“passion, excellence and achievement.”

At the age of 3, Kerry Mills took her first dance class to help with a speech impediment, postural troubles and pigeon toes - however she quickly found a love for the art of dance. Since then it has only been an upwards journey, with Kerry achieving top marks in New Zealand for examinations, competing in international competitions and receiving international scholarships. Coming to Margaret Fairhead when she was 10, Kerry learnt under one of the countries most well regarded ballet teachers and only excelled further.

In 2008, Kerry bought the school from Margaret Fairhead, and after two years of trading as the Margaret Fairhead School of Dance, it was decided the time had come for Kerry to bring a new name to the school: Limelight Dance Academy.

While a new name sometimes means a big change, the focus at the studio is still on the same high standards, values and fun. Along with maintaining the traditional high standards the school will also be pushing forwards into the future, teaching safe practices, providing more performance opportunities, and making greater use of technology.

Limelight's core values of passion, achievement and excellence and Kerry’s holistic approach to training speak to the team’s desire to carve a journey of dance education for their students. From when students enter into the Pre-school or Junior School, they find themselves on a path with lessons that progress from term to term.

The school is blessed with having some of the most experienced dance teachers in the region. Whether it be Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary or Tap, Limelight's staff have all danced and trained at the highest level, and are passionate about passing their experiences and love for dance on to the next generation. Collectively they have over 70 years of teaching experience!

Not only are students achieving excellence in their dance, they are being nurtured into wonderful young people by the team of teachers who truly care for them. The qualities they learn through dance, such as passion, determination, resilience and hard-work are shown through out their lives and are recognised as they progress through their education and enter their lives as adults.