Latin Dance Schools Sydney - Dance Class Eastern Suburbs

		Gordon Gilkes Director of the Dance Studio Group Gordon recently performed on dancing with the Stars with Olympic Legend DAWN FRASER. His extensive experience and knowledge of over 28 years of dancing has helped him create the fantastic team of teachers that are now available to teach you how to dance. Having represented Australia in the 1995 World Pro Ballroom Championships Gordon and his partner Placed 17th. Other competitive dancing achievements include World Grand Prix finalist, 6 times South Pacific Champion, Australian and Australasia Champion. Gordon is qualified at Licentiate level with FATD, ADS, ANDA and BDA dance associations. Currently still competing with Vikki Goad in international competition, Gordon loves teaching the Ballroom classes on Monday and Thursday nights.

		Sherrie McGrath Principal Latin Teacher Sherrie is our Principal teacher in Latin and voted Teacher of the Year 2009 for her dedication, she brings a warm and patient understanding to the beginners latin classes. Here are some of her achievements in her dance career : () Australian Dancesport Professional Latin Champion () Australian Dancesport Amateur Latin Champion () Asian Pacific Latin Champion () Price Mikasa Cup Amateur Latin Champion ( Japan) () South Pacific Latin Champion (twice) () Singapore International Amateur Latin Champion () Irish Dancesport Champion () NSW , QLD , Victorian Latin Champion () Five Times Australian Representative to the World Championships () Recipient of the Australian Sports Award (*) Performed in the world tour of " Burn the Floor" You can join her Latin classes on Tuesdays at Crows Nest or book a private to take advantage of Sherrie's unique knowledge and expertise.

		Ross Riek Ross has an enormous depth of knowledge from his outstanding career. Ross and Lillian bring their fantastic energy and enthusiasm to really get the Salsa and Latin classes pumping. Ross's career highlights: () East Coast Classic Pro Latin Champion () National Capital New Vogue Champion () Australasian New Vogue Champion () NSW New Vogue Champion (*) Asian Pacific Latin Championship finalist Ross also runs his own successful business, Carpet care Services 02 9420 1715

		Julie Schembri Julie's astonishing achievements include: () WORLD PROFESSIONAL TEN DANCE CHAMPION () British Professional Rising Star Modern Champion () London Professional Latin Champion () Three times Australian Professional Modern & Latin Champion (*) South Pacific & Australasian Pro Modern and Latin Champion. Julie teaches all levels from our teachers accreditation classes to beginners private lessons.

		Batuhan Gurel Latin and Salsa Teacher Batuhan has danced international Professional Competition for many years, mainly in Europe. His specialty is Latin American. He has come to Australia to pursue his dance career and continue teaching Latin and Salsa. He also has a passion for Latin Fitness Classes. Batuhan teaches classes and private lessons.

		Vikki Goad Director of North Shore Dance Studio, Crows Nest Studio Manager. Vikki has been dancing for 16 years. Initially starting her career in Latin, she now focuses on Balloom. With her partner Gordon Gilkes they are currently competing both in Australia and internationally. Winner Crown Championships Pro-Registered Am Standard 2010 3rd Queensland Open Championships Pro-Am Standard 2010 3rd World Series Pro-Am Standard Event Las Vegas 2009 Finalist World Series Pro-Am Standard Event St Louise 2009 Vikki teaches the Ballroom classes with Brendon Midson, as well as private lessons for competitive couples, technique, social and bridal lessons.

		Jarryd Byrne Teacher Commencing dancing at the age of eight Jarryd has continually strived to improve his dance technique, choreography, fitness and presentation, which has taken him to a high level of achievement in the Amateur ranks of Dancesport competition nationally. He also took interest in Hip Hop from the age of ten, and has continually used his technical understanding of both styles to further his knowledge of dance, rhythm and musicality.This knowledge & talent has since taken Jarryd to the Top 100 of the popular hit TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance”. Jarryd teaches classes and is available for private lessons.

		Skye Wilson Teacher Skye commenced Dancesport at the age of eight and since then has continued strive to improve her dance technique, choreography, fitness and presentation which has taken her to a high level of achievement in the Amateur ranks of Dancesport competition nationally and internationally. Her efforts during her youth status were recognized after becoming a recipient of the ‘Big Brother Scholarship’ which took her and her partner to the United Kingdom to train with internationally renowned dance coaches and then compete in the prestigious ‘British Open’, competing in both ballroom (standard) and Latin American styles. Skye became Australia’s top ten dance representative at the age of 17 () Quarter finalists at the ‘British Open’ Latin American under 21 () Winner of the ‘Singapore Open’ () Winner of the ‘East Russian’ Latin American Championships () Winner of the ‘Dance Ten’ National Dancesport Championships () Finalist in the 2008 Asian tour – all 7 countries () Finalist at the ‘Australian Open’ Dancesport Championship

		Brendon Midson Teacher Apart from Brendon's extensive experience in Ballroom Dancing, he has had the privilege to perform on Broadway, New York City, in the stage show ‘Latin Fusion’ choreographed by Louis Van Amstel as well as a season with the Theatre Show ‘Strictly Ballroom Dancing’ (now renamed ‘Simply Ballroom’) which is still touring the UK. Most recently he has returned from Asia where he spent three months touring with the world famous dance show ‘Burn the Floor’. Brendon has also been nominated twice for the ‘Young Australian of the Year’ Award. () UK Amateur 10 Dance Champion () 10 Times Australian Ballroom & Latin American Champion Brendon teaches across all studios and is available for private lessons.

		Masha Khazanova Teacher Masha started dancing at the age of six and has been competing in both Ballroom and Latin American styles achieving Australian titles in both styles in Juvenile and Junior Age groups. Masha has also represented Australia at numerous World Championships and has spent time overseas training with world renowned coaches in the UK and America. Now specialising in Ballroom, Masha and her partner Paul Montagnese are one of Australia’s top Ballroom couples and are highly placed in all national finals. Masha is available for classes and private lessons in all studios.

		Paul Montagnese Teacher Paul commenced dancing at the age of nine in both Ballroom and Latin American styles. He was placed highly in both styles in numerous National Championships and was one of Australia’s top ten dancers. Now specialising in Ballroom, Paul and his partner Masha Khazanova are one of Australia’s top Ballroom couples and are highly placed in all national finals. Recently, Paul has been overseas training with world renowned coaches to further develop his dancing knowledge and technique. Paul teaches classes and is available for private lessons in evenings and on weekends across all studios.

		Kristina Palmidovska Teacher Kristina has danced for 20 years and was a very accomplished jazz dancer before she fell in love with ballroom dancing. She has travelled and competed in major competitions around the world and was the youngest female dancer to make the Australian Danceport Championship Finals and was latin representative to the World Championships in Slovenia. Her other major achievements include: () 3x finalist in Adult Australian Dancesport Championship () Placed top 30 in the British Youth Championship "Blackpool" () 5x NSW Champion () 3x South Pacific Champion () 2x Australiasian Champion () 3x QLD & VIC Champion () Toured US with Dance Spectacular & Successful stage show "Burn The Floor" () ABC Strictly Dancing contender with former partner Henry Byalikov Her talent also extends to Salsa dancing, which has lead her to perform in many salsa shows. Kristina teaches all form of latin and street latin and is available for private lessons where she excitedly passes on her skills and passion for dancing to her students.

		Des Mathews Teacher Des is one of our most highly accomplished teachers. He has been dancing all his life and has achieved the highest recognitions as a competitor, adjudicator and key player in the industry. He is now coach to most top Modern and Latin competitors, bringing his unique knowledge and experience to the younger generations of dancers. Des’ dance achievements include: • World Professional Latin and American finalist • Australian Professional Champion in Latin and American • Japanese Professional Champion in Latin and American As an Adjudicator Des has judged the following championships; • World Professional Exhibition Championships in Germany • World Professional Latin Championships in South Africa Des is a key player in the Australian dance industry and contributes to the development of our current and future dancers through a number of key administrative positions: • Past President of the ANDA • Current Chairman of the Aust Dancing Board • Australia’s Delegate to the World Dance Council Des has been personally recognised on a number of occasions: • Order of Australia Medal from the Australian Government • Life member of the ANDA and Aust Dancing Board Des is available for private lessons in our Brookvale studio.