The Carmel Amelia
School of Dance 

Carmel was trained at the highly respected Carole Oliver School of Ballet in Ballarat. After 16 years of training and performing with the school she began teacher training with Carole Oliver for the Cecchetti Associate qualification. Carmel also completed her Diploma of Education at Ballarat University with a major in Physical Education. After a number of years teaching and training in Melbourne she opened the Carmel Amelia School of Dance in Woodend in 1991. The Carmel Amelia School of Dance now offers the best training in the region. Student successes and awards have been many with students moving on to further their training at The Australian Ballet School, The Royal Ballet School, The Victorian College of the Arts, New Zealand Ballet School and winning State and National Awards. Carmel is proud of the lifelong benefits that training with her school imparts to students and many former students are now pursuing careers in dance and related industries.Costume design has also been an interest, with the school having gained a reputation for stunning costuming. Carmel continues to further her dance teacher training with  Cecchetti Ballet Australia and has trained many students to also become teachers. She believes that professional development, self improvement and self evaluation should never stop if a teacher is to offer the best to their students. Imparting a sense of joy in dance is they key!

Jason Law is a Professionally Trained Dancer, Choreographer & Creative Director, he is highly experienced in a wide range of styles from ballet, jazz and tap to contemporary, hip-hop and musical theatre which has enabled him to broaden his career as dancer, teacher,  choreographer & “experience creator”. His study across all areas of the arts included dance training at Robert Sturrock's “Industry Dance”, vocal training with Dean Lotherington, acting training with Richard Sarelle and Modelling with Tanya Powell. This has facilitated his soaring career.

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Jason is a respected member of the Australian Dance & Entertainment Industry and has been involved in many high profile  events as both a performer and Creative director/ Choreographer. Jason has adjudicated many national competitions and has been teaching all styles of dance for 18 years. He loves passing on his knowledge to the younger generations and inspiring them to achieve their best!

 Some of Jason's choreography highlights include: Dance Worlds Orlando Australian team Choreographer , L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Portman's Parade, Crown Casino Tier 1 Spring Racing Show, WorkSafe Awards, BMW Spring Racing Fashion Parade, Signature Black Gala Event, Ovation Brisbane, Fashion Aid Parade, Jessica Mauboy - Choreographer, Red Ball - Feature Act  Choreographer, La Nuit de L'opera au Cirque, Simply Madonna Launch, St Kilda Football Club - VIP Season Launch, Real Estate Awards,  Elle Macpherson - Obsidian Underwear Launch Myer, Boys Risque New Years Eve Show,  Hocking Stuart Christmas Party, Dr Geoffrey Edelsten & Brynne Gordan's Wedding Of The Year, Think Pink Breast Cancer Ball and the list goes on....

Kate started dance training at the age of 5, studying Cecchetti Classical Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary dance under Carmel Horsfield.

Kate studied VET dance and VCE dance at Secondary College. After completing her VCE, she  attended the Christine Walsh Dance Centre (The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet) as a full time student  then trained at The Dance Factory, studying commercial dance. She later went on to complete Certificate 3 & 4 in Fitness and Personal Training with Victoria University.

Kate has completed every level of Cecchetti Classical Ballet from Grade One up to Advanced One, and recently became a trainer of PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique)

In 2012, Kate obtained her Associate Teaching status with Cecchetti Classical Ballet passing with Honours.

In 2014, Kate added to her teaching qualifications, becoming fully qualified and receiving Associate Diploma Status and also Certificate 4 in Dance Teaching and Management under the highly respected Cecchetti Classical Ballet Examiner and mentor Miss Carole Oliver O.A.M.

Kate has been teaching ballet and jazz for 13 years for various dance schools and  hopes to pass on her love and passion of all things dance to all of her students. She wishes to teach her students that if they are dedicated and willing to work hard, whilst still having fun, they can achieve their goals.

Beginning dancing at three years old Amelia has always had a passion for dance. Throughout her time at Carmel Amelia School of Dance, Amelia has learnt ballet, jazz, hip hop, song and dance, and contemporary disciplines. Classical ballet is what Amelia enjoys most and she still attends senior classes and has completed her Cecchetti ballet exam levels from Grade 2 to Advanced 2, receiving Honours for all levels. 

Amelia was selected for the Cecchetti Scholars Program held at the Ministry of Dance for several years learning from a variety of teachers including Colin Peasley.

Amelia has always loved sharing her passion for dance with the younger students through her lead roles in the concerts. Having taught for five years now, Amelia finds it extremely rewarding to see the students develop their technique and is reminded of how dance classes are such a fantastic way to enrich one's life through making friendships, applying discipline and focus and developing important life skills.

Danielle began dancing at age 3 at Edwards Dance Studio, in her local town of Seymour, Victoria.
Over the years she has trained at the Carole Oliver School of Ballet, Carmel Amelia School of Dance, Jane Moore Academy of Ballet and the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Danielle graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 2015 and went on to further her training at the Melbourne City Ballet Company. 
Danielle is currently a Junior Artist with Melbourne City Ballet Company and has danced leading roles in both classical and contemporary works with the company.
Some career highlights to date have been: 
•representing Australia by competing in the Cecchetti International Ballet Competition in the USA in 2014
•training with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada on a scholarship in 2015. 
•achieving the Gold medal at the Victorian Cecchetti Medals Awards 2015. 
• completed her Advanced 2 Ceccehtti exam achieving 100% Honours.

Danielle is one of the teachers for the Carmel Amelia School of Dance's High Performance Program and hopes to inspire talented young dancers to also reach for their dreams.

I have been a student with the Carmel Amelia School of Dance for 18+ years.  My dancing has included the genres, classical, jazz, tap, contemporary and hip-hop. During this time I have completed Cecchetti exams from Grade 1 to Advanced 1. I have performed in the end of year annual concerts, and from the age of seven have participated in troupe and solo competitions.

Each year I  look forward to the opportunity to meet more new students and enjoy introducing them to the magic of dance. I've always been dedicated, passionate and felt a warmth of belonging throughout my dancing years, with all my teachers encouraging my determination & skills, while guiding me through my weaknesses. My wish is to follow in their footsteps and pass on this knowledge into my classes. I love to make my lessons a happy time, where you can meet new friends, while learning new skills through the pleasure that dancing brings.

I have danced with the Expressions Dance Company's performance of Carmen Sweet while they were on tour of Australia in 2015. I also participated in Victorians School Spectacular in 2013 at Hisense Arena.

Stephanie began dancing in 1998 at the Carmel Amelia School of Dance. She has been a valued student for over 20 years taking classes in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical and acrobatics. Stephanie joined the teaching staff in 2018 as the Strength and Conditioning and acrobatics teacher. Stephanie has a Masters in Secondary Health & Physical Education Teaching along with numerous other qualifications which demonstrate her passion for fitness. Stephanie loves kids to be challenged to be their best and knows that fitness is a valuable part of being a dancer.

Rachael discovered her love of performing at a young age training in various styles of dance from Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, Acrobatics and Tap. At the age of 13, Rachael was a part of Fox8 TV series ‘The Ultimate School Musical - Fame’ under the direction of Kelly Aykers, Anthony Callea and Eddie Perfect.

Rachael graduated from Kelly Aykers Full Time Dance in 2016 with a diploma of Musical Theatre and also completed the ‘Show Business’ intensive course in 2017 focusing on her passion for commercial dance under the direction of Marko Panzic. 

Her performance credits include a dancer on the soon to be released film “The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee”, ‘You Tube Fanfest’ and ‘Brandcast’ performances at the Qantas Credit Union Arena (Sydney), the ‘ICC Cricket World Cup’ (Melbourne) opening ceremony as well as various commercial events in Melbourne.

Rachael has been teaching both Jazz and Hip Hop since 2016 from juniors through to seniors in both open classes and exam style classes as well as teaching within a full-time institution. She loves to inspire, encourage and motivate her students to be the best performer they can be and help each student find and develop their confidence and belief within themselves. 

Rebecca started her dance training at the age of 7, under the tuition of Athol  Willoughby at the Essendon Academy of Ballet. Here she studied Classical Ballet and Contemporary. Rebecca went on to further her dance studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Dance.
She has continued her teaching studies and is now qualified as a Fellow Member of Cecchetti Ballet Australia and the holder of the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma, both gained under the tuition of Sandra Clack. Rebecca has performed in a number of professional shows including David Atkinson’s ‘Hair’ 2002, The Rouge Room Season with Contemporary Company ‘Liquid"Skin’, the Red Ball, Good Friday Appeals, Morning Melodies, the VRC
Ball, the Tim Campbell Show, the Ultimate Kylie Show & most recently the Footy Show Revue, to name a few.
Rebecca has trained and is qualified as an A.P.M.A Pilates Instructor, Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) Trainer & Beat Pilates Instructor.

Rebecca loves to bring enjoyment in dance to her students and looks forward to seeing them grow and develop their skills through dance training.

Tim Doherty is a well-accomplished Australian performer. He has performed and choreographed all around Australia and internationally. His charisma and natural leadership has him held with high regard with his fellow industry professionals.

In 2016-2017 he completed a 10-month contract in Asia with the Chinese-based company SDT (Super Diverse Talent Entertainment). This saw him dancing and choreographing for many famous international Artists, including back-up dancing for the Chinese superstars TF Boys, Luhan, Wei Chen, Julian Chen and Gem among many others. He performed at the highly notable QQ Music Awards, V-Chart Music Awards, China MTV Music Awards, The Global Golden Chart awards and the ’11.11 Tmall & Taobao Super Show’.
He performed choreography from the likes of Shaun Everisto, Ian Eastwood, Lyle Beniga, just to name a few.
This lead to many TV appearances all over China and advertisements with company’s such as Adidas and Samsung (headphones).

He has had the pleasure of performing with many Australian artists but his favourite was back up dancing for Guy Sebastian for Taylor Swift’s Red Tour at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

His career progressed into being in the ensemble for Stageart’s Australian premier of the Tony Award Winning ‘In The Heights the musical’. It returned for a second season where he was elevated to Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain.

For a short period of time he was a dancer with ‘The King Of Pop’ Michael Jackson tribute show and Michael Jackson’s ‘HIStory’ tribute show in Melbourne. 

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Tim is a dedicated teacher who enjoys a collaborative approach with his students to bring out the absolute best in everyone. He is  enjoying teaching at Carmel Amelia School of Dance and is excited to share the studios with all of the amazing staff, students and families. 

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