TEACHING FACULTY
The Ballet Class, Rose Bay prides itself on hiring only the best professionals to uphold its ethics and care of every student.
Shelley Bainton-Sinclair
Principal/Director
Trained at Elmhurst Ballet School, London. Attained Advanced Level I.S.T.D. Tap and Modern, R.A.D. Ballet, experience in Classical Spanish. Shelley gained her Teaching Examination for the R.A.D. in 1996. Awarded both the Teachers Certificate and the Teaching Diploma with the R.A.D.
Melisa Ribola (Gowen)
Contemporary & Classical
Gained a Bachelor of Dance from Victorian College of the Arts in 2002 and Honours in dance research and performance in 2003. A.R.A.D and R.A.D Teachers Certificate (Distinction). She is a professional contemporary dancer in works by Annalouise Paul, Carol Dilley, Micheal Whaites and Anton. Melisa was a founding member of DirtyFeet, Sydney and a recipient of the Keys Arenas Trust choreographic scholarship in 2011.
Julia Barry
Classical
Julia has taught all levels of dance in a career spanning over 40 years in private dance studios, full-time pre-professional courses and university dance programmes. She is a graduate of the Royal Ballet School Teachers' Training Course Diploma in Ballet Teaching and holds the RAD Advanced Teacher’s Diploma. Julia has been a Tutor for the RAD Faculty of Education for 20 years, working with trainee teachers from Certificate to Postgraduate level, and has been an RAD Examiner for 10 years. Julia holds Associate Teaching Qualifications in the National Dance, Modern Theatre, Imperial Ballet and Cecchetti Ballet Branches of the ISTD, a Teaching Diploma in Benesh Dance Notation, and Certificate IV in Pilates Matwork, which she has been teaching for 20 years. Julia also has a Master of Creative Industries (Dance Teaching) and Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Teaching
and Learning). In 2021, Julia completed a second Master’s degree, a Master of Philosophy, researching adolescent dance student wellness. In 2023 Julia became an Affiliate Teacher of the Royal Ballet School’s new Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme (ATAP) and an Approved Tutor for the RAD Assistant Teacher Award, both of which are now offered to students at The Ballet Class. Julia is passionate about enhancing dance students’ and teachers’ learning experiences,
promoting health and well-being for all involved in dance and sharing the joy of dance!
Wanda Wojtulewicz-Levine
Character
A Character and Folkloric dance specialist with broad knowledge of dance including classical ballet. Qualifications and experience includes B Sc Arch (Hons), B Arch (Hons), Cert. Adv Teaching A.V Lunacharsky, numerous periods in Moscow with GITIS, University of N. Nesterova and The Moiseyev School, and the Artistic Directorship of the Festival of Cultures (formerly the National Folkloric Festival) at the Sydney Opera House. Has taught extensively in ballet schools, tertiary institutions and community dance groups.
Kim Traynor
Classical
Trained at the Royal Ballet School, London, and is a former dancer with The Australian Company. A Lecturer of Classical Dance at The Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne and is a freelance coach and adjudicator.
Grace Hardman
Classical
Trained at The Ballet Class from the age of 3 in Classical Ballet, Contemporary and Character. Grace has completed all R.A.D. Ballet Examinations, including Advanced 2 and the higher grades, to a high level and competed in numerous Eisteddfods representing The Ballet Class across Sydney. She has been teaching students of all levels since 2018.
Penny Martin
Musical Theatre
Performer and Choreographer with extensive work in theatre,
film, television and fashion in Australia and Internationally for over 30 years. Toured from a young age with Australian Youth Ballet and has continuously worked with Australia's leading choreographers. Played the role of Marjorie Houseman in the Australian National tour of Dirty Dancing. Other musical theatre credits include Anything Goes, West Side Story, Crazy For You, Footloose, The Wizard of Oz, The Hunting of The Snark, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Easter Parade. Also appeared in Barry Humphries - Tears Before Bedtime and choreographed his Look At Me When I'm Talking To You tour.
Nicole Guy
Contemporary, Lyrical & Classical
Born in Orange NSW, and trained full time at Ev & Bow, before moving to London to train at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, where she graduated with first class honours. During her third year, she worked with Rambert Dance Company and her choreographic work Shards was performed at The Royal Opera House and Sadlers Wells. She went on to perform with The London Ballet Company, Qdos Dance Theatre, and URBAN Conceptz Theatre. Nicole's own choreographic work was performed at Yorkshire Dance for Light Night Leeds and she worked as the Artistic Director and Choreographer on The OPEN Project, a series of professional dance films. She also choreographed a dance film for the BBC and The British National Gallery. During her career she has taught an uncountable number of dance workshops and choreographed performances for numerous private dance schools, secondary schools and colleges, including Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds. She has 15 years of experience teaching contemporary, floor work, body conditioning, ballet, jazz, lyrical and choreography for children, adults and professionals.
Ashleigh Ovens
Classical, Jazz, Tap & Hip Hop
Trained at Italia Conti Arts Centre, London, on the Musical Theatre & Teacher Training course.
Gained a Professional Certificate in Education (PCE), LAMDA teaching award and Tap Diploma in Dance Instruction (DDI)
Worked as a dancer, singer and dance captain in Spain for 2 years.
