Born in Kansas, USA, Stephanie has been dancing since the age of four and has trained at dance schools in Kansas City, New York City, Chicago, and Las Vegas. It was apparent early on that dance would be an integral part of her life. Moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, at the age of 18, Stephanie began her professional dancing career – performing at the prestigious Westward Ho and Union Plaza hotels on the Las Vegas Boulevard and downtown Las Vegas. Since living in New Zealand, she has been performing, teaching, and choreographing in both the North and South islands since 2002.
After moving to Christchurch, Stephanie discovered Nia in 2009 and soon trained the White Belt intensive to become a Nia teacher. Dance has always brought enormous joy to her life and teaching is her way to share this joy with others. Over the years, Stephanie has gone on to train all of the Nia Technique belts and specialty trainings. She is currently the only Nia Second Degree Black Belt in New Zealand.
In September 2019, Stephanie was invited to become a Nia Third Generation White Belt Trainer and is currently undertaking her Trainer education under the direction of Nia co-creator, Debbie Rosas.
Stephanie teaches Group Centergy, one of the fitness programmes created by MOSSA based in the USA. Group Centergy is a delightful fusion of yoga and Pilates fundamentals and is a beautiful complement to her Nia practice. It is also what’s triggered her desire to deepen her yoga practice and after rigorous study over two years, she has a Yoga Teaching Diploma through International Yoga Teachers Association (New Zealand).
