Nationality: Singaporean Australian Course: Bachelor of Science, The University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
Jonathan first started to dance in 2008, when on one particular day he decided to try out a hip hop class at his local dance school. Through the joy he attained from dancing, he later took up contemporary and jazz a year later. Although he no longer practices in urban styles any more, he has since taken an interest in K-Pop and maintains his love for contemporary and jazz.
Jonathan joined Flare during Orientation Week of 2011 and has not looked back. Although he did not expect it to; Flare became a major part of his day to day life. From going to uni, to studying and then to rehearsal. Since joining Flare in 2011, Jonathan has partaken in numerous gigs and a multitude of pieces in the annual end of year production. Flare has also been his major creative outlet, allowing him to choreograph one gig piece and two production pieces in previous years.
As President for 2013, Jonathan hopes to encourage more dancers to not only improve their craft with Flare, but to share their knowledge: so that those who have an interest or perhaps; have yet to find their passion for dance may grow together.
Nationality: Singaporean Course: Bachelor of Arts, The University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
Introduced to the classical ballet
at the age of 4, Tricia has not stopped dancing since. Having explored other
genres such as contemporary, jazz and even urban, ballet is still her first
love. Other favourites include contemporary and jazz. She has completed
examinations with Royal Academy of Dancing up to Advanced Foundation. "To
watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak" resonates deeply with Tricia.
Dance has allowed her to express unspeakable thoughts, memories and emotions.
She hopes that through her dancing, lives will be touched.
Joining Flare was a
dream come true for her, where dancers of all backgrounds could come together
and share this common passion for dance. Having danced with Flare for a year,
she has been able to hone her skills and is greatly inspired by the many
dancers and choreographers she has come across.
Nationality: Indonesian Course: Bachelor of Commerce, The University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
Pauline was introduced to dance
since junior high school where she had to learn various Indonesian traditional
dance moves as a compulsory art subject. However, Pauline only found her true
passion in dance when she took up several hip-hop classes in 2010. Although she
did not have the chance to train in hip-hop seriously, she always remembered
the incredible feelings she had when her body moved with the beats. At the age
of 18, Pauline also began to enjoy contemporary after joining the dance group
in her Junior College in Singapore.
Hoping to continue dancing when
she moved to Melbourne, she decided to join Flare in July 2012. In such a short
time, Flare has given her the opportunity to keep improving her dance skills
and also to learn new genres such as breakdancing. Moreover, Flare has allowed
her to build friendships with amazing, inspiring and friendly dancers who always
strive to grow together as a family.
Nationality: Singaporean Course: Bachelor of Arts, The University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
As a three-year-old, Claire was enrolled in an interpretive dance class for toddlers and instructed to physically emote to The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Since then, she has trained extensively as a gymnast whilst doing some jazz, contemporary dance, hip-hop, and ballet on the side. Claire loves the poignant rawness of emotion and expression elicited by dance. She has performed in various school events, musical theatre productions, a national anti-drug campaign, as well as annual concerts staged by her dance school.
Claire joined the Flare family in August 2012. She was immediately bowled over by the warmth of the dancers and their dedication to the art. Through exposure to unfamiliar dance genres, peer guidance, and performance opportunities, Flare has helped Claire to grow as a dancer whilst providing a healthy mode of recreation in the midst of hectic university life.
Nationality: Malaysian Course: Bachelor of Education, RMIT Email: [email protected]
Dancing with a pink tutu and a kid
sized ballet shoe was how Mayble first started her dance journey at the age of
7 years old. The most excited thing to do every Friday was to attend her ballet
classes. She never aspired to be the best dancer, but enjoyed every single moment
of dancing. As she came to Melbourne to further her studies, she was forced to
stop ballet in 2008.
Mayble was introduced to Flare
Dance Ensemble in 2010 because of her sister, Vivian. After watching the
production in 2009 the dancers and choreographers amazed her and she knew she
could become one of them. Through Flare Dance Ensemble, Mayble has greatly
improved her technique of dance in different genres especially in contemporary
and modern dance. Furthermore, she has not only gained experience in performing
but has also gained valuable friendships. Dancing with people who are
passionate in dance is the most valuable thing she has earned and she will
never give up on dance.
Nationality: Malaysian Course: Bachelor of Arts, The University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
Kimberly joined Flare during her first year in Melbourne in 2012 with the hopes of becoming a more versatile dancer. Kimberly has loved dance ever since she was able to walk. Fascinated by ballerinas and tap dancers, she begged her parents to let her take up the two styles but was not allowed to so she actively participated in her school's dance club instead. Finally at 16 years old, Kimberly started taking urban lessons and fell in love with the genre but had to stop during her final year of high school.
Although she is inexperienced, Kimberly is enthusiastic and has the passion to learn and explore the various genres of dance offered in Flare. Urban is her most comfortable style so far, but during Flare's production in 2012, she had the opportunity to partake in some of the dance pieces and fell in love with jazz funk and modern. Although she was the youngest and one of the few members in Flare who was not yet in university at that time, she immediately formed friendships with the Flarians. Flare has become her second family away from home and she hopes to contribute as much as she can to this ensemble.
Nationality: Australian Course: Bachelor of Science, University of Melbourne Email: [email protected]
Daniel was first introduced to dance when a Salsa teacher visited his
school at the age of 11. Following this: he attended Salsa and Latin classes
till he was 16, and learnt hip hop and popping both from classes and Youtube
from 13 till current (19). He is based primarily in hip hop and popping, with
an emphasis on freestyle, and now often busks with a group of poppers in the
city. Joining Flare in 2012, Daniel has not yet choreographed any pieces for
the ensemble, however looks forward to choreographing multiple pieces in the
coming year.
Daniel draws inspiration from crews such as Shit
Kingz, pre-2008 Jabbawockeez and Prepix, as well as solo/duo dancers including
Les Twins, Majid, Greenteck, Cloud and Emilio Dosal. If you interested in
hiphop he recommends you go check them out!
Nationality: Eurasian Course: Bachelor of Business and Commerce, Monash University Email: [email protected]
Alex
had his first taste of dance in 2009, when he inadvertently decided to take the
place of a missing dancer last minute. Despite having no experience and with the
performance within 4 hours of him joining, it kick started a new lifestyle in which
he was about to embark on.
He
started out with various casual classes in urban choreography, hip hop and
occasionally popping. But the last thing he imagined picking up was break
dancing; which sparked a huge interest that later became his biggest passion.
After countless performances with the Taylors Dance Club back in Malaysia, in
2012 he transferred to Monash Australia where he met his new family, Flare. Due
to the wide variety in styles they offered, he had the
privilege to perform a handful of gig pieces, including having the opportunity
to choreograph a break dancing piece for Flares annual production.
As
2013 will be his final year in Flare, he will continue to strive for a greater
performance and contribute his talents to the urban side as well as
choreography.
Nationality: Australian Course: Bachelor of Nursing, Australian Catholic University Email: [email protected]
John never
really expressed much interest in dance throughout his life until 2009, where
he discovered bboying. At the age of 17, he trained for a year in the art of
tricking at East Keilor Gymnastics and since has been bboying primarily.
Upon joining
flare in 2012, he was previously an active member of the Melbourne University
Breakdancing Club in which he performed with and helped organize events. He
trains with the Melbourne Uni breakers weekly.
John joined
Flare purely as a breaker; never having done any other style of dance
beforehand. But by taking this step towards something new and different, he
developed a new interest in jazz, contemporary and urban styles. With this new
found fascination, John ended his first year in Flare participating in 4 pieces
of different genres for the annual end of year production.
Nationality: Australian Course: Bachelor of Business Information Systems, RMIT Email: cographic@flaredance.com
For
a long while Jericho had been searching for a creative outlet for his emotions.
He loved music; and was often lost in his own world listening to it. This deep
appreciation for music turned into a desire to express his deepest thoughts by
matching sound with movement. It became a desire to dance.
He
always felt like dancing was a part of him, but he never could dance. Without any
formal training, he believed that becoming a ‘dancer’ was a privilege only the
utmost talented people could enjoy, but that all changed after he joined Flare
in 2012.
Dancing
became his creative outlet and Flare became a place where he could learn, grow,
and improve not only as a dancer, but also as a person. He took part in every
performance he could, and finished off the year partaking in the Flare
Production, and best of all, he was accompanied every step of the way by some
of the most supportive people he could ever hope to be around.
Now
he hopes to motivate and encourage other beginners who are afraid to try, to
take the same first step he did, and just go for it.
Nationality: Malaysian Course: Bachelor of Music, The University of Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
Once upon a time, a curious little creature named Farah wandered into the land where other similar looking creatures moved their limbs attached to their beings. And they would all move in sync! It was wonderful and bizarre.
She explored this mystifying land and first discovered the tribe of Traditional Malays who moved with humble grace. As she grew older, she stumbled upon a different clan called Cheerleaders who gave her muscles of steel as she spent years throwing people up into the air and cartwheeled her way through.They taught her to see the world from upside down.
Finally, she set off into the horizon, waving goodbye. She came across the most magnificent of communities; the most powerful of bodies; the most spectacular creatures in all the land. She had stepped into the Kingdom of Flare.
A place where it’s creatures would pop, lock and pirouette. A place where they could stop, drop and body roll, and spin their heads right round, while spotting. Suffice to say, she surrendered her heart and will continue to spend her days exploring and learning, until she moves like Jagger – the kingdom’s prince.
Nationality: Malaysian Course: Bachelor
of Science, Monash University Email: [email protected]
Carolyn has
been dancing ever since she could remember. She first started prancing in
ballet shoes at the age of 4 and later ventured into Jazz. She has successfully
completed her Royal Academy of Dance exams until Intermediate Foundation, which
she stopped at the age of 12. However, in 2010, Carolyn rediscovered dance
again through her college’s dance club. Here, She found her love for urban and
k-pop styles. This newfound love allowed her to perform in various venues and charities,
which only reignited her passion for dance.
After moving to
Melbourne, Carolyn joined Flare in 2012, which further enhanced her love for
urban styles. Flare has also introduced her to many other different styles such
as contemporary, lyrical and allowed her to rediscover jazz once more. Being a
part of Flare has taught her patience, commitment and has fuelled her spirit to
work even harder to improve her dancing. To her, everyday is a learning
experience and what better way to grow as a dancer than with her fellow Flarians.
From a young age Carmen has loved to dance. She first started taking lessons in jazz at the age of
12 for two years and eventually discovered at the age of 16 an interest in
Urban hip hop. Since then she has performed in numerous competitions and show
cases. Ranging from Step Off, Youthamania, and Groove, where her
crew placed third and moved onto the national Battlegrounds competition.
She also performed as a supporting act for the Poreotics Australian Tour
for their Melbourne Show.
She has only been in Flare for half a year but she
describes it to be one of the most enriching times of her life. Flare has given
her the opportunity to meet other like minded dancers sharing her passion and
was able to perform on stage beside them at Flare's annual production and
Merdeka. Through Flare's welcoming and nurturing dance community she
hopes to further develop her skills and passion for dance in all genres.
Nationality: Australian Course: Aeronautical Engineering, RMIT Email: [email protected]
Prior to joining Flare Dance Ensemble: having never attended a dance class in his life and with no intention to start; Jay’s friend told him he could try any dance class for $15 and so he thought: ‘why not?’, and gave it a try. Little did he know, it would become one of the best decisions in his life. With his first dance class, he felt out of his depths, and sat down within the first 10 minutes. At first this was the case for most of the classes he attended. But slowly throughout the year, he progressed through the many problems faced with starting fresh in something as alien to him as dance.
Soon enough, dance, cute girls and hitting the gym were all Jay ever spoke of. Production jitters, his first casting into a piece, his first case of rejection from a piece, the first time he performed in front of a class and on stage, his first solo, his first dance partner. All of these things simply made the experiences he had in Flare so much more challenging and enjoyable. Scary moments such as performing a solo with your shirt open for the audience; including your friends and family to see, three times at that, were unbelievably fun, all of this packed into a single year amazing year. Now Jay, compelled to give back to Flare, is a part of the committee in hopes of offering his services to give a helping hand in any way he is able to.