A group of Wellington female inmates are incorporating ballet into their life inside prison walls, and it's delivering a much needed dose of self-esteem and hope.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet has been offering dance lessons to women inmates at Arohata Prison to prepare for a Christmas performance this year with the Zonta Club of Mana.
And the the impact it's having on the prisoners lives is much greater than just a bit of exercise.
"I think it's awesome to be able to do something like this in a women's jail, it gives us hope and inspiration," one prisoner said.
"We're going to be better people on the outside when we do get out. We can do stuff like this and we are part of society.
"Everyone makes mistakes, we're just a part of society."
Another prisoner agreed the ballet lessons were making them contemplate life once they are released.
"It makes us appreciate life on the outside, because on the inside in jail, it's not the nicest thing to be in jail so when someone comes along and helps us like this, it's amazing, and we really thank these women, they're great ladies," she said.
After completing the first of six weeks of lessons, Royal New Zealand Ballet instructor Pagan Dorgan said her experience teaching prison inmates in Britain encouraged her to try it in New Zealand.
"It's just really nice to give anybody an opportunity to have access to dance, it doesn't necessarily need to be ballet, but dance and movement," Dorgan said.
"I worked with some young offenders in London and I really enjoyed it so when this opportunity came up I jumped at the chance.
"There's a few really good dancers in there, there are some ladies who have probably never done anything like this before who maybe surprised themselves because they could maybe pick the movement up.
"Some of them maybe felt awkward about things but everyone just got into it and gave it a go, it was really fun."
The Inside Out Arohata in Association with Zonta Club of Mana Christmas concert will be held at Arohata Women's Prison in Wellington on December 7.
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