TEACHERS
Rachel Brooks
Studio Owner / Teacher
Rachel is the Director of Unite Dance Studio, and has been teaching dancers throughout Victoria for the past 18 years.
She is dedicated to providing technically exceptional dance training and opportunities for her students to assist them to reach their goals, most importantly in a fun and supportive environment!
Throughout her experience as a dance teacher, Rachel has taught students from as young as 3 years old to Adults, ranging from beginner to competition and elite level dancers. Rachel is also a qualified fitness professional and utilises her knowledge in this area to create safe training practices that develop strong, injury-free dancers.
Rachel has trained extensively in Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Musical Theatre dance styles for over 30 years. (She also trained as a Cheerleader for a few years in her mid-twenties!)
Rachel has worked and performed professionally in the dance industry over the past 12 years, and has also gained valuable experience through work in the film and television industry. You might have seen her on TV shows such as Neighbours or Winners & Losers, or in the feature film "The Cup" which was filmed in Melbourne.
Some of her credits include dancing professionally for clients such as AFL, Victorian Racing Carnival, MCG International One Day Series, ANZ, Tim Campbell Live Retro Show, Kings Of Kombat, Body Canvas Runway Show, Auto Salon, Mrs Australia, and the WIN Foundation, to name a few. Her favourite gigs were always the 'Can Can' shows, and if you're lucky, you might still spot Rachel's high kicks at Francesoirs in South Yarra on Bastille Day.
Rachel also thoroughly enjoyed her work in Childrens Entertainment, and often performed in shows presented by Characterland Productions, such as Mr. Men, Maisey The Mouse, Alice In Wonderland, Sonic The Hedgehog,
Shrek and Stuart Little.
Developing the skills to perform and be confident on stage is something that Rachel believes is essential to any dancers training, and she takes pride in working with each of her students to develop their stage presence and performance ability!
Most of all, Rachel is passionate about making a lasting impact in the lives of all of her students, and believes that learning to dance has the ability to equip people with life skills and experiences that are invaluable.
The mediocre teacher tells
The good teacher explains
The superior teacher demonstrates
The great teacher inspires.
-William A. Ward
Kobe roberts
Teacher
Kobe has been dancing for over 14 years, under the tuition of a wide range of experienced teachers and choreographers, training in Hip Hop & Urban dance styles, Jazz, Contemporary and Cheerleading.
This led her to competing at a State and National level with an Elite Performance and Competition team, along with performances at events such as Dance Cancer Initiative (DCI), cheering at NBL1 Basketball,
and most recently, showcasing at the Victorian Dance Festival.
Kobe began teaching dance students in 2012, and in 2015 started her own competitive dance troupe “Cypher Dance Company”. Over the past 5 years, Cypher has competed at AASCF State and National events, and urban dance competitions including Melbourne’s own Step Off and Heavyweight Urban Dance Competition.
If you have attended one of our showcases in recent years, you would have had the pleasure of witnessing Kobe and her Cypher dance crew on our own stage!
Cypher Dance Company competed for the last time in 2019, which has now given Kobe the extra time each week to be able to undertake a teaching role at Unite Dance Studio.
Kobe continues her own dance training in 2021 as a member of Melbourne’s foremost urban dance company; The Legacy & Co, under the guidance of Arna Singleton a.k.a Robotgirl, and Melissa Tarquinio.
We couldn’t be more excited to warmly welcome Kobe to the Unite Dance Studio team!
Kobe will be teaching the Primary Hip Hop and Junior Hip Hop classes on Wednesdays this year, and we know our students will absolutely love her fun and high energy routines.
aSHLEIGH SCHILL
Teacher
Ashleigh's dance journey began almost 15 years ago, in the small town of Mackay in North Queensland where she trained at Theatre Arts Mackay School of Dance. Her passion for dance eventually led her to move interstate, to Victoria, where she then trained professionally for 2 years under the guidance of Todd Patrick at Patrick School of the Arts Dance School, graduating in 2019.
Over the span of 15 years, Ashleigh has trained extensively in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Commercial and Musical Theatre. She has been sharing her knowledge with students for 4 years now, teaching classes for a range of ability levels, from beginner to exam and competition level dancers.
Ashleigh is also currently studying a Bachelor of Exercise Sport Science - Clinical Practice. With this study, she aims to use her knowledge of the body and how it works to help train and educate young, eager dancers with the importance of safe dance practice.
We are so pleased to have Ashleigh as part of our team, to teach our Primary, Youth and Junior Ballet classes on a Tuesday at Unite Dance Studio. Our students will love her warm energy and extensive Ballet knowledge that she has to share.