Samantha Simpson
RAD Solo Seal
Principal

Training

Samantha trained with Ransley’s Sydney, Langshaw School of Dance, McDonald College, Bettsy Sawyer ACT and the Australian Ballet School.

Samantha completed all RAD exams with high distinction and received her Solo Seal in a session that only 2 girls passed. Samantha gained this award while studying first year at the Australian Ballet School.

Samantha was a finalist in the RAD Bursary, The City of Sydney McDonalds Scholarship, SODA Scholarship and The Isobel Anderson Awards twice. Samantha won her age groups at the City of Sydney Eisteddfod and won the Senior and Junior Ballet Championships numerous times.Samantha’s teachers included Dawn & Joy Ransley, Bernadet Langshaw-Clark, John Byrne, Betsy Sawyer, Sandra Griffin, Martin Rubinstein, Gailene Stock, Ai-Gul Gaisina, Michela Kirkaldie, Maryln Rowe, Maryln Jones, Maina Gielgud, Robert Ray, Margaret Wilson, Gary Norman and others.

Professional Dancing Career

Samantha worked with the Australian Ballet, Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet (UK) and Nancy Ballet (France), and also worked with numerous guest choreographers.

Samantha performed in a variety of classical ballets including The Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Graduation Ball, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, La Fille Mal Gardée and Romeo and Juliet.

Teaching Career

Samantha completed her RAD teacher’s certificate with high distinction and has over  15 years teaching experience.

Samantha taught for a number of schools around Sydney before teaming with her sister Nicole Hough to form The Edge Ballet Academy in 2000.

Samantha has a passion for teaching ballet and has coached many students to gain high distinctions in their RAD Ballet exams. She also coaches ballet groups and solo students in eisteddfod work and is proud of the consistent success they enjoy in ballet eisteddfods both in Sydney and at a National level. Samantha is also successful in preparing students for the Australian Ballet School IJP programs and beyond.

Nicole Hough
Principal

Training

Nicole began dancing at the age of 3 with Ransley’s in Sydney. Her training continued with Langshaw School of Dance and Pineapple Studio in London. Nicole completed all RAD ballet exams.
Nicole’s Teachers included Bernadette Langshaw-Clark, Dawn & Joy Ransley, Karen Johnson and Pineapple Studio, London.

Professional Dancing Career

Nicole was cast in many shows throughout Sydney and worked with many of the top choreographers of the time. She was a dancer with Di Heaton performers and gained valuable commercial dance experience employed in corporate gigs in Sydney. Nicole was also Dance Captain for Super League Dancers, Grand Final Entertainment, Sydney City Roosters Football and Canterbury Bulldogs Cheerleaders. She was also cast as a dancer with Walt Disney Productions performing in many children’s’ shows throughout Sydney including Hannah-Barberah Productions. Nicole’s dancing career also included work as a dancer at Australia’s Wonderland.

Teaching Career

Nicole has over 20 years experience as a jazz teacher and has taught in many schools both in Sydney and overseas. In the year 2000 she teamed with her sister Samantha to form The Edge Ballet Academy and since then the studio has gone from strength to strength. Samantha and Nicole are very proud of the school’s respected reputation and high calibre of dancers that the school consistently produces.

Nicole has a passion for teaching Jazz and particularly enjoys working with the younger students. She also enjoys training dancers for both solo and group routines. She is proud to watch her students succeed in both local and National eisteddfods, and also be involved in a variety of performances at local fairs, fetes etc. The high standards maintained by the school have recently led to opportunities for her students to be cast in professional children’s shows with RegProm Marketing & Promotions.

Kate Ferguson

Kate Ferguson has been involved in many different facets of the performing arts since the age of 2½.  She has studied a wide range of dance styles and has completed exams in R.A.D. classical (up to and including Elementary), Glenn Wood Tap (under the tuition of Glenn Wood), AMEB piano and singing exams as well as completing her Certificate IV in Performing Arts during her full time course at Brent Street Studios. 

Kate has had experience in different forms of media including modeling for magazines and dancing in film clips.  She has also appeared in national television advertisements, drama series’ and reality programs as well as Australian made movies.

Kate has had a large amount of performance experience including, for example, twice traveling to tour West Coast U.S.A to compete in Eisteddfods, Pacific School Games Opening Ceremony, Junior Olympics Opening Ceremony, Little Patti Concert, Bachelor Girl Concert, The Healthy Harold Awards and the list continues.

Kate has been teaching different styles of dancing for 9yrs and has had much success with students winning many scholarships, championships and troupes at numerous eisteddfods, and receiving many Gold Awards each year in the Glenn Wood Tap exams which require a score of 98% and above.

Steven Correa

Steven Correa specialises in Hip Hop, having a multi-talented background in Jazz, Hip Hop, JFH, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Break dancing, Musical theatre, Singing, Acting.

Steven holds an extensive list of performances that he has been involved with either as a choreographer or dancer. Some of his highlights include being support act for popular US rapper Flo Rida, being choreographer and dancer at the Michael Jackon "This is it" movie premiere in Sydney and dancing on a number of television shows including So You Think You Can Dance and and Keri Ann.

Kay Smith (Formally Royal Ballet Company, London)

Kay completed all the RAD examinations and gained her Solo Seal at the age of 16. She was also awarded the RAD Scholarship to The Royal Ballet School, London and has life membership of the RAD. In her early career, Kay was chosen by Eduard Borovansky to join the Borovansky Ballet Company (now the Australian Ballet Company), where she spent a year before taking up the RAD Scholarship. Ballets performed included: The Nutcracker (revised choreography by David Lichine), Prince Igor, Pineapple Poll, Graduation Ball, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia and La Sylphide. Solos performed included a leading swan in Swan Lake and the waltz in La Sylphide. Kay was also featrured in film of Borovansky Ballet including Margot Fonteyn and Michael Soames during their 1957 tour of Australia.

Kay spent a year training at The Royal Ballet School, where she performed in opera ballets, including: The Bartered Bride, Aida, and Samson. Whilst at the Royal Ballet School, she demonstrated for the RAD the new Advanced and Solo Seal. Kay was selected by Dame Ninette de Valois to join the Royal Ballet (First Company) at Covent Garden, where she worked with choreographers such as Sir Kenneth Macmillan, Sir Frederick Ashton, Dame Ninette de Valois and John Cranko.

She spent several years touring with the Royal Ballet Company in Britain and overseas countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Monte Carlo, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Japan and The Lebanon. She was part of gala performances at Covent Garden, including performances for the Royal Family and the Shah of Iran, as well performances for Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. During her time with the Royal Ballet she performed in a variety of ballets including: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Giselle, Sylvia, La Fille Mal Gardee, Raymonda, La Sylphide, Les Patineurs, Les Deux Pigeons (choreographed by Sir Kenneth Macmillan), Prince of the Pagodas (choreographed by Sir Kenneth Macmillan), Checkmate (choreographed by 'Dame Ninette de Valois), Firebird, Pineapple Poll (choreographed by John Cranko), Antigone and Sweeney Todd, among others.
She also performed in a film made at Covent Garden (with Dame Margot Fonteyn and Michael Soames) of Swan Lake (second act), Firebird and Prince of the Pagodas, as well as a television performance of Pineapple Poll for the BBC.

Before returning to Australia, Kay held Soloist roles with the Black and White Minstrel Show at the Victoria Palace, London. On returning to Australia, Kay was invited to perform in a televised performance of the ballet, Le Tricorne, for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as well as several other ballet excerpts.  She also worked for Hayes Gordon in a variety of mini musicals including Oklahoma, Can Can, South Pacific etc. I was also cast in the musical Carousel.

Kay was cast in a number of Television shows and commercials.

Kay has over 20 years teaching experience which commenced with Joy Ransley (RAD Examiner) at The Ransley School of Ballet in Sydney, where she taught full-time major students and the RAD children's syllabus. She judged the competition for the Society of Dance Arts (SODA) Scholarship, and then served on the SODA committee for a number of years. Kay also judged other competitions, and was invited to take the scholarship class for the RAD, Queensland, Australia, in 1994.

Kay continued as a teacher at several Ballet Schools in Sydney, namely: The Dance Centre, The Rochelle Dykstra Academy of Ballet, and the Berenice Wakeman Dance Centre, teaching all RAD grades from Pre-Primary to Majors.
Kay spent eleven years teaching full time at the Deborah Johnson Dance Centre in Castle Hill. This included teaching all ballet grades from Pre-Primary to Advanced 2, as well as choreographing eisteddfod and concert work for both solos and groups. 

Kay currently judges ballet competitions and eisteddfods in New South Wales, and trains students for competitions and RAD examinations. A recent success was training the winner of the Intermediate level of the prestigious 2008 Isobel Anderson Awards.

Kay also collaborated with Lynn Silver in writing ‘My Ballet Book’, a book for children, which was well received in both Australia and overseas in the 1990s.

Felicity Edmond

Felicity has been training since the age of 3 and working in the entertainment industry since the age of 5, appearing in live shows and television commercials both nationally and internationally.  She has studied many styles of dance including, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Flaminco, Russian Character, Acrobatics and Musical Theatre. Her credits include: Home and Away, Sony Playstation TVC (USA/CANADA), film clips for recording artists Kenna and Nazanin, Ashton Family Circus, Tug Boat Tug TVC, OshKosh Kids Fashion Shows,  Hallmark Forever Friends Bear appearances, Wahu/Britz and pieces TVC, NRL Grand Final live performance with cast of Footloose, Duty of Care Workplace TVC, Kids in the park live show- Sydney Olympic Park, Little Miss Pin Up fashion show. Felicity attended the Collett Academy of Dance and Edge Academy as well as Newtown High School for the Performing Arts. She finished her training with a Diploma in Performing Arts after studying full time at Danceworld Studios 301 in Melbourne under the guidence of Pamela Apostolidis. Recently, Felicity has obtained her RAD teachers qualification in classical ballet.

Marissa Yeo

In 1992 Marissa completed her bachelor of performing arts- dance at University of Western Sydney- Nepean. Since then her major focus has been working with young dancers helping them understand the depth that movement can portray and to become thinking dancers.  “What ever you do, move your audience.” 

Flamenco and Ninjitsu has been a great influenced on her contemporary choreographies. She is currently learning aerial dance (tissue and Trapeze) and hopes to endeavour on projects with aerialists.

The dance schools Marissa has taught at are: Deborah Johnson School of ballet, Deidre Bronner School of ballet, SCEGGS Redlands and Dance Junction. She has danced for Vicki Van Hout (indigenous contemporary choreographer), Red Opal dance theatre, and Dos Maravillas Spanish dancers.

The majority of her students come out with no less than a place or highly commended at city of Sydney Eisteddfod.

“Swan” a short dance film Marissa directed and choreographed has been shown at London Contemporary school of Dance and in 2008 “Blind dreaming” placed second in the ‘Splash’ choreographic competition- professional division.

We welcome Marissa to The Edge

Angela Blake

Angela has been performing for over a decade.  Her career continues to be varied and eclectic and highlights include singing for Princess Cruises, touring Asia and the Middle East in various kids' shows, and dancing in the latest New Idea television commercial.

Angela has also been acrobating for the past 21 years and spent two years touring with Circus International and Cirque de la Vie as both a tumbler and an aerialist.

Suzanne Cox

Suzanne began Irish dancing at the age of 5 and was ready to give it away after 5 weeks. Her parents decided to see if she would grow to like it by the end of the term and she decided to keep dancing – for the next 21 years! She has competed in 19 State and National Championships placing in the top 3 several times. She has also competed internationally in the North American Championships and the World Championships. She has performed at many corporate events in Australia and overseas with the Janice Currie Academy of Irish Dancing and has just recently attained her Irish Dancing Teacher’s Qualification (TCRG).

Suzanne currently runs her own business as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Exercise Physiologist working with elite and amateur athletes to reach their performance potential and uses these same principals to get the best out of her dancers.

Katherina Petrou

Katherina Petrou studied classical ballet for 18 years attaining her Advanced certificate (ARAD) and has extensive experience performing in eisteddfods, stage productions and gala events, as well as musicals and dramatic theatre. She is a fully certified and registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dancing and has been teaching classical ballet to students of all ages for the past 15 years.  

In addition to classical ballet, Katherina has studied other dance styles and has more than ten years experience teaching contemporary dance. She has attended choreographic workshops and contemporary classes around the globe, including New York, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney.

Her passion and curiosity for movement have inspired her to explore a diverse range of different art forms including; Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Capoeira, Tango, yoga and African dance, often incorporating elements of these Eastern and Western styles into her choreography. Katherina draws inspiration from the sensory world, in particular, sound. She aims to create choreographic works that are the visual incarnation of that sound; be it melody, rhythm or the spoken word.

Elysha Manik

Elysha has been training and performing for the last 20yrs. She has trained in various styles of dance focusing mainly on ballet, jazz and contemporary. Elysha undertook three years of full-time ballet where she completed her RAD majors syllabus, gaining a Distinction in her Advanced 2 examination. She then went on to complete her HSC at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Elysha greatly believes that versatility is key to being a great performer and straight out of high school she was accepted into the Musical Theatre focused, Singer Dancer Actor course at NIDA. She has also completed her Certificate IV in Performing Arts at ED5 International’s full-time course under the guidance of William A Forsythe.

Since graduating from ED5, Elysha has been working professionally in the dance industry. Her credits include; film clip for Nikki Webster (choreographed by William A Forsythe), backup dancer for Adam Lambert, dancer for Princess Cruises, New Idea TVC and print Campaign, Cabcharge print campaign, Sanity Awards Dinner.

Joshua Hoare

Joshua’s work pioneers new directions in physical theatre, using physical vocabularies from theatre, circus and dance. Being particularly interested in collaborative cross genre work, he ran away  early in his career to the circus only to run straight through and keep running. With experience and training in theatre, dance, music and circus his work resists stereotyping and conventional classification. On completing a bachelor of Arts at Sydney University in languages, Josh moved to Melbourne on acceptance into the National Institute of Circus Arts 3 year Bachelor program. While there he trained under former european and world vice champion sports acrobatic coach Ivelin Iliev in mens and mixed paired, group banquine, and Aerial acts like corde lisse.  Teaching experience includes teaching at the National Institute of Circus Arts public program, Melbourne Womens Circus outreach program, dance schools and Acrobatic Cheer leading groups. Stage work includes ‘Divino’ dir. Valeria Campo for the 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival, This Side Up’s ‘Down and Out’ at Woodford Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival, and Adrian Dimitrievitch’s ‘Petrouschka’s Nightmare’. Opening ceremony work includes 2006 Commonwealth games opening ceremony choreographed by Jodie Farrugia, and the 2007 Adelaide Bank Festival of Art opening ceremony choreographed by Peta Johnston. Corporate engagements include Singapore Marine Show, Twenty20 cricket MCG, Microsoft, Heinz, City of Melbourne Awards, Spring Fashion Week, BP retail awards, Crown Casino, Federation Square. His goal is to use his multiple skill sets in developing new physical vocabularies for expression, to explore the new world of contemporary physical performance and open doors between other art forms for cross pollenation. With several experiences on film and stage he is comfortable working in several contexts whether it be film or live performance.

Herena Kang
ARAD

Herena has a lot of formal education and danced professionally for many years giving her a great deal of performance experience.

She graduated Dongduk University in Korea, majoring in Ballet with ‘High distinction’ for all subject areas and Curriculum during this time. She trained in VAGANOVA for 6 years and went on to do her RAD course through Advanced 2 in Australia with ‘Distinction’ along with completing the RAD teacher’s course. She studied fulltime ballet for 3 years in Australia. She has learned both high technical Russian ballet and artistic European Ballet. Using All the Skills and knowledge obtained through her career as a dancer means she can promote and encourage students for professional artistry and help to get them into the professional world of dance.