Tahra Neaves
Tahra started Physical Culture at the age of 5 and then moved onto Ballroom Dance lessons at the age of 11. She continued her training and competed for approximately 10 years in Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue.
DIRECTOR, EISTEDDFOD TEAMS, HIP HOP & JAZZ TECHNIQUE
Tahra started Physical Culture at the age of 5 and then moved onto Ballroom Dance lessons at the age of 11. She continued her training and competed for approximately 10 years in Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue.
Whilst studying a BA Arts, Tahra began classes in commercial jazz and hip hop, which led to various performances at corporate and local events. At 21, she then auditioned for and joined Warner Village Theme Parks as a Suit Character and Dancer. Whilst working, she began teaching for various dance schools and high schools in QLD. This is when her passion for teaching began and soon became her focus and full-time work.
In 2015, Tahra purchased Street Jam, an established studio of 18 years and so began the journey of Rize Dance Company. Tahra’s aim is to inspire & encourage and be the example to her student’s, that with hard work and the right attitude you can achieve anything.
TRAINING
She continued her training and competed for approximately 10 years in Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue. Whilst studying a BA Arts, Tahra began classes in commercial jazz and hip hop, which led to various performances at corporate and local events. At 21, she then auditioned for and joined Warner Village Theme Parks as a Suit Character and Dancer
WORK EXPERIENCE
Whilst working, she began teaching for various dance schools and high schools in QLD. This is when her passion for teaching began and soon became her focus and full-time work.
RIZE DANCE COMPANY
In 2015, Tahra purchased Street Jam, an established studio of 18 years and so began the journey of Rize Dance Company. Tahra’s aim is to inspire & encourage and be the example to her student’s, that with hard work and the right attitude you can achieve anything.
Imogen Hasney
STARZ, MINI’S, EISTEDDFOD TEAMS, HIP HOP, JAZZ, LYRICAL, CONTEMPORARY, MUSICAL THEATRE & TECHNIQUE
Since the age of five, Imogen had a persistent passion for dance that drove her to begin training at Kay Flynn Dancing Academy and later Street Jam Dance (now Rize Dance Company).
She realised early on in her dance career that her love for dance extended not only to performing but sharing her knowledge with students.
After completing two years of full time training at Conroy Performing Arts Centre,
Imogen has worked as a promotional and corporate event dancer for various Entertainment Agencies and you can find her performing at Dreamworld Australia as a resident dancer/entertainer.
She has taught at numerous schools and studios around the Gold Coast and Brisbane and is passionate about delivering quality, fun and safe dance education that gives each student the opportunity to grow and shine.
Nina Green
CONTEMPORARY, LYRICAL & EISTEDDFOD TEAMS
Nina has trained from the young age of 3 in all genres of dance. She has been trained by some of Australia’s best and well known choreographers and teachers. Nina completed her Certificate IV in dance in 2016 at Ikin Dance, and her Diploma of dance in 2019 at Ev and Bow in Sydney.
Nina has a love and passion for teaching and has been teaching for the past 8 years both on the Gold Coast and in Sydney. She is very passionate about dance and believes everyone has the ability to achieve. She inspires to give back to the younger years all that she has learnt so far.
Mateja Ivkovic
JUNIOR JAZZ, JUNIOR HIP HOP & EISTEDDFOD TEAMS
Mateja started dancing when she was 3 and graduated from Rize after 6 years of training. She then went onto complete 2 years of intensive full-time training at Launch performing arts centre. Including the completion of a cert IV in dance teaching and management. She is very passionate about dance and shares a great love for teaching and mentoring. Mateja is loving and aims to aid and nurture in all the students journeys in dance ensuring that each has the opportunity to evolve in their training.
Jasmin Barth
RAD CLASSICAL BALLET
Jasmin began her training at the age of 5 at D’n D Performing Arts School and continued onto full-time training at En Pointe Dance Studio on the Sunshine Coast from the age of 12. At 16 years of age, Jasmin began her pre-professional ballet training at Professional Ballet Coaching under the guidance of Suzanne Way. Turning down an offer with the English National Ballet School, Jasmin took up an offer with the Dutch National Ballet Academy where she moved to Holland to commence training in their pre-professional program at 17 years. After moving back to Australia, Jasmin completed her CBTS, becoming a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance while teaching Classical Ballet, Lyrical and Tap. Jasmin has performed in many amateur productions including lead roles in ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Jasmin has been highly placed in many competitions, including Sydney’s McDonald Challenge where she was a semi-finalist twice, New Zealand’s Alana Haines competition as a semi-finalist, and the Genee International Ballet Competition. Jasmin’s training has included Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Slow Modern, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Tap and Singing. Jasmin aims to bring her passion of dance and musical theatre into the classroom.
Cathie Hanson
RAD CLASSICAL BALLET
Cathie Hanson is a registered RAD and ATOD teacher with thirty five years teaching experience.
She is experienced in teaching Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Strength/ Technique, and National
Character classes for all ages.
Her teaching experience includes establishing a dance school from the ground up, successfully
building it to around 200 students over twelve years. During that time she prepared students for
RAD and ATOD exams, eisteddfods and concerts. After becoming pregnant with twin girls, Cathie
sold her school and continued to work for various schools on the Gold Coast.
Although qualified and experienced in teaching students of all ages, Cathie’s passion and area of
expertise is teaching young children. She adores filling their lives with the magic of dance, while
also instilling the correct technical foundations on which to build more advanced dance skills. She
loves exploring children’s individual personalities and individual learning styles, in order to find the
most effective teaching strategies for each child.
Cathie’s highly creative approach makes her classes both fun and exciting. She also a Bachelor of
Business majoring in Health Information Management, holds a Blue Card and is dedicated to
ongoing education in the areas of dance education.
Katie Lucas
ACROBATICS
Katie Lucas is an emerging performer with a strong passion for choreography and dance education. She has trained at Dance Force, Dance Conservatory, and Dance Prescriptions, and holds Certificate III and IV qualifications in Dance. With extensive technical training across a wide range of styles, Katie brings together performance and teaching experience to help students grow in confidence and artistry.
Rhianna Statters
TAP & RECREATIONAL CLASSES
Having danced since the age of three, Rhianna brings a lifelong passion for movement and performance into the studio. Rhianna graduated from Rize Dance Company in 2025 and holds a Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Management. With a genuine love for being in the studio, Rhianna is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring younger dancers to grow in confidence, technique, and creativity.
Giselle Poncet
RAD CLASSICAL BALLET
Giselle began dancing when she was 4 years old. She trained in Murwillumbah and on the Gold Coast with teachers including Prudence Bowen, Danielle Williams, Judith Easton, Fiona Munroe, Paul Boyd, and Louise Deleur, to name a few. She won many scholarships, Eisteddfods and awards and performed in several productions with Gold Coast Youth Ballet, Gold Coast Dancers Company and others.
Giselle was accepted into 4 European Ballet Schools and went on a scholarship to John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet School at age 16 in 2003. After graduating from Hamburg, where she also had the opportunity to perform in several ballets with the company, her career took her to Vienna State Opera Ballet, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Slovak National Ballet and as a Soloist to Regensburg Ballet, Coburg Ballet, Magdeburg Ballet, Ballet Linz and Lunenburg Ballet.
Giselle has had the opportunity to perform in many of the great classics including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as in contemporary and modern works, some that were created for her. Giselle has been teaching for 14 years alongside her career, some of her previous students were accepted into European Ballet Schools, she returned home in 2018.
Talina Cauchi
TAP & ACROBATICS
Talina began her dancing on the Gold Coast at the age of 5. She has trained her whole life in all styles at Paradise Performers Academy under owners Peta Norton, Chelsee Grioli & most recently as The Studio Entertainment under Sarah & Jesse Rasmussen. She found a love for helping kids achieve their goals and started assisting classes at the age of 13. By the age of 15, she was teaching her own classes. She has taught all ages and all styles to groups, solos, duos & trios. She has created award winning routines and has such joy watching her students perform on stage.
During this time, Talina completed a fulltime dance course where she obtained her cert III & IV in Fitness and cert IV in dance. Talina has worked professionally at Movie World in both Fright Nights and White Christmas. She was lucky enough to be a featured dancer in Amy Sharks music video ‘Adore’ and in 2016, danced at the SeaFM World Famous Rooftop Party. Talina has also done many professional corporate gigs with both Velvet Rope Entertainment & Killer Creative Entertainment.
She thrives dancing and also feels a great joy teaching dance and sharing her knowledge to younger students. She loves seeing them grow and feels so lucky to have her passion, be her career.
Nick Mills
SENIOR HIP HOP & SENIOR TAP
Rize Dance Company
Rize Dance Company is based in Bundall on the Gold Coast. We offer classes for children aged 3 years to Young Adult Dancers. We have classes for fun and for those wanting to compete and perform on a regular basis. We offer classes in Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Tap, Acrobatics, RAD Classical Ballet and Cabaret.
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