Kate commenced ballet at age 6 in Newcastle, NSW where she attended the Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy. After successfully auditioning for the world-renowned John Cranko-School, she moved to Germany at age 16 to train under the Russians. This led to a deep respect and appreciation for world-renowned Vaganova method of ballet teaching and a determination to make this method accessible to her future students in Australia.

Returning to Australia some years later, Kate enrolled in Australia’s only Vaganova ballet teaching diploma, a year-long intensive course. She subsequently founded the Melbourne School of Classical Dance in 2008.

In Kate’s 12 years as Artistic Director of the Melbourne School of Classical Dance, she trained numerous students from beginner through pre-professional level, with many accepted into professional academies around the world. Her young students consistently attained excellence in their examinations with the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet and the International Character Dance Syllabus. She also taught hundreds of adult ballet students, and wrote a specialised adult ballet curriculum.

Now working independently at Developing Dancers Melbourne, Kate takes a highly intuitive approach based on over fourteen years of teaching – closely monitoring her students’ progress and adjusting course as necessary. She brings genuine care, technical expertise and an infectious passion for dance to her coaching. She holds teacher certification with the Ballet Conservatoire and International Character Dance examination syllabi.