Michelle Robinson - F.I.D.T.A, A.R.A.D

was trained by the legendary New Zealand dance teacher, Miss Gwen Gibbs.

Gibbs herself was a devoted pupil of the famous Edouard Espinosa and had a career as a dancer, mainly in Australia before settling in Palmerston North to teach just before the Second World War.

Miss Gibbs saw Pavlova dance many times and was deeply influenced by her and passed her marvellous classical ballet teaching knowledge onto Michelle Robinson . Anna Pavlova has influenced many great dancers and teachers among them the Great Dame Margot Fonteyn and Sir Frederick Ashton to name but a few.

Michelle Robinson taught in Australia during most of the 1980’s with the Mildura and District Ballet Guild. She taught and choreographed extensively for students in this rural Victorian hub and produced full length versions of La Bayadere, Firebird. La Fill Mal Gardee, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake; a Centenary Tribute to the Birth of Pavlova (Many prized international paintings and works featuring Anna Pavlova by William Orpen are housed in the Mildura Arts Centre Gallery’s extensive collection) as well as choreographing original works like Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring’s and The Hunting of the Snark as well as Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Miss Gibbs other great dance world friends included the late English Dancer, Algeranoff who danced with Pavlova’s Company and also taught in Mildura in the 1960’s.

On her return to Palmerston North  in the late 1980’s, Miss Robinson set up her present studio which has prospered and produced a steady flow of members of the International dance profession - both dancers and teachers.

She was awarded  a Life Membership in 2015 by the Palmerston North Dance Association for her work with ballet in the area. The picture shows the presentation by Sir Jon Trimmer to Michelle Robinson (right) and Yvonne Hocken.