We're delighted to welcome an amazing contingent of Master dancers from all over Aotearoa to Simply Weekend 2026. Our Masters will teach a roster of workshops across the weekend that will have you dancing like a pro at the Waterfront Wonderland party.
This year we're running an Advanced Workshop stream. Advanced Workshops will include more advanced techniques and moves, and for that reason they will be restricted to the most experienced dancers only. See below for entrance criteria.
We're honoured to invite the following incredible dancers to Simply Weekend 2026! Stick around on Saturday night for our Masters performances, where each of these amazing couples will show off their skills!
Ben and Ruby
Luke and Zoe
Scott and Lily
Florian and Tanja
Amy and Shweta
Because we love them, and because they're awesome teachers, we've also invited our favourite Perthites back to teach some more workshops.
Dave and Amy
Ryan and Hannah
Wake up your brain, warm up your body and, most importantly, get ready to laugh!
Think you know all the beginner moves? Let us prove you wrong . We’ll start with the Mirst Foove, introduce you to the Kasbet, and perhaps even unleash the Spush Pin… before seeing just how far down the rabbit hole you dare to go. Bouldershock or Patacult, anyone?
Expect bilateral brain challenges, comical movement, a few delightful moments of “what on earth am I doing?” and, most certainly, plenty of entertainment.
We'll explore ride position, counterbalance, and how to make your rides feel smooth and controlled. Develop a consistent approach to connected, grounded rides that flow from entry to exit.
In this workshop, we’ll break down the fundamentals of momentum: How to create it, maintain it and change it. We’ll also dive into how connection is the key to seamless momentum in your partnerships, turning our individual movement into one synchronised flow.
You can be on the beat and still miss the rhythm. Through some games and exercises (and a little music theory) we’ll explore how rhythm shapes our movement, and how to stay in the groove.
What happens when you change the phrase, interrupt the expected, or simply pause?
This open-level workshop explores how small changes in timing, tension and direction can completely transform the way a movement feels.We’ll play with phrase changes and pauses, discovering how moments of stillness can create contrast, anticipation and musicality.
Expect a workshop that is playful, practical and full of movement possibilities — giving you tools you can immediately take back into your social and competitive dancing.
Dance is more than what we do with our arms.In this workshop, we’ll explore how to communicate and connect through your whole body. Discover how much more you can say when your body leads and your arms simply follow.
Less arm. More body. More connection.
⚠️ Hold up! These workshops assume a good understanding of advanced Modern Jive technique, and for that reason entry is restricted to only advanced dancers. Please check that you meet the criteria below to either take or experience these workshops. If you don't, you won't be attending these workshops.
If you have recently competed at an MJPI event at Level 3 or 4, you are invited to take the class as normal. You will be rotating through the class, and may ask questions.
If you do not meet this requirement, but you're dancing at an advanced level and have been assessed for your studio's most advanced class, then you can experience our advanced workshops. You must bring a partner with you, you will be dancing with this person for the whole class, and we ask that you save any questions you have until the workshop has concluded.
How do you make your dancing look different enough that we can tell what song you’re dancing to—even without hearing the music?
We’ll play with lyrics, accents, silence and space, musical texture, timing, weight, size, energy and dynamics to discover how small changes can completely transform the way your dancing looks and feels.Learn how to make your movement reflect the personality of the music—so that the same move can look completely different depending on the song.
Don’t just dance to the music. Make the music visible.
Your dancing has a default setting, but it doesn’t have to be your only one. Through solo exploration, contrasting imagery, and some tools from solo dance and theatre, we'll explore how to change the character of your movement to reflect what you hear and feel.
Workshop description coming soon...
What happens when we stop following a set sequence and start creating together in the moment?
This advanced workshop explores the more organic and improvisational side of Modern Jive, using principles from Contact Improvisation to develop connection, creativity, responsiveness and freedom within partner dance.
We’ll explore how a simple movement can evolve into something completely unexpected — using level changes, changes of angle, momentum and energy to create organic shapes and pathways through the dance.
Adding another tool to our dynamic dancing kete.
As advanced dancers, we are constantly asked to respond to changes in the music with appropriate visible changes in our movement and connection. In this session, we are taking a close look at how we can match the energy or size of different sections or layers of a song by varying the energy and size of our dancing.
We will listen for all the changes big and small, play with some options for interpretation – and explore ideas for what to do if the song doesn’t give us much contrast. Expect a variety music, a lot of rotations and a great deal of experimentation.
Looking at the space between the prep and the drop, how to maximise connection and use circular motion to make it fluid.
These tools will lead us to connected transitions into supported moves, giving us more control over how we use them or change them.
Got any questions about Simply Weekend 2025? You can get in contact with us using the form below.
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