Kaitlin Peek and Jenny Ky

Nikki Webster first flew into our lives 20 years ago at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.

Behind the scenes, the mum of two has built her own dance school from scratch – but sadly, due to the current pandemic, Nikki has had to temporarily shut her studio doors.

So now, she’s taking her classes online – teaching pint-sized performers through the internet doors.

“It’s been an interesting time and a whirlwind for everybody to adjust,” Webster said.

“But I think we’re getting through it. I think Skylah is missing her school friends and missing that connection, but I’m so glad that through dance classes going online, she’s still able to see everyone and learn skills and keep connected.

“We’ve been a couple of weeks online, and we’re just on school holidays now and about to start our new term – so she’s had a little bit of time online, dancing at home and learning some skills.”

‘Complete devastation’

Nikki owns three studios across New South Wales, and she admits is devastating for her to have to close the studios due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s complete devastation to close my doors, not only for myself and my business partner Scott but also our staff,” Webster said.

“We have a lot of staff who work for us and have for 12 years.

“So we’re just trying to get everybody through it, as well as the students – so it’s been really devastating, but I think the best thing is to look for opportunities and new ways to create content for the students and keep everybody active.

“I think it’s important for the families to get involved, which everybody is – we’re offering free fitness classes as well for parents to have with their kids, and elderly fitness classes for the grandparents to keep fit.

“So we’re just looking at really creative ways to keep kids engaged because we don’t want them to feel the devastation that’s going on in this world and the pressures that all of us adults are going through. We still want them to be kids.

“It’s our passion to be able to do that and be able to give back to the community throughout Australia.”

Anyone can take part online

The silver lining throughout this all has been the opportunity to teach students from across Australia – and aside from fitness and dance, Nikki has also been offering singling classes at a very low cost.

“The best thing about being in isolation is that I don’t have to limit what we do to my studios and my kids – I can offer this to students all around Australia who may not be able to afford classes normally,” Webster said.

Nikki Webster first flew into our lives 20 years ago at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.

Behind the scenes, the mum of two has built her own dance school from scratch – but sadly, due to the current pandemic, Nikki has had to temporarily shut her studio doors.

So now, she’s taking her classes online – teaching pint-sized performers through the internet doors.

“It’s been an interesting time and a whirlwind for everybody to adjust,” Webster said.

“But I think we’re getting through it. I think Skylah is missing her school friends and missing that connection, but I’m so glad that through dance classes going online, she’s still able to see everyone and learn skills and keep connected.

“We’ve been a couple of weeks online, and we’re just on school holidays now and about to start our new term – so she’s had a little bit of time online, dancing at home and learning some skills.”
‘Complete devastation’

Nikki owns three studios across New South Wales, and she admits is devastating for her to have to close the studios due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s complete devastation to close my doors, not only for myself and my business partner Scott but also our staff,” Webster said.

“We have a lot of staff who work for us and have for 12 years.

“So we’re just trying to get everybody through it, as well as the students – so it’s been really devastating, but I think the best thing is to look for opportunities and new ways to create content for the students and keep everybody active.

“I think it’s important for the families to get involved, which everybody is – we’re offering free fitness classes as well for parents to have with their kids, and elderly fitness classes for the grandparents to keep fit.

“So we’re just looking at really creative ways to keep kids engaged because we don’t want them to feel the devastation that’s going on in this world and the pressures that all of us adults are going through. We still want them to be kids.

“It’s our passion to be able to do that and be able to give back to the community throughout Australia.”
Anyone can take part online

The silver lining throughout this all has been the opportunity to teach students from across Australia – and aside from fitness and dance, Nikki has also been offering singling classes at a very low cost.

“The best thing about being in isolation is that I don’t have to limit what we do to my studios and my kids – I can offer this to students all around Australia who may not be able to afford classes normally,” Webster said.

“We’re offering classes at $5 per class, so it’s super cheap. And it could be for kids who have never tried singing, or maybe they’re frightened to come into a big class situation.

“With my singing, I’m teaching vocal warmups and strength, and then we’re working on different songs from pop to musical theatre.

“I’m having a lot of fun and really looking forward to Term 2.”

For more info about Nikki Webster’s online classes, click here.

Source: 7news.com.au

By Katrina Vo

Not one to shy away from the spotlight, Nikki Webster cemented her place in the hearts of Australians during her appearance at the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony.

She is now sharing her talents with Sydney by opening a performing arts school in Minchinbury, at 16/43 Sterling Road.

The Dance @ Nikki Webster studio will offer a training ground for up-and-coming stars and will provide them with the opportunity to learn from talented choreographers and world class teachers.

Ms Webster and her dance school co-founder and brother Scott Webster already have dance studios in Leichhardt and Erina.

“I am over the moon about opening a western Sydney studio as we have had our inner-west school for almost 10 years now,” she said.

“We have so many wonderful students at our Leichhardt and at our Erina studio locations so it was only natural that when the chance for a new studio arose, we jumped at the opportunity.”

The Minchinbury dance school opened last Saturday, January 23.

Potential students got the chance to try classes for free all day before deciding to register for the 2016 dance year.

Ms Webster said the open day had something for everyone, no matter their age or experience level.

“We had classes for tiny tots from 18 months old to seniors up to 17 and with specialised and experienced teachers, our students are in great hands,” she said.

“Scott and I are so humbled to be able to offer local western Sydney kids and teens a nurturing environment that promotes growth and development and I can’t wait to share my knowledge and experience with new local families.”

The Dance @ Nikki Webster Minchinbury studio will offer classes including jazz, tap, RAD ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, acrobatics, silks, drama, musical theatre and singing.

Visit: dancenikkiwebster.com.au or phone 0411 861 849.

Source: St Marys-Mt Druitt Star

Australia’s own sweetheart, Nikki Webster, is kicking off 2016 by opening a new performing arts studio in Minchinbury.

By Jillian McKee

The Strawberry Kisses singer first captured Australians’ hearts when she was cast as the main performer at the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony.

Since then Webster has opened Dance @ Nikki Webster studios in Leichhardt and on the Central Coast, which have been very successful. She promises the Minchinbury location is set to be even better.

Webster told The Standard her team had been on the hunt for a new studio for a while.

“We were on the hunt for a while for this space; we wanted to see what we could bring to the area,” she said.

“There is so much talent out in western Sydney and we want to use our expertise to help these kids.”

The Minchinbury studio is a joint venture between Nikki and her brother, Scott, who is also from a performing arts background.

“We are a family-run business and the Minchinbury area is very family orientated with great families and great kids … we were so excited­ about finding the space and working with the kids out west,” Webster said.

The studio will have classes for children aged from 18 months up to 17 and will teach a range of dance styles from ballet to hip-hop.

“I will be teaching singing while my brother teaches all styles of dance, from jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary. We will also teach acrobatics, cheerleading musical theatre,” Webster said.

The Minchinbury studio will be holding a free open day at 8.30am on Saturday at 16/42 Sterling Rd, Minchinbury.

“People can come and meet us, see the studio and have a chat,” Ms Webster said.

“We will have tasters of each dance style … children can try if they are unsure.

“We have had quite a few people sign up already which is very flattering; we love the space and we are very excited. … we have lots of plans and we just want to get started.”

Source: The Daily Telegraph

Nikki Webster is set to open a performing arts school at Erina that will offer a brand new training ground for the Central Coast’s brightest stars providing them with the chance to perform in Australia and around the world!

Nikki flew her way into the spotlight at the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony. Since then she has continued to thrive with successes including Double Platinum selling records and ARIA nominations. She danced her way into lounge-rooms across the nation on Dancing with the Stars, appeared on Thank God You’re Here and played the dream role of Dorothy in the multi-million dollar Australian production of Wizard of Oz.

Nikki is an accomplished business women, at 24 years of age she has had extensive exposure to business and has been mentored by some of the worlds biggest and best entertainment business people during her career.

Nikki has been running her own performing arts school in Sydney with talented brother and co-founder Scott Webster for the past four years.

The gifted pair are expanding Dance @ Nikki Webster to the Central Coast following huge success in Sydney with an expansive client base that has produced stars such as leading actress in Terra Nova, Alana Mansour, as well as lead roles in Annie, Mary Poppins and the new television program Young Talent Time.

Source: Business Insider

Drew Sheldrick

You can’t call starlet Nikki Webster and brother Scott’s new project anything but ambitious. Teaming up with your 20-something sibling to manage and develop a totally new dance school in the Inner-West was always going to be fraught with risk, if only in the sense that mixing business with family is always a fragile frontier.

But the lesser known of the two, Scott Webster, says it’s a risk they were willing to take for an initiative they’ve been keen to get off the ground for some time. “We understand there is going to be a lot of trial and error, but you just have to accept what is to come,” he says.”We’re just hoping that as people start to see how good the classes are we will start and build on numbers from there.”

Strathfield-based Webster has had an equally extensive background as his famous sister. The WAPPA graduate performed in musicals such as Les Miserables, Witches of Eastwick and Little Shop of Horrors as well as working behind the scenes on events like the Brewhaha Inner West Youth Week Festival and Strathfield Carols by Candlelight. After launching an entertainment contracting agency in 2006, specialising in child care with theatrical facilities across Australia, he thought himself ready to take on his ideal project.

“Nikki has a huge amount of experience in the industry, she’s been a child-star and we’re hoping that people will be keen to learn from her. But it will be a big effort on both our parts, I’ll be teaching half the classes till it gets off the ground,” he said.

Dance @ Nikki Webster will be located at Parramatta Road, Stanmore, and housed in a converted loft space currently under construction. Webster said it will focus on breeding young stars in singing, dance, drama and acrobatics but won’t neglect adult and more advanced students either.

“We’ll have classes for two-and-a-half year olds to adults and also advanced dancers. There aren’t a lot of places you can go these days that aren’t aimed at beginners. We want professional dancers to be able to come down and have a great class as well. We’re also hoping to appeal to Inner West residents who don’t want to travel a long way to take their kids to dance class,” he said.

One of Webster’s main aims is to get more boys into classes, especially as they are in heavy demand in the industry.

“Thanks to shows like So You Think You Can Dance and new styles like crumping and hip-hop, it’s far more acceptable for boys to dance these days. The hard part is just getting them in here to teach them the technique behind it all. Hopefully with the surge in popularity of these shows the stigma will start and disappear,” he said.

For information on classes and the launch date of Dance @ Nikki Webster visit www.dancenikkiwebster.com.au

Source: Inner West Courier

Sarah McInerney

A 20-year-old opening a dance studio might seem premature, but Nikki Webster has the experience to back it up.

Catapulted to stardom at age 13 when she performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games, Ms Webster will share her experience with a new generation of performers at Dance @ Nikki Webster in Stanmore. She is opening the studio with her brother Scott, a Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts graduate and experienced teacher.

It will offer subjects ranging from tap and jazz to musical theatre, salsa and acrobatics. These will be for children and adults and held after school hours and all day on Saturdays.

Ms Webster won’t take the weekly classes but will run weekend workshops in areas such as performing on stage and audition techniques.

“Everything I have grown up and learnt by doing the right and wrong thing I will pass on,” she said.

The siblings will also tap into their network of industry professional friends to host special one-off work shops. Ms Webster said she hoped to be a fun and approachable teacher.

“As much as it is fun I hope we challenge the kids,” she said.

The studio is at 2/25 Parramatta Rd, Stanmore.
Details: www.dancenikkiwebster.com.au

Source: The Glebe

AT only 20, Nikki Webster has had many career directions, something she says has just made her stronger.

Webster and her brother Scott, 23, are to open a performing arts school in Sydney, a new direction for the girl who first caught the eye at the Sydney Olympics.

She told Confidential she had had some "incredibly tough times" in the past few years after coping with constant backbiting.

"I’ve been scrutinised for doing nothing, basically being pure," she said yesterday.

"Just because I wasn’t on drugs and not in rehab, people didn’t want to know me or give me a chance."

After doing Dancing with the Stars, her career was at crossroads.

She sat down and weighed the pros and cons of staying in the industry.

"The cons far outweighed the pros, but I didn’t want to go and do a nine-to-five job," she said.

This was despite some of her family advising her to go to university or get a normal job.

"My family couldn’t understand why people were so mean," Webster said.

"When they saw me cry, it hurt."

But she’s upbeat about the future.

"I can remember watching Cathy Freeman light the flame and thinking, ‘I’ll be 21 when the Beijing Olympics come around’."

Source: The Herald Sun