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.
DARCEY EAGLE - TEACHER
Darcey started as a student at Steppes School of Dance over 20 years ago and has continued her involvement with the school as an assistant and then teacher for the past decade. 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 graduated the fulltime Music Theatre course at Patrick Studios Australia in 2014 with a Certificate I & II in Dance and a Diploma of Music theatre for which she received an award of academic excellence. She then went on to obtain her BFA in Music Theatre from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2019 where she was the recipient of the Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation Scholarship. 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.
MANON BARBEY - ASSISTANT TEACHER
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.
NICOLE PAPAZOIS - TEACHER
Nicole is a passionate Hip Hop Dancer/Teacher and has danced for 16 years in many styles within Street Dance. Nicole graduated from the Ministry of Dance Full Time course in 2019 with a Cert IV in Dance, Cert IV in Dance teaching & management and a Diploma of Dance: Elite Performance.
While in Full Time, she learnt all genres of dance and found her love for creating and choreographing. She has danced at The Grand Final footy show, Australia’s Got Talent, The Grand Prix and has performed at Festivals and in Hip Hop Dance Crew competitions.
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.
