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SCHOOL HOLIDAYWorkshops

Workshops for young and aspiring dance students.

Designed for 7-12 year olds, our School Holiday Workshops invite young and aspiring dance students into the West Australian Ballet Centre to develop their ballet skills in a 1-hour class.

Taught by former West Australian Ballet dancers Brooke Jacobs and Reika Sato, the workshops are a fantastic opportunity for young dancers to keep dancing over the school holidays and to learn new skills.

Parents are invited to watch their children in the studio or take a seat in our heritage foyer. Children’s activities will be available to keep siblings busy while you wait.

Book a School Holiday Workshop

Dates

Monday 13 January
10.15-11.15am | 7-9 years
11.30- 12.30pm | 10-12 years

Wednesday 15 January
10.15-11.15am | 7-9 years
11.30 -12.30pm | 10-12 years

Cost

$25 - Child
$20 - Junior Members


Where

All sessions are held at the West Australian Ballet Centre, 134 Whatley Crescent, Whadjuk Noongar Boodja, Maylands.


What to wear

Ballet or dance wear and ballet shoes.


Important information

School Holiday Workshops run for 1 hour.

These workshops are recommended for young dancers with some ballet training.

Please note that payment must be made at the time of booking.

For more information please contact (08) 9214 0707 or email bjacobs@waballet.com.au

MEET THE TEACHERS

Rehearsal Director

Reika Sato

Born in Nagano, Japan, Reika graduated from the London Studio Centre and has danced with Cape Town City Ballet and Victor Ullate Ballet. She received 3rd place in the All Japan Ballet Competition and was a finalist in the Cape Town International Ballet Competition. She danced Principal roles with Cape Town City Ballet, including Coppélia and Orpheus in the Underworld and toured all over the world with Victor Ullate Ballet to places such as Israel, Jordan, Peru, Italy, France and Spain.

In September 2014, Reika moved to Perth to join West Australian Ballet where she danced many lead roles including First Violin in Concerto Barocco, Cinderella in Jayne Smeulder’s Cinderella, Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby and Effy in La Sylphide.

Reika has also choreographed for 2018’s Genesis season, creating Kindred with Ana Gallardo Lobaina.

In 2019 Reika retired from dancing and was appointed as the Company’s Assistant Rehearsal Director where she worked with Andries Weidemann on Peter and the Wolf in 2019 and The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie in 2020 for the AWESOME Arts Festival. Other highlights include working with Krzysztof Pastor on Light and Shadow in 2020 and with Natalie Weir on 4Seasons in 2021.

Reika was promoted to the position of Rehearsal Director in December 2021.

Dancer Development Manager

Brooke Jacobs

Born in Narrogin WA, Brooke began her training at the West Australian Conservatoire of Classical Ballet in Perth before moving to Melbourne to train at the Christine Walsh Dance Centre and The Australian Ballet School. Brooke has danced with the English National Ballet, Leipziger Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders and Zuricher Ballet before returning to Australia to dance with West Australian Ballet.

Her roles at West Australian Ballet have included leads in Giselle (2014), La Sylphide (2013) and Cinderella (2015); Juliet in Radio and Juliet (2015), Beauty in Beauty and the Beast (2016), and Jordan in The Great Gatsby (2017).

Since retiring as Principal dancer in 2019, Brooke has been a member of the Access & Outreach team at West Australian Ballet and earlier this year was appointed to Manager of Dancer Development. Brooke specifically manages and teaches for West Australian Ballet's Masterclass program in addition to delivering a multitude of educational programs and opportunities to ensure support for pre-professional and early career dancers through to dancers’ continued development and career progression beyond the stage.

Teaching Artist

Carina Roberts

Carina was born in Perth and began her dance training at age four. At age 17, she was accepted into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and completed two years of full-time training as well as achieving her Solo Seal Award in 2014. At the RAD Festival in 2014, Carina was awarded the Pre-Professional award and was offered a Young Artist contract with West Australian Ballet for the following year.

In 2015, she joined West Australian Ballet and in 2016 was promoted to corps de ballet. Carina has performed multiple lead roles with the company including Clara in The Nutcracker, Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, The Sylph in La Sylphide. In 2018, Carina was promoted to demi soloist and proceeded to perform principal roles such as, Mina in Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula, The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Alice in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Swanhilda in Greg Horsman’s Copelia and Odile in Krzysztof Pastor’s Swan Lake.

Throughout her time at West Australian Ballet, Carina also completed her Certficate IV in Pilates Matwork and Reformer and currently teaches Pilates classes and Adult Ballet Classes at the West Australian Ballet Centre as well as providing one one-on-one coaching with young dancers who want to improve their strength through Pilates based conditioning programs.

After retiring from the stage in December 2023, Carina has begun undertaking a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at the University of Notre Dame Australia, a career path that she is extremely passionate about. She looks forward to bringing together this new knowledge, along with her past knowledge as an elite athlete, to help people find their body’s full movement potential.

Teaching Artist

Lauren Murray

Lauren Murray trained and graduated from West Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2006.

Subsequently, Lauren went onto dance at the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, West Australian ballet and as a soloist with the Staatsballett Hannover from 2012 - 2019. Lauren has performed in a variety of repertoire throughout her career, with choreographers such as Balanchine, Neumier, Cranko, Scholz, Christie and Bigonzetti. From 2020 she returned to Perth and performed in a free-lance capacity.

Throughout her career, Lauren taught and assisted professional dancers, adults and children’s educational classes and main stage productions. She has worked for West Australian Ballet and Staatsballett Hannover as a teaching artist within many facets from regional access and outreach, public classes, masterclass programs and as a rehearsal assistant for the children’s ensemble. From 2022 she took up a position as a sessional lecturer in Classical Ballet at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Alongside her performance and teaching career, she is also a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® trainer.