Present

At CoEvolve Studios, our community thrives on the exchange of knowledge, drawing inspiration from passionate teachers, collaborative peers, and the collective wisdom we create together. 

 

We are dedicated to providing an exceptional dance education that goes beyond the dance floor and positively shapes the way our students approach life and adulthood. We believe in the power of perseverance, helping dancers to develop not only a love of movement, but also a love of learning, failing and progressing. 

 

Through our accredited choices of syllabi, and the teachers we’ve chosen for open classes, we aim to instil techniques, qualities and knowledge that will foster a dancers confidence in themselves and their movement. 

 

Past

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Draper Academy of Dance was established in New Plymouth by former Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers Sonia and Leon Draper in 1965. The studio relocated to Stratford and Tamaranui in 1967, then to Oraki in 1969, before returning to New Plymouth and Inglewood in the early '70s. Due to various job transfers for Mr. Draper, Mrs. Draper took on the responsibility of re-establishing the studio. In 1985, Draper Academy of Dance moved to Pukekohe.

Originally located in the old Masonic Lodge in Pukekohe, the studio shifted to a small building on Hall Lane in 1994, then to a larger building on Hall Lane a few years later, and finally to its current address on Nelson Street.

In 1993, Heida Yarr, the daughter of Sonia and Leon Draper, purchased the studio from her mother. Mrs. Yarr had already been teaching in the studio for 14 years.

In 2024, Draper Academy of Dance underwent a name change to CoEvolve Studios as Mrs. Yarr's daughter, Siyanna Skelton, acquired the business.

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Written by - Heida Yarr, Past Owner

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