Hanne Larsen grew up in Sydney, Australia, where she trained in dance from a young age, primarily studying ballet and jazz. She later attended the University of New South Wales, completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) with a major in music and honors in theater and film studies. She graduated with First Class Honors, with a thesis focused on equity, excellence, and access in Australian arts funding.

In addition to her academic degree, Hanne completed a range of professional qualifications. She earned Associate and Licentiate Diplomas in flute performance from the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB). In dance, she obtained Associate teaching certifications in jazz from the Australasian Teachers of Dancing (ATOD) and in ballet through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (Cecchetti Method). She also completed a Diploma of Dance Teaching and Studio Management through TAFE/ATOD, and additionally gained certifications through Giordano Jazz Chicago and Acrobatic Arts.

Following university, Hanne began working in arts administration in Sydney. She held the role of Associate Director of Projects and Artists at Arts Management Pty Ltd, where she represented Australian and international musicians, conductors, opera singers, directors, and designers. In this role, she worked closely with organizations including Opera Australia, all the state symphony orchestras, Musica Viva, the Adelaide Festival, and many international presenters. She also managed various high-profile arts awards, including the Miles Franklin Award, the Portia Geach Award, and the Marten Bequest. During this time, she established her first dance studio, The Jazz Factory, on Sydney’s North Shore as a part-time business. The studio began with two afternoons of weekly classes in a small church hall and grew to a nationally recognized studio of over 600 students. Dancers from the studio went on win national awards, and to perform with companies such as Sydney Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, and TasDance, as well as internationally in commercial and European dance companies.

In 2005, Hanne moved to New York City with her then-husband and their three children, aged one, three, and five, for a planned two-year assignment. Within two years, she found herself as a single mother of four children, all under the age of eight, and in 2009 co-founded Downtown Dance Factory (DDF) with fellow Tribeca mom, Canadian Melanie Zrihen, ostensibly in order to secure visas for her and her children, and to support the family.

DDF was initially established in the basement of a gym on Chambers Street in Tribeca with 17 weekly classes. It has since expanded to a facility on Broadway occupying approximately 13,000 square feet across two floors of an office building, with seven studios and over 180 weekly classes. The studio serves around 1,500 dancers annually and has had over 40,000 enrollments, with more than 5,000 families being a part of the

“DDF Family” over the past 16 years. DDF offers classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, theater dance, breaking, lyrical, and contemporary. The faculty includes approximately 50 staff members, including Broadway performers, Radio City Rockettes, an Emmy-winner, a former New York City

Ballet dancer and DDF alumni. From its founding, the studio has maintained an inclusive structure, with all classes open to all genders and a dedicated Boys Program established to encourage male participation.

DDF and its students have been widely lauded, with honors including: “Best of New York” – Kids Dance Classes (New York Magazine); “Best Summer Program” and “Best Parties (Time Out NY Kids); “National Winner” in both jazz and musical theater (The Dance Awards); three-time national Young Arts winner (jazz & contemporary); and additionally, DDF is two-time winner (and many-time nominee) at the national “Industry Dance Awards”. DDF students have been accepted into elite college performing arts programs including: The Juilliard School, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Ailey/Fordham, NYU Tisch, and the University of Michigan. Students have also performed at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center at NBA and WNBA games since 2014. More than 60 students have been admitted as dance majors to LaGuardia High School, the “Fame” school.

Hanne continues to serve as Artistic Director of DDF, overseeing the studio’s artistic programming and teaching and choreographing for the jazz companies and the advanced jazz program. She lives in Tribeca and raised her four children there, all of whom trained at DDF. Her daughter India and son Atticus continued their training at LaGuardia High School and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. India now works with Hanne as a teacher and choreographer at DDF and as a freelance dancer in New York City. Atticus is a dancer with Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart, Germany. Hanne’s younger boys, Arlo & Banjo each chose a sporting route over their dance classes in their teens, but both can always be found on the dance floor at a party!

In reflecting on the studio’s growth, Hanne points to a combination of an Australian mindset and a uniquely New York environment. She credits the Australian instinct of “giving it a go,” together with the scale of opportunity in New York City, as central to DDF’s success. Supported by a close network of Australian peers downtown—her “Koala Mafia,” many of whom have also carved out entrepreneurial niches in their new city — the “Go Big or Go Home” mantra rings true.