EMILY PERKINS - PRINCIPAL
Bachelor of Education, Melbourne University. Certificate IV in Dance. Trained RAD Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz & Character at the Merilyn Bryrne School of Classical Ballet.
Performing member of Young Dancers Theatre (YDT) Ballet Company 1983 – 1988. Assistant teacher at Steppes 1994. Freelance dance instructor around Melbourne 1994 – 1995. Instructor at Steppes since 1995. Proprietor of Steppes since 1996. Member of Australian Dance Vision. Expertise – Photography, Costume design, Textiles and Visual Arts.
CAMILLE SMITH - TEACHER
Camille’s love of dance and performance started from a young age, as she trained in many facets of dance including ballet, jazz, tap and flamenco, as well as vocal and music theory classes. After completing her Diploma in Performing Arts in 2004, Camille was lucky enough to land a singer-dancer role at Universal Studios Japan.
Following that year in 2007 she went on to work as dance captain for Royal Caribbean Productions, performing for over five years on many different cruise ships all over the world. Camille has taught all over Melbourne for over a decade in many different styles. She looks forward to joining the Steppes team in 2014.
CASSIE PEELE - TEACHER
Cassie began dancing at the age of six at Steppes School of Dance, gaining experience in contemporary, jazz, ballet, acrobatics and hip hop styles. Throughout this time she has achieved her Major One Certificate in Classical Ballet (ADV) and Major Two Certificate in Jazz (ADV) receiving honours in both.
In 2017, Cassie completed her Certificate IV in Dance at Transit Dance in the contemporary stream under the guidance of Paul Malek, Adam Wheeler and Daniel Jaber. She is continuing her studies in 2018, working towards her Diploma in Dance (Elite Performance) while also performing in a range of new contemporary works with Transit Dance.
CATHRYN KRAKE - TEACHER
Cathryn started ballet at the age of 4 at Mildura Ballet Guild. During which time she also trained under Susan Taylor in Adelaide. At 11years old Cathryn's immense passion to success and perform took her to audition for The Victorian College of the Arts where she was accepted.
Cathryn thrived in the elite setting and was awarded Dux of Dance in her Graduate year and performed a solo she choreographed for the "Top Cats" show at the State Theatre in 1997. Cathryn then went on to complete a three year Bachelor of Dance which was awarded in 2000.
Professionally Cathryn has experience working with TasDance, Chunky Move, Expressions Dance Company and many Fringe Festival Shows with Trike Dance Company. Some of her screen experience includes her role as Emily Granger on Neighbours and a Stunt double for Eva Mendes in Ghost Rider which was filmed in Melbourne.
Cathryn’s passion and love for ballet continues at Steppes where she is committed to inspiring young dancers and building important technique and strength skills.
DARCEY EAGLE - TEACHER
Darcey started as a student at Steppes School of Dance over 17 years ago and has continued her involvement with the school as an assistant and then teacher for the past 5 years. In 2009 Darcey was part of Billy Elliot the Musicals Melbourne Cast which lead her to choose performing arts as a career when graduating from high school.
She has recently graduated a fulltime Music Theatre course at Patrick Studios Australia run by renowned choreographer Andrew Hallsworth with a Certificate I & II in Dance and a Diploma of Music theatre for which she received an award of academic excellence. During her time at Steppes Darcey completed the ADAP (Australian Dance Assessment Program) Classical Ballet Syllabus with High Distinction and is now trained in teaching both this same syllabus and “Dance Magic” for younger students.
ELISE HAMILTON - TEACHER
Taking her first dance class at the age of 4 never looking back. Elise eventually went on to train full time performing arts in 2006 as a scholarship student. Wanting to expand her studies in the performing arts, she furthered her education at The Australian Film & Television Academy.
With over a decade of experience in Entertainment, her most recent credits include Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disney, Australia’s TV Week Logie Awards, 12 Foot Ninja’s music video, Neighbours (channel 10), Winners & Losers (channel 7) and Conspiracy’s 365 (ABC).
Excited to be joining Steppes in 2020, Elise is looking forward to sharing her passion and energy for dance and performing with students.
JACQUELINE GAFF - ADMINISTRATION
Jacqueline has 20 years of dance experience having started dancing at the young age of 3. She studied various styles including Jazz, Ballet, Tap and Hip Hop dance. Continuing with her love for dance and the stage, Jacqueline studied stage management, lighting and sound at Box Hill Institute.
Along with her passion for performing arts Jacqueline is very skilled in business administration. Over the recent years she has been able to combined her dance, backstage and administrative knowledge to excel in the helping of running various shows.
We are delighted to have Jacqueline apart of our management team at Steppes School of Dance.
NATALIE CLARKE - TEACHER
Natalie started her dance journey at the age of 5 years old training in Ballet, Jazz and Tap at the Donna Halloran School of Dance in Sydney. In her teens, Natalie moved to Melbourne to further her studies in ballet full time at the National Theatre Ballet School and then at the world class Australian Ballet School.
She realised her dream of becoming a professional dancer with an international performing career spanning 16 years, dancing with the Singapore Dance Theatre and West Australian Ballet.
Her love for dance has led her to continue her journey in dance to share her knowledge with young dancers. She holds a Professional Dancer Teaching Diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance, has registered teacher status and has gained a Modern Jazz Teaching Certificate with the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dance. She has taught full time at School Of The Art Singapore, Jitterbugs Swingapore and part time at Lasalle College of the Arts, Jeffrey Dance Academy and City Ballet Academy.
Natalie is currently completing a full time Graduate Diploma of Elite Dance Instruction course at the Australian Ballet School. She is excited to share her passion and knowledge for dance to guide students to reach their maximum potential.
SIAN CORRIGAN - TEACHER
Sian trained at Steppes school of Dance from the age of four, completing all levels of the Australian Dance Assessment Programme, and finishing with Honours with Distinction.
She went on to study Performing Arts in Patrick Studios Australia’s fulltime course and since graduating, has worked as a Dancer for Princess Cruises on the ‘Pacific Princess’. Other credits include Delta Goodrem’s Logies performance and Chadstone ‘Christmas Stories’ Pantomime.
