Jun Takahashi Jun's first hip hop class was in 2006. In 2007, she joined both Flare and Melbourne University Dancesport Club (MUDC). Jun choreographed her first piece in the 2008 production 'Eclipse' and co-choreographed the next year in the production 'Metropolitians.' She has since been teaching and choreographing for gigs in the styles of kpop, urban and house and learning locking and popping. Outside of Flare, Jun has won competitions in Latin, is part of MUTE Crew and has taught classes at Passion Studios and The Salsa Foundation. In 2011, Jun auditioned for Triple8Funk Company and trained with them for a year and in 2015 she and her family of MUTE crew won Step Off.
Alana Lo Alana started dancing with Flare Dance Ensemble in 2009. In 2011, she started taking dance classes at other dance studios and was exposed to the greater dance community. Since then, dance has been a massive part of her life, in addition to juggling with full time work. Alana starting choreographing for Flare gig performances and teaching casual classes in 2013. She also choreographed her first production piece in the same year. She was the production manager for Flare's annual production in 2014 & 2015, in addition to choreographing her second production piece. Alana hopes to achieve her goals as a dancer. Being inspired by other choreographers within the Melbourne dance community and overseas, she hopes to do the same and share her knowledge whenever the opportunity arises.
Kaeden Trinh Having danced in over 50 dance pieces, across all genres Flare has to offer (except for breaking), it is of no surprise to know that Kaeden has been in Flare since 2008. In short, he is OLD. Although his appearance is starting to show his age, Kaeden still thinks he is one of the young peeps, and will most likely be one of the first to get drunk and slutty on the dance floor. Come take his class - he sometimes play viet/chinese music.
Ritika Bhandari Ritika has been dancing for 4 years. Her dance styles include waacking, popping, hip hop, dancehall and urban. Although she started off as a freestyle dancer and mainly contributed in dance battles, she has since been in choreographed pieces and has herself choreographed her own pieces. She has also competed in various competitions such as Grounded and City Sessions.
Naomi Wo Naomi has been dancing since she was 6 years old, beginning with ballet, jazz, tap and later acrobatics. Although she still loves her ballet roots, she has been exposed to many more genres since joining Flare in 2013 and now regularly does urban and kpop among other styles. In 2015, Naomi challenged herself by becoming the president of the club as well as stepping up to choreograph a ballet piece for production. Outside of Flare, Naomi studies Biomedical Engineering and enjoys going for makan with the Flaremily on a regular basis.
Jonathan Yeo Jonathan started dancing later than most people at the age of 15. Originally an urban dancer, he later found his passion for contemporary and has since expanded his dancing experience to most genres Flare has to offer. His style is a mixture of his past experiences in urban as well as the technique he has gained as a contemporary dancer. Jonathan has choreographed for both gigs and production pieces under the umbrella of jazz and contemporary.
Karlo M. L. Julian This is Karlo. Karlo is holding a beginner lyrical class on Thursday 3rd March, 06:00PM @ Jason Coleman's Ministry of Dance. He started teaching a few beginner contemporary and urban classes last year and has spent some time over the summer learning how to better his teaching and his choreography. His class will focus on being a (rough) introduction to the lyrical/contemporary genre through some warm-ups and a short-ish-kind-of-medium-sized phrase. For those coming in with no prior dance experience, he advises you to give it your all. Come in with the intent of learning something new, meeting new people, and aggressively bruising both of your knees (nah, joke. You'll only be bruising one knee max). See y'all then!
Simon Li Throughout his youth, Simon showed a keen interest in dance. He spent hours watching dance videos on Youtube, but never took the opportunity to attend a class. Everything changed when he joined Flare in 2013. Although Simon initially felt lost and out of his depth, the Flarians made sure he transitioned comfortably into this new world of dance. Soon enough, Simon was attending regular classes, trying every single dance genre Flare had to offer, and quickly became a part of the Flaremily. Simon now teaches urban and kpop dance styles, with a focus on performance and technique. He caters for beginners and hopes newcomers will likewise take the first step to try a class and have some fun!
Jenn Ma Jenn joined Flare Dance Ensemble in 2010 as a dancer and choreographer. Throughout her years in Flare, Jenn has served on the committee as Publicity Officer and President. She has also choreographed various pieces for gigs and a modern piece for every annual production. In 2014, Jenn also danced and choreographed with MOVE Dance Productions. Jenn is currently a member of Mute Crew, Yellow Wheel, and studying dance full time at The Space Dance & Arts Centre.
Kristie Ho Kristie first joined Flare Dance Ensemble in 2015, and has been an active member ever since she joined. She is a trained jazz dancer, but loves to do many other genres such as Urban, K-Pop, Contemporary and Commercial. She is currently serving on the committee as Secretary, and is very friendly and loves to help new members feel welcome to the Flare family (Flaremily). Kristie’s classes are mostly for beginners, so new members who have absolutely no dance background are more than welcome to attend her classes and enjoy dancing!