Chantal Pinguet
Owner/Director
Born and raised on the Kapiti Coast, Chantal trained in many dance styles. She was a New Zealand School of Dance Classical Associate, part of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Mentorship Program and completed her final RAD ballet exams under Bronwyn Bennett at Chilton Dance Centre.
At 16, Chantal moved to the Gold Coast to begin her full-time ballet training at Atelier Australia before moving to Switzerland to accept a scholarship at Ecole-Atelier Rudra Bejart. Here she trained for 60 hours a week in classical ballet, Martha Graham modern technique, classical voice, percussion, kendo, theatre, acrobatics and classical Indian dance.
With Rudra Bejart and the Bejart Ballet Lausanne company, Chantal performed a number of neo-classical and contemporary works on stages across Europe.
Chantal accepted a contract with the Poznan Opera Ballet in Poland at 19, performing in traditional classical ballets and more modern ballets such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Serenade and Anna Karenina.
Wanting a new challenge and the chance to perform more styles, she began working with an agency in Greece in 2017. Since then, she has performed in 5 star resorts during the summer season on a number of Greek islands. She gained experience as a choreographer, fitness instructor and MC and was soon working as an Entertainment Manager organising the evening shows, sports and fitness programs, events and kids entertainment. As well as producing a number of shows over the seasons, Chantal loved the chance to upskill and perform street dance styles, latin dance and musicals.
When in New Zealand, Chantal coached students and taught at numerous schools and events nation-wide. Chantal has also enjoyed adjudicating at many competitions.
In 2020, whilst back in Aotearoa due to Covid-19, Chantal created ‘Stage to Studio’ and has been running dance workshops and competitions for dancers in the lower North Island ever since.
She started to teach at Kate Martin School of Dance in 2020, and took on a bigger role in 2021. Chantal became the owner and director in 2023 and is thrilled to be a part of the ongoing journey of Levin The Movement.
Ashley West
Teacher
Ashley started dancing at the age of 4, and fell in love with it right away! She attended Judith Fuge Dance School where she trained in a number of styles including jazz, hip hop, tap, contemporary and ballet.
In 2018 Ashley graduated from Paraparaumu College as Cultural Captain and was awarded Te Ako Patuia Award for Learning and Leadership.
Following that, Ashley spent 6 months working in 5 star resorts in the Greek islands. She performed in a number of shows and was also responsible for leading fitness classes and children’s’ activity programs.
Ashley is currently studying her Bachelor of Education and teaches at Levin Intermediate, where she works hard to create an exciting and motivating environment for all the students she supports.
She has also previously worked at Kenakena Primary School and choreographed for Levin Intermediate’s Dance NZ Made and Showquest teams.
Mekaela Anderson
Teacher, AIDTA
Grace Nemeth
Teacher, RAD RTS
Grace has been dancing since the age of 4 at Kapiti Dance Centre where she completed her ballet grades up to Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) advanced 2. In the early years Grace trained in RAD ballet before discovering New Zealand Association of Modern Dance (NZAMD) contemporary and jazz. Grace was accepted into the New Zealand School of Dance as a Contemporary Associate. Grace has also received nominations to attend the NZAMD Scholarship weekends where she participated in both Contemporary and Jazz sections in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2018 Grace was fortunate to be selected as a Contemporary finalist at the scholarship weekend.
After years of competitions and discovering the love for choreography Grace received a modern PACANZ nomination before moving to Auckland after being accepted into Unitecs Bachelor in Performing and Screen Arts programme Majoring in contemporary dance.
Since then Grace has moved back to the Kapiti coast teaching RAD, NZAMD and Asia Pacific Dance Association (APDA) syllabi. She has now completed her RAD Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies and looks forward to sharing her love of dance with the next generation.
Sammy Rasmussen
Teacher
Sammy began her dance journey at just three years old, training in Jazz and Hip-Hop. By the age of 14, she had already stepped into teaching at Dean McKerras School of Dance (now Red Star Dance), and has been sharing her passion for dance ever since.
While studying in Wellington, Sammy completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with First Class Honours, balancing her studies alongside teaching at Angela Goodall School of Dance and with JDK — a wonderful group of neurodivergent adults whose mission is to “Just Dance Krazy.”
Sammy’s teaching style focuses on building confidence in tamariki and a strong sense of community. She does this by creating supportive and uplifting spaces where every dancer feels comfortable, valued and encouraged to be themselves.
In 2026, Sammy returned home to the Manawatū and is excited to be teaching at Levin The Movement.
Diego Ramos
Hip Hop Teacher
Starting in 2008 with Red Star Dance; Diego has been pursuing Hip Hop ever since! Competing for 11 years with award winning pieces, he attended the PACANZ National Young Performer Awards 5 Years in a row, and for the last 5 years has been training crews and individuals around NZ.
In 2024 Diego joined the Dance NZ Made panel and is now in his third year, also being part of the Gold Awards 🌟 Team!
Each year he travels to LA to really dip his feet into the incredible dance industry that America offers, taking classes at Millenium Dance Complex and The Playground LA.
He is so excited to be part of the Levin The Movement Team this year and looking forward to bringing a new flavour of Hip Hop through the studio doors!! Dance what we TEACH you but make it YOURS! 🤍
Corinne Pinguet
Administrator
Born in Wellington to French parents, a very young Corinne once turned down an offer to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet as it was not her thing.
After 10 years living in London as a young adult, working in IT and travelling around Europe, Corinne returned to NZ with her husband Steve to bring up their imminent family.
Dance soon did become her thing, as both daughters fell in love with dance, and over time Corinne developed a huge appreciation for all things dance. She enjoyed many fun filled years volunteering on the committee of the Kapiti Ballet Society / Kapiti Dance Comps.
When her girls were very young, Corinne retrained, gaining an Early Childhood Teaching degree from VUW. She then spent the next 18 years working full time as a kindergarten teacher on the Kāpiti Coast. The last seven years were spent as Head Teacher at a local kindergarten, culminating in receiving a National Excellence in Teaching Award in 2022.
In late 2022 Corinne and family moved to Horowhenua, and in 2023 she moved to a part time teaching role so that she could support Chantal and join the Levin The Movement team. She is really excited to see Levin The Movement flourish, and to see young dancers develop a love of dance much earlier than she did!