​Erina began dancing at the age of 5 at Howick Dance Studio, where she completed her RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) ballet exams.

After taking some time off dance, she found her way back to the studio when her daughter, Lena, started dancing.

Erina joined adult classes and rediscovered her passion for dance, earning her teaching certificate in 2020 and falling in love with contemporary dance. From 2020 to 2023, Erina worked as a relief teacher, building her skills and experience.

Now, Erina is the proud owner of 8Count Dance Studio, a dream that has come true since the end of 2023.

She loves watching all the dancers grow and develop their skills and has been immensly proud of each and every student here at 8Count

Casey has been dancing since the age of 5 where she had first started with jazz and ballet. As she grew older she eventually started to expand her styles and picked up Contemporary, Acrobatics and Tap.

She has also trained in Jazz technique and Ballet technique. Casey had also competed in Solos, Duets and Troupes, as well as in many end of year shows at her previous studio.

Brandon has been dancing his whole life training in every style of dance he could get into. His training has included dancing for companies such as IDCO, New Zealand school of dance, New Zealand dance company and more. His skills have taken him around the world competing in international events and learning from different choreographers from around the world.

Brandon has been teaching now 9 years having opportunities to take teams around New Zealand and recently overseas to compete in events as well. His dancing has also given him the opportunity to take his abilities from the stage onto the big screen working as a stunt man and actor for various movies.

This year Brandon really wants to bring the fundamentals of dance styles back to the studio so students have a deeper understanding of movement, how to move and how to move safely making sure each student has an understanding of each movement they are doing

Lena started dancing at 3years old in and intro to dance styled class, she then moved up to Ballet and Acrobatics where she sat her RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) ballet exams and acrobatic arts exams, at 5years old Lena started APDA Lucidity (Contemporary) where she recieved a top tier award for her exam results (top 3% worldwide in her marks)

Lena then discovered tap which she enjoyed, along with being in the studios troupe team at 5years old.

After a short break due to moving to a new area Lena joined 8count starting with just Contemporary and added Ballet, Jazz, Hiphop, Acro and musical theatre.

There she has been continuing on with her contemporary exams and added the APDA Jazz and ballet exams all recieving fantastic marks.

Lena has also been competing as the 8count troupe team, as a duo and a soloist. She has developed a great ability to choreograph dances and has been putting her skill to work by choreographing some of the 8count show and competition dances

Laura-Jane began her dance and gymnastics journey at the age of five in Pukekohe, where a lifelong passion for movement and performance was born. She carried that love for dance across the country to the Coromandel, continuing her training and building a strong foundation in a wide range of styles including jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, ballet, and drama/acting. Throughout her teenage years, she travelled around New Zealand competing in dance competitions until the age of 17. Alongside her performance training, she also holds a qualification in makeup artistry, bringing a creative and well-rounded approach to performance both on and off the stage.

Shontal is the owner of Paper Craft Toppers but also she helps create and makes all our studio branded clothing

Nikki helps Erina to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes, Nikki is our spreadsheet queen