Director and Principal
Miss Alison
Alison Louise Bailey | Managing Director
Alison began dancing at age 3. She started her training in Goulburn with Irene Gelfius School of Dance, as she lived in small town Braidwood. Many years later her family re-located to Canberra and she began dancing with the RSDA. Alison is trained in Classical Ballet, Broadway/Jazz, Modern Contemporary, Hip Hop, Tap and Musical Theatre. Alison began assistant teaching at the age of 15 and spent many days of the week helping at the dance studio. Alison completed her Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies through the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in 2006.
As a student she was involved in many Competitions, Festivals, Gala's and achieved great results in all her Examinations and Competitions.
Some of Alison's qualifications include;
R.A.D RTS (Royal Academy of Dance Registered Teachers Status)
R.A.D Certified Mentor
P.B.T Certified (Progressing Ballet Technique)
Acrobatic Arts Certified
In 2008 Dare to Dance Canberra Opened and as Principal, Director and Teacher Alison along with D2D has gone from strength to strength. Alison is incredibly passionate about teaching her love and loves all her students like they are her own children. She is nurturing and treats all students with love and respect. Some of Alison's students have even returned as Adults. Her ethos is about providing all children the opportunity to dance no matter what their skill level is. It's not just about "Winning" all of the time.
Alison runs D2D completely on her own and has since the age of 21. Alison is in charge of Administration, Staff, Advertising, Costuming, Planning as well as Teaching most of the timetable. Alison continues to develop skills and knowledge through many studies and courses, keeping up Continuing Professional Development. This ensures she is able to keep up with demanding industry. Alison tries to ensure she teaches all the students at some stage through their dance journey as she likes to know all of the students by name.
Dare to Dance Canberra has been voted as the top 3 dance studios for 4 years running through Three Best Rated (@ThreeBestRated.com.au)
All businesses face a rigorous 50 point inspection which includes everything from checking reviews, ratings, reputation, history, complaints, satisfaction, trust and cost to the general excellence.
Alison was a finalist for the 2021 Local Business Awards.
Dare to Dance Canberra was the Local Business Awards Winner for Outstanding Performing Arts 2021!
Dare to Dance Canberra was a finalist at the National Women's Business Champion Awards in 2022 and WON out of 29 National Dance Studios for Outstanding Performing Arts.
Alison was a Telstra Business Woman of the Year Awards finalist for 2014 and shortlisted under two categories. Young Business Woman and Entrepreneur.
Frances
Frances Junakovic
Frances came in to the dance world later than most. Starting on the football field you would find her doing cartwheels instead of touch downs.
As she grew older, the love for dance came out even more, and at the age of 15 she joined PLAY the dance agency and excelled straight away. Soon after she was in a Hip Hop Crew and competing. By the age of 18 she started assisting her teacher with classes at Primary schools during lunch breaks, and not long after she started teaching herself.
After graduating college with an Outstanding Achievement in Dance she took a gap year and assisted in teaching dance whilst working hard with multiple jobs.
Later on Frances realized dance was such a passion and she loved watching others grow and wanted to help them by teaching at more schools. She is now partnered with Active Attitudes, and teaching at multiple Primary Schools, at PLAY and now D2D.
Frances joined D2D in 2020! Frances teaches Hip Hop, Contemporary and Jazz along with many of our teen competition solos pieces.
Frances holds a current WWVP card and a first aid qualification.
Lauren
Lauren Stevens
Lauren started her dance journey 28 years ago in Newcastle. She found she had such passion for Dance that she went on to study a degree in Dance Education at University.
Lauren now teaches dance, amongst other subjects at a local High School.
Lauren enjoys teaching all genres to children and adults of all ages.
Lauren is trained in RAD Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Acro and Contemporary. She has also gained 100% in her Acrobatic Arts Module 1 Certification.
Lauren is a trusted member of D2D and has a wonderful positive approach towards her students. She goes above and beyond for her students and is loved by everyone.
Lauren joined D2D in 2022! Lauren teaches, Ballet, Tap, Musical Theatre and Acrobatics.
Lauren holds a current WWVP card and a first aid qualification.
Monique
Monique Swan
Monique started her dance journey at 4 years of age!
She started with Irish Dancing and at the age of 10, changed over to ballet, where she studied the RAD syllabus.
Monique competed in performance troupe through a variety of other styles such as Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Lyrical.
Monique has attended hip hop workshops with the likes of Will Tran and picked up some great skills.
Monique has been teaching dance for around 3 years.
Monique joined the D2D family late 2024 replacing a teacher who went on Maternity Leave.
Monique holds a current WWVP card and a first aid qualification.
Jessica
Jessica Charles
Jess began dancing at Dare to Dance Canberra at the age of 4 training in RAD classical ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, tap and broadway/musical theatre. She has a passion for dance and dance teaching and has taught many styles and age groups. She is an associate of the Royal Academy of dance having completed RAD ballet exams up to Advanced 2 (with distinction). She has also completed The Dance Apprentice teaching certificate. She is our first student to have completed all her dance exams and move on to Teaching within the Studio!
She has competed as a soloist and in troupes across various styles and has won/placed at many local, interstate and national dance competitions. At Nationals (2023) she was awarded a scholarship to The San Diego Ballet’s Pre-Professional Summer Intensive Program (2024).
Jess has performed in many D2D productions and has played lead roles including the title roles of Cinderella (2018), Snow White (2021) and A Nightmare before Christmas (2020) and Joy in Inside Out (2022).
She has choreographed winning/placing solos and group routines (including a national champion winning routine) and choreographed for St Clare’s production of Legally Blonde (2022). She also adjudicated for an ANU dance competition (2023).
Jessica holds a current WWVP card and a first aid qualification.