Miss Keli
Miss Keli has been dancing for over 30 years both here in Brisbane and in Melbourne. She has studied various styles of dance including – Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Flamenco and more. Developing her love for teaching at a young age she opened Rising Star Dance (Rising Star
Performance Academy) in 2006 to give local children their chance to dance.
There is nothing better as a teacher than watching your students grow and improve as dancers over the years.
Rising Star Dance is a family run studio with Miss Keli’s husband Darren seeing helping throughout the studio (handyman wise not teaching classes) and their daughters Amee and Kacie as well.
Keli’s parents Brad and Joyann are also heavily involved with RSD so you will see them around throughout year also.
We welcome you to our Rising Star Dance family and can’t wait to share our love and passion for Dance with you all.
Miss Bianca
Miss Bianca is currently in her second year of full time dancing where she studies ballet, modern jazz, hip hop, contemporary, acting and signing. Bianca has been apart of Rising Star for 14 years where she started as a student from the age of 5. Bianca now teaches our teens in the styles; hip hop and lyrical/contemporary. She loves to share her knowledge and passion for dance with her students in a fun and positive environment, and to see them grow in movement, knowledge and the love for the art.
Miss Heather
With over 20yrs of experience Heather Barraclough teaches a wide range of dance styles and holds an Advance diploma in Dance, majoring in Classical and Contemporary, as well as her teaching qualification from the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD Ballet). She is also an accredited coach for Dance Sport Australia in the styles of Latin, Standard and New Vogue. Heather is also an examiner and teacher for Southern Federation of Dance in the styles Jazz, Tap and Classical.
Her most recent professional credits include: Adjudicator for Wakakirri, Dancer/Choreographer – SongWoman by Gerianne Rudd, Jupiter’s Casino Stage Spectacular “Tempo Rouge” (2006), “Zingara” (2007) and dance captain for Sea World on the Gold Coast. As a professional dancer she has worked with many different artists and choreographers in the commercial dance and theatre industry.
Heather is a passionate teacher, dedicated to inspiring the next generation of dancers and sharing the joy of dance with the wider community. She loves all forms of dance and believes that dance should be inclusive and assessable to all, no matter your age or ability.
Mr Kei
Kei started dancing at ‘The Ritz Performing Arts’ at the age of 7yrs and, in his teens, was selected for the Qld Ballet's JEP (Junior Extension Program). A graduate from ‘The Space Performing Arts’, in Melbourne, Kei went on to take a place at the world-renowned ‘Ev & Bow’ Full-time Contemporary Dance Course in Sydney where he trained with Sarah Boulter for two years. During this time Kei assisted Sarah in choreographing many events including Dance Academy and the Arabian Games and was also offered a secondment with the Internationally famed ADT (Australian Dance Theatre) in Adelaide.
Kei was a member of ‘Legs on the Wall’ Contemporary Dance Troupe, performing in their production of “Puncture” at the Sydney Festival in 2014. He has choreographed many short works which have been performed at festivals such as ‘Sydney Fringe Festival’ and ‘Short Sweet Dance’ and was also awarded ‘best choreographer’ at ‘Fast + Fresh 2013’.
Since returning to Queensland, Kei shares his knowledge in various contemporary techniques with dance schools around Brisbane. He has started The Kollective Idea’ to give young aspiring dancers the chance to perform in a company setting.
Miss Jess
Miss Jess has been dancing since the age of 2 in various styles including Ballroom, Ballet, Jazz, Hip-hop, Acrobatics, Tap, Musical Theatre and Contemporary. She is currently studying at QUT, whilst also working towards her Acrobatic Arts and Modern Jazz Teaching Certificates. Jess has completed examinations in the RAD Ballet syllabus as well as the CSTD Modern Jazz, Theatrical and Performing Arts, and Contemporary syllabi. She is excited to begin teaching Acrobatics at Rising Star Dance this year. Her love and passion for dance is never-ending and she is looking forward to sharing this joy with her students as she watches them achieve all of their acrobatic goals.