Shine Tutors
Shine tutors are all successful practicing industry professionals and exceptional teachers. Nina has chosen each tutor for their experience, natural talent with children and passion for speech and drama. Shine tutors create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students.
This means that your child receives elite speech & drama training, a direct connection to the professional performing arts industry and inspirational role models.
Each Shine tutor is Police Checked and in school time Shine tutors have an Authority to Teach (LAT) from The Teachers Council of Aotearoa.
Nina
Trained at the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School, Nina has won awards in film and theatre around the world. Nina is a dynamic, experienced tutor whose students achieve excellent exam results and love the experience of developing their speech. Nina is a EPC Registered Performing Arts Teacher and current SpeechNZ Board Member
Emily
Emily trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London and has experience in theatre, film, commercials and voice work. Emily spent 12 years in London, working as a performer and teacher before moving to New Zealand. She is an experienced, passionate teacher who loves to use drama as a tool to develop children’s confidence.
alex
Alex has trained in Speech and Drama since the age of 7, excelling in exams in both New Zealand Speech Board and Trinity College London. Alex performs around New Zealand and frequently overseas. Alex’s love for teaching children speech and drama is infectious.
RACHELLE
Rachelle trained as an actor in London and worked extensively in theatre and television here and overseas. She has been teaching Speech and Drama for many years and is also a voice over artist. She is a regular guest voice for shows such as Power Rangers and is the voice for numerous TV commercials. Last year she directed St Kentigern School's production of Oliver with a cast of over 100 boys.
gilly
Gilly started her career in television production she then studied drama at Auckland Performing Arts before embarking on her acting career. She has starred in many TV dramas and is often seen in commercials. Gilly’s energy and joy is infectious and she loves to share her passion for the arts with the next generation.
rEbecca
Rebecca discovered her love for storytelling on stage at the age of 10, and she has been performing ever since. She completed her Bachelor of Performing & Screen Arts Degree, and then moved to Los Angeles to further develop her craft. Rebecca is delighted to be back in Tāmaki Makaurau now, and continues to produce a lot of her own work. She carries with her a wealth of experience from working with kids for over 17 years, and looks forward to helping your children shine and be their best selves!
TESSA
Tessa trained at Melbourne’s highly regarded Victorian College of Arts and received a degree in Acting. Tessa is known to audiences for theatre shows, as well as TV and film both in Australia and Aotearoa. Tessa has been teaching extensively for over 20 years and loves seeing children in her class build confidence and articulation, and learn how to be heard both in regards to their ideas and speech.
BROOKE
Brooke graduated from Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School in 2006. Since then she has worked in theatre, television and film in the U.S, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Brooke has a passion for devising theatre and has created two award winning solo shows. In 2023 Brooke directed Mike Bartlett’s ‘Contractions’ at the Broadwater theatre in Los Angeles. Brooke is passionate about working with children to help their individuality and creativity shine.
Jessica
Since graduating from Toi Whakaari : NZ Drama School in 2005 Jessica has appeared in multiple stage and screen productions across the country. Jessica also studied at John Bolton’s Clown School in Auckland and later trained and worked as a clown doctor with Clown Doctors New Zealand. She has been nominated Best Supporting Actress for both theatre and film and was most recently nominated Best Actress Oceania for the short film Rage at the Septimius Awards in Amsterdam. She has found moving into teaching very rewarding and loves getting to share her knowledge and skills with the kids and to witnessing them flourishing.
AMY C
Amy trained as an actor at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and has a Classics degree from the University of Bristol. She is from London and the Waikato (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui) and has worked extensively as an actor and voice over artist in the UK before moving to Aotearoa last year. She also has a huge passion for spoken word poetry and has performed at the National Portrait Gallery, and written shows for the Lion and Unicorn and Bread and Roses theatres in London. An energetic and vibrant teacher, Amy is passionate about creative expression and wellbeing and brings her well-rounded experience to her teaching
dasha
Dasha is an internationally acclaimed theatre/film performer, TV Presenter, and director. Her films were participants and nominees of multiple international film festivals, such as Sundance (USA), Tokio (Japan), Edinburgh (UK, Scotland), Cardiff (UK, Wales), Molodist (Ukraine), Jeonju (Korea), Brisbane (Australia), SIFF (Switzerland), Angers (France), Torino (Italy) and many more. Dasha has been tutoring since 2017. She is passionate about sharing the joy of performing skills to primary students, teen actors, and professional performers. She holds a degree of MA (Honors), the University of Auckland, BA (Honors) Moscow State University of Cinema, and is finishing her Teaching postgraduate course in the University of Auckland.
irena
Irena has completed all the Trinity College speech and drama grades and is an Associate of Performance. She is now completing her Licentiate in Teaching. A student of the late Alma Johnstone, the first female announcer on NZ television, and Julie Coleman, leader of the Speech and Drama team at St Cuthbert’s, Irena has years of training, especially with voice work and public speaking. Her passion for speech and drama stems from how it builds confidence, enabling one to express themselves and communicate clearly.
mike
Mike recently returned to Aotearoa having spent the last ten years in Australia working as a drama and piano teacher, alongside being an actor and theatre producer. He is the co-founder of Cross Pollinate Productions, an independent theatre company in Sydney, and is a graduate of Actors Centre Australia. He loves the opportunity to guide the children's curious minds, revealing the joy, power, and energy that theatre offers, fostering creativity, and connection with others.
amy u
Amy graduated with a BA in acting from NIDA, Sydney in 2007. Since then, she has worked professionally in theatre, film and television. Her screen credits include Shortland Street (2012-2014), Hillary (TVNZ, 2016), Mystic (2020), Brokenwood (2021) and M3GAN (2022). Amy has taught drama to students of all ages since 2009 in Australia and New Zealand. She is currently doing her Master of Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy at AUT and is passionate about supporting confidence and personal growth in tamariki and taitamariki.
ZOE
Zoe is a fresh graduate from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. She was awarded NZQA Top Scholar for Drama in 2020. The same year, she directed a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and has since worked as a drama tutor for the Wellington College Shakespeare Festival. Zoe has made a number of short films and recently released a vlog series on YouTube. Drama classes have been a constant source of joy since childhood and she's thrilled to step in as a tutor.