Georgia Allan
Georgia’s lifelong passion for dance started at the age of 4 and she has been dancing ever since.
Georgia grew up in Melbourne, obtaining over 20 years of experience in an array of dance genres including Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Tap, Musical Theatre and Commercial, as well as assistant teaching.
She now calls the Northern Rivers home, where she teaches dance across 3 schools in the area. This is where she loves to educate children on becoming well-rounded dancers and humans, as well as sharing her passion for dance and witnessing a creative vision come to life.
Georgia has a Degree in Entertainment Production, a Diploma of Leadership and Management as well as being a certified Barre Instructor, Progressing Ballet Technique teacher and an Acrobatic Arts certified teacher. She is currently studying her Diploma of Dance Teaching & Management.
Personally, Georgia has had family members touched by cancer so is very motivated to be a part of this event, bringing awareness and fundraising to such a worthy cause. Georgia represents Makin Moves Dance Studio in Cumbalum who are proud to be supporting this event.
Check Georgia out at: @georgiaraeallan_dance
Maree White
Maree brings close to 20 years international experience as a professional ballerina and more than 35 years in the industry. A principal and leading soloist ballerina in companies in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, she graced the stages in many of the major cities around the world (London, New York, Beijing, Vienna and more).
After receiving a scholarship to train at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School she went on to perform with the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Queensland Ballet and The Royal New Zealand Ballet. A career full of highlights, she performed many of the classical greats and was fortunate to have worked with a long list of renowned international choreographers for contemporary and new modern works.
She is now passionate about passing on that experience and wealth of knowledge to young aspiring and pre-professional dancers, cultivating strength and technique and bringing the dancers’ talents to the forefront. Based in Ballina, in the beautiful Northern Rivers, NSW, Maree coaches locally and travels for guest teaching, workshops and private coaching across Australia and beyond.
Maree is also a huge advocate for dance at every age and believes everyone should continue dancing and have access to quality dance classes. She runs adult ballet and contemporary classes in Lennox Head and thrives off creating a community of dancers that love to dance and move. Being part of Cancer Council's Stars of Ballina is a way to connect with the community, show that everyone can dance and give time to a truly valuable cause.
Check Maree out at: @maree_white_dance
Suzy Gerada
I am Ballina born and bread. Grew up dancing on the Northern Rivers of beautiful Bundjalung Country.
I started dancing at the age of 4 at Northern Rivers Dance school until my eldest sister opened up her own dance studio Total Image Ballina in 1999.
I did all styles, jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop and musical theatre, competed in local and national competitions all through my teens and my love for the stage grew bigger and bigger!
I started teaching dance at 16 at my sisters dance studio and then after completing my HSC in 2005 I had a gap year where I auditioned for ED5 INTERNATIONAL and was accepted.
In 2007 I gained my Certificate IV in Performing arts, Signed up with Detour Agency in Sydney. I then began auditioning for cruiships and other contracts to fulfil my dream of being a professional dancer.
In 2008 I landed a 7 month Contract at Tokyo Disney Sea as a soloist Ariel Acrobatic in the show Mystic Rythms.
2009 came back to Ballina and taught dance till 2015 this is when my ex at the time was attacked by a great white shark and then I ended up taking a break.
It took me 7 years to come back to dance again due to my mental health and I went on a life journey of self discovery.
Previous to Suzy Heels I had created Wild at Heart Dance Medicine dance classes which I tried twice Suzy heels was created in 2023 after another down fall with my mental health whilst I was healing I had done only a few heels class myself and absolutely fell in love with it.
So I decided to create my own classes in my home town. Suzy Heels to me means so much more than just a dance class.
It’s so FUN + Healing. It’s a community in the making and I’m so excited to see where it goes!
Thanks for being here with me on my journey of Suzy Heels.
Check Suzy out at: @suzy.heels
Ayumi Kimura
Two years ago, Ayumi lost her best friend to cancer. She felt like she was robbed.
Mother of two. Ayumi has always loved dancing and is excited to bring her passion to the stage and support Ballina Stars – Dance for Cancer with coaching Lois Buckett.
She used to belong to the flash mob group “The Cassettes” before Covid. Ayumi has conducted dance workshops for kids at Durrumbul Pre School and Upper Main Arm Primary School.
Martin & Heather Elphinstone
Martin & Heather were inspired to learn Latin dance more than 20 years ago. They met in dance class and married soon after! They were fortunate to join the dance school of a master Cuban dance teacher in 2010 and since then have been inspired by and immersed themselves in learning the rich and authentic heritage of traditional Cuban social dances. They have enjoyed opportunities to perform the many beautiful Cuban dance styles at cultural and dance festivals, clubs, jazz bars, Spanish waterfront restaurants and Cuban cafes and hotels. They have had the special privilege of performing for Cuban Ambassadors in both Australia and New Zealand. They are delighted that they get to be invited to perform at local nursing homes for residents and staff.
Their dance school is called North Coast Casineros and they teach Cuban social dances such as Son, Casino, Chachacha and Rueda de Casino throughout the Northern Rivers region of NSW. They continue to try to inspire others to enjoy Cuban music and dance through their monthly Cuban social dance night in Lismore.
Both Martin and Heather have lost close family members to cancer and see this event as a wonderful fundraiser for a worthy cause as well as inspiring people to keep healthy, fit and connected with their community through dance. They participated as teachers in the Lismore Stars Dance for Cancer event in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
Zerina Millard
Zerina has been dancing all her life and her dance training stretches across the globe from South America to South-East Asia, India, the Middle East, the South Pacific and New Zealand. She has facilitated dance both in Australia and overseas, working with a vast range of people.
Zerina has trained in classical Indian (Bharatanatyam and Kathak), African, Latin, Bollywood, Belly dance, Classical Ballet, Modern dance, Hip hop, Jazz, Butoh and South Pacific Dance. Zerina holds a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University and Certificate II in Dance from the Northern Rivers Arts Conservatorium. She is also a trained Yoga Teacher.
The Bollywood Sisters started in 2003 as a sister duo (Zerina and Shamila) as a way to connect to their South Indian heritage but has since become so much more. The Bollywood Sisters is a community of people who love to dance, have fun and connect.
Currently Directed by Zerina Millard the Bollywood Sisters offer people a place to experience dance as a means to happiness. A chance to get out of our heads and into our bodies.
More info here: https://www.bollywoodsisters.com/
Brittany Leshae
Brittney began her dance journey at the age of 12, completing extensive training across the genres of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop. Brittney went on to complete her major RAD ballet examinations, and later attained her Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies to become a Registered Teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance. With over 12 years of teaching and choreographing experience, Brittney is now the proud codirector of JCDance. Brittney aims to foster a love of dance in all her students by providing a nurturing environment with quality training and guidance.
Darryl Gough
They say “You can take the boy from the Country but you can never take the Country from the boy”.
Darryl completed nine years of service with the Royal Australian Air Force, straight out of High School, he then spent twenty five years with an International Aerospace company. During these learning years, Darryl saw quite a few places around the world, being exposed to many different cultures and their firm beliefs on life and so called treatments.
Whilst working for the same Aircraft company in the city, Darryl was involved with ‘’United Way’’ and received recognition of ‘’Outstanding support to the Community’’ through his fundraising activities. Research will be the only way of cancer being eradicated once and for all.
Darryl was born and bred on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, a small coastal town, the second eldest of five brothers. Growing up in that area, proved to be fatal it seemed, at the time looking through the eyes of a young whippersnapper, as it was believed by many older locals ; that due to the aerial spraying of the hill crops, that a lot of townsfolk developed different forms of lung cancer and were passing away at a very early age. The local cemetery, and the ages on the tombstones are a reflection of these earlier years of the valley district, with no local treatment available to anyone. A lot of the times, it was off to the ‘’Big Smoke’’ for the treatment. The local radio station would often announce at 7:30am each morning, who had passed away that day, even after they had been visiting the Big Smoke, for a so call treatment. Darryl’s mum went through this process, went to the Big Smoke for cancer treatment in an October, came back home and then passed away in her early 50’s, that January. He can still hear that radio announcement.
All of Darryl’s brothers in one way or the other have had to deal with the side effects of cancer and its treatments.
For Darryl, coming to the Ballina region, in the early 2000’s, for a position with a local known company, basically back to what Darryl considered as being back “home” with family. Darryl and his wife have established a family home in the Ballina area; they have four children, two boys and two girls as well as eighteen grandkids. For their sake alone, cancer needs to be stopped through research and development of a cure.
Darryl is a strong supporter of cancer research for children and adults. Over the years Darryl has suffer the loss of his Grandparents, Uncles & Aunts, own parents to cancer and only recently his older brother to cancer in late 2023. Darryl’s wife now carries a piece of Australian coral in her right wrist, after a few failed attempts of removing a bone cancer. Darryl will continue to fight cancer through contributions to Cancer Research Institutions, in the hope that one day no child or adult has ever again, hear the words, or have to suffer the trauma and hardships of being told “you have cancer” say goodbye to your loved ones.
