonderful journey for me. Thank you Shafia for taking over as my mentor from early 2004.

The Dances have rapidly become my life's path, and apart from raising my two beautiful children, Hannah and Aaron, leading the Dances is now my major focus.

A primary school teacher by training, other major influences in my life have been Anthroposophy (the teachings of Rudolf Steiner), with which I have been involved since 1989, and Co-counselling, an empowering model for dissolving unconscious patterns and reclaiming who we really are.

You can contact me here.