Fun and Friendly Instructors
Our Faculty
There for You When You Need Us
“Dance teachers want to see their students succeed beyond their expectations. We cannot make students work hard, dedication is something they must find for themselves. Teachers can only give them all their knowledge, information and time and try to inspire them to do their best. What they do with all of it afterwards is totally up to them, it’s all about attitude.” - Vassie Catalano
The Studio V faculty is led by Principal & Artistic Director Vassie Catalano and includes a team of professional creative personnel, performers & instructors, all of who bring creativity, inspiration and a world of experience into the classroom. Through their energy and passion each faculty member is dedicated to giving students the skills to help them make the transition from ‘student’ to ‘artist & performer’.
Our Qualified Teachers
Our Faculty
With over 25 years’ experience teaching Classical, Jazz & VCE Dance, Halina is also an SFD examiner, Co-Head of SFD Classical Style, and Head Lecturer for the SFD Teaching Certificate. She also teaches French, Biology, and Junior Science, and Dance at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar. Halina received the 2015 SFD Outstanding Achievement Award.
Amelia Tang joined Studio V in 2023 with over a decade of teaching experience in Ballet, Tap, Jazz across all age groups. A dancer for 20+ years, she is now an Examiner across all styles with the SFD.
Caitlin is a multi-award-winning performer with over 20 years of experience as an actor, choreographer, director, and producer. Holding degrees from the University of Melbourne and NIDA, she has worked with numerous international artists on stage and screen.
Amanda is experienced in Jazz, Classical, Tap, and National. She completed L10 Jazz SFD with Honours by age 14 and was accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts at 15 to complete VCE. Amanda holds a Diploma of Performing Arts from DW301 and is an SFD Examiner. Amanda is an SFD Examiner for Levels 1-5.
Bridget has over 20 years of dance experience at Studio V, trained in ballet, jazz, pointe, contemporary, hip hop, commercial jazz, and fusion, now teaching Junior & Seniors. A Bachelor of Health Science, whilst completing a Master of Occupational Therapy.
Liana, with close to 20 years of experience at Studio V, has completed all SFD Levels 1-10 in Jazz, Tap and Advanced Classical, scoring top marks. A versatile teacher teaching a variety of genres, while academically completing a degree at university.
Jess started dancing at age 2 and has completed the SFD syllabi in Ballet, Jazz and Tap. Currently training full-time in Dance Teaching and Management at Kelly Aykers Studio.
Annalise, with over 15 years of dance experience at Studio V, has completed all her SFD Exams in Tap, Jazz, and Advanced Classical. Awarded the Premiers Award in 2021 for VCE Dance, she now teaches dance while studying Wildlife and Conservation Biology.
Alisha, with over 15 years of dance experience at Studio V, has completed all her SFD Exams in Tap, Jazz, and Advanced Classical. Trained in multiple dance genres therefore teaching Ballet, Jazz, Tap & Fusion, whilst currently studying Psychology (Honours).
Dancing for over 15 years, Gemma is trained in various styles and has completed SFD exams in Tap, Jazz, Ballet. Gemma holds a Level 10 Jazz, Level 10 Tap, and Elementary Ballet certification, SFD Teaching Certificate and studied VCE Dance Units 3 & 4.
Mackenzie has been dancing for over 14 years and is currently completing SFD level 10 in Tap, Jazz and Intermediate Classical, as well as training in Contemporary and Hip-hop. Additionally, she has completed all Fusion Syllabi and VCE Dance Units 1 to 4.
Maya has been dancing for over 15 years at Studio V and is currently completing SFD level 10 in Jazz and Intermediate Classical, as well as training in Contemporary and Hip-hop. Additionally, she has completed all Fusion Syllabi and VCE Dance Units 1 to 4.
Kenzie has been dancing for 16 years across all styles of dance. She is currently completing her final SFD Jazz exam (Level 10) alongside Elementary Classical. Kenzie has successfully completed Units 1 - 4 of VCE dance. She regularly performs as an elite dancer in many musicals with PAC. Kenzie is studying education at RMIT.
Sarah has been dancing for 16 years, specialising in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Production classes. She is currently completing her final SFD Jazz exam (Level 10) alongside studying Intermediate Classical. Sarah has successfully completed Units 1 - 4 of VCE dance, and is passionate to share her love of dance with her students.
Experienced and Highly Qualified Dance Instructors
Assistant Teachers Program
Studio V offers an Assistant Teachers program to all students from Level 5 and above. We train our students to become the future teachers and leaders of tomorrow via our fun and effective assistant’s program.
Our Assistant Teachers Program is a fabulous program whereby students from Level 5 and beyond have the opportunity to volunteer their time throughout the week to assist our Dance Teachers in all of our Junior Classes. This enables students to see first hand how the class is run from the other side of the fence (exposure to Class Lesson Plans, Teachers Meetings etc). This experience helps Assistant Teachers build confidence in one day becoming a Dance Teacher themselves, whilst at the same time teaching many transferable life skills from a young age: Leadership, Pro-activeness, Responsibility, Efficiency, Care & Compassion for others, and the list goes on.