For Dominic Vao, months into her pregnancy made her feel "hormonal" and this led her to leave Auckland for Invercargill to start a hip-hop dance studio.
"I followed my aunty down here and discovered that I could bring something fresh and new to the hip-hop dance scene in Southland," Ms Vao said.
Just over a year ago she was pregnant in Auckland, unsure of what to do; now she is running her own dance studio in Waihōpai and training two dance crews to compete at the Hip-Hop Unite New Zealand National Championships.
"This is the first time that teams from Southland have been to the event so I’m very proud of them.
"If they get a place in this competition they will qualify to represent Aotearoa at the World Championships in Portugal."
With two kids in tow and a business to run, the 29-year-old choreographer thrives on the joy teaching dance brings her and credits her mentors for not only inspiring her to dance but for teaching her to bring professionalism and discipline to her work life.
Ms Vao did not pick up hip-hop dancing until she was 18, after watching an interview with Paris Goebbel encouraging people to do "what sets a fire inside you".
"I left [Palmerston North] then went to Auckland to get more training and ended up being selected to attend ‘the Palace’ intensive trainings and became obsessed.
"I couldn’t believe I was being mentored by the people that I looked up to in the dance industry," she said.
Going through the Palace dance studio workshops switched her from studying IT to taking up dance as a career.
"I was following my dad’s dream of getting an IT degree but after my dance training, I decided to follow my own dream."
Since that change, Ms Vao has been involved in live shows, video shoots, dance competitions and represented New Zealand at the Hip Hop Unite World Championships 2017 in Amsterdam, where she placed third in the world.
"One of my career highlights has been working with a mentor I really admire — Kiel Tutin from the NZX Next industry mentorship programme."
He is the choreographer for Black Pink and has done work with big celebrities like J-Lo.
"He taught me not just about dance but how to market myself and how to be professional and stand out in the industry."
That sage advice encouraged the Tongan/Maori mother of two to start her Blessed dance studio in a small town "at the bottom of New Zealand" despite being an outsider and only knowing a handful of people.
"I realised that I was a much stronger teacher than I was a dancer and that I could share what I have with the people of Southland.
"I called my dance studio Blessed after naming my daughter Blessing.
"When my dancers come to class, they come to be blessed and leave sharing that blessing with others."
Blessed Dance studio is taking Felony, in the varsity division, and Blessed from the adults crew to the Hip Hop Unite Nationals in Lower Hutt this month.
- By Nina Tapu
