The directors of AJDA (Sharyn Underwood and Sharon Stevens-Cottle) see their role as service providers to the Teaching community and strive to encourage a high standard within the syllabus enabling a well rounded training through the levels provided for the young dancer.
About AJDA
THE
American Jazz Dance Affiliation was founded by Mary Evers who worked in New
Zealand and America studying and tutoring in Jazz Dance. Originally the organisation
was known and the Dupree Syllabus as at that time Mary was working in affiliation
with Roland Dupree from Los Angeles. Roland owned top professional studios
and a dance convention in Hollywood and he and Mary had a long time working
relationship. The syllabus was launched in New Zealand for Examination and
became a huge success due to the style and technical base it provided to students
and teachers alike.
Mary passed away and left the business to Sharyn Underwood and Sharon Stevens-Cottle both of whom had been teaching the work in their own studios since its introduction and both of whom were technical examiners.
The Affiliation offers a strong support network to teachers and is constantly monitoring the progress of technique and style within the international industry employing different choreographers where they see fit to update the Combination and Dance content.
Teacher’s courses are held annually in New Zealand offering the opportunity to network and share knowledge and experience in teaching and choreography. As well the affiliation runs the Phoenix International Dance Workshop which is a convention run annually in New Zealand with top choreographers from USA on faculty.