Tanya Brooks Dance Academy was first established in 1994 and it has grown to become a highly successful and popular dance school with over 150 students attending dance classes each week.

Classes are run five days a week in a modern and spacious dance studio at West Epping Park Community Hall, cnr of Downing St and Dent St, Epping (near Carlingford).

Tanya Brooks Dance Academy offers a wide variety of dance classes for children, both girls and boys, from the tender age of 3 years old. Classes are held during the school terms. Ballet exams are held mid year and the end of year is focused towards an "Annual Concert" involving the entire Academy. Costumes for the annual concert are hired to the students at a minimal fee.

Ballet exams are not compulsory but are strongly encouraged. In 2010, 43 out of 57 ballet students at the Tanya Brooks Dance Academy received a mark of 70% or higher for their Ballet Exam, with 27 of those students receiving a Distinction (the highest award).

Teachers:

Miss Tanya / Mrs Tanya Cook (Principal)

Completed a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (UWS) 1992

R.A.D. Registered Teacher (completed 1997).

Tanya has been involved in the dance industry for over 30 years, in that time studying and teaching Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Contemporary dancing. Tanya has performed and competed in various dance eisteddfods, school spectaculars and ceremonies at sporting events including the 2000 Olympic Games.

Tanya was a student with Kim and Sandra Griffin in Sydney (1978 - 1983) then moved to Newcastle where she extensively studied Classical Ballet at Newcastle High School as well as Tap, Jazz and R.A.D. Classical Ballet with Dianne Talbot and Margo Kerr from 1984 to 1988.

In 1989 Tanya went to University (UWS) to study dance, at which time Classical Ballet and Contemporary dance were the main focus, along with safe dance practice, anatomy and notation etc. In 1992 Tanya graduated from University and continued teaching for J + C Dancers (located in St Mary's).

In July 1994 Tanya Brooks Dance Academy opened it doors. Today we proudly have over 150 students attending dance lessons each week.

Miss Tanya was married to Alistair in July 2005 at Lilianfels in the Blue Mountains. Professionally she is still known as Miss Tanya Brooks although her married name is now Mrs Tanya Cook. Tanya and Alistair have two beautiful children, Sofia born in October 2007 and Samuel born in November 2009.

Miss Tanya will teach classes on Monday, Thursday and Saturdays in 2012.

Miss Lindsay (Hip Hop Crew Teacher)

Lindsay has been dancing for 18 years and moved to Sydney when she was 18 years old to further pursue her dancing career.

Lindsay was a full-time student at ED5 International and graduated in 2007. During her time at ED5 she performed in Count Down Spectacular (Jacci Testro) and Tap Works (Nathan Sheen & Caroline Casper). After graduating from ED5, Lindsay started her career in Hip-Hop.

Lindsay has danced and trained with some great Hip Hop choreographers and crews such as Mel Hitchcok, Caramel Studios, Brooke Tulloch and B Boy Don. Lindsay has also been part of Celcius Crew, CB Ladies and Justify doing various gigs and performances for Freedom Events, Waves and Nokia, Mels.

Lindsay's passion is Hip Hop and she loves sharing this with her fellow students and friends. Miss Lindsay has been teaching at TBDA since February 2010 and will be teaching the TBDA Hip Hop Crew in 2012.

Miss Ruth (Ballet & Contemporary Teacher)

Ruth has been dancing for over 30 years and has been teaching RAD Classical Ballet for the past 10 years. Ruth completed her RAD Teaching certificate in 1994 with Distinction and trained at The Northern Ballet School in Manchester.

Ruth has been Head of Ballet for the past 6 years at Thomas's London Day Schools in Clapham teaching students RAD Classical Ballet. Prior to that Ruth taught RAD Classical Ballet and Contemporary at Hurst Lodge School in Ascot. Ruth also taught Ballet, Street Jazz and Contemporary in Drammens Skole for Kassisk Ballet in Norway from 1996-1997 and Ballet, Modern, Tap and National Character at the Jersey Academy of Dance in Channel Islands from 1995-1996.

Ruth's aim as a teacher is to encourage children and teenagers to love ballet whether or not they are destined for a career in dance, she hopes to create a fun, hardworking, interactive and non-competitive environment in which each student works to achieve their potential.

Miss Ruth joined the teaching staff at TBDA in 2011 and will be returning to regularly teach classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings in 2012.

Miss Laura (Ballet & Tap Teacher)

Laura started dancing at the age of four. In 1998 she joined the Lisa Clark School of Ballet, studying ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and modern. She performed in local and interstate eisteddfods in troupes and solos including improvisation solos for a number of years. In 2006 she graduated from the Lisa Clark School of Ballet, having completed her RAD Advanced 1 and her Grade 8 Award with a distinction. Laura continued there as a teacher as well as teaching classes at OC Studios. In 2008 Laura undertook the RAD teaching course graduating as a registered RAD teacher in 2009.

Over the past three years Laura has participated in many dance and teaching workshops, including intensive courses with the RAD in Sydney and Melbourne. With a love for teaching Laura has guest taught at colleges and dance schools including Canberra College. In 2006 Laura choreographed the St Edmonds College musical ‘Grease’ and performed the leading role ‘Cha Cha’.

In 2009 Laura graduated from a Bachelor of Design (fashion design) and relocated to Sydney in 2010 to pursue a career in dance teaching and fashion design launching her own label. Miss Laura has been teaching at TBDA since April 2010 and will be regularly teaching classes on Saturday mornings in 2012.

Miss Bec (Hip Hop Teacher)

Rebecca's love of dancing led her to graduate with distinction from Deakin University with a Bachelor in Contemporary Arts in Dance (minor in Drama) and a Diploma in Dance from Nanyang Academy of fine arts, where she was trained in various genres of traditional Asian dance styles and contemporary dance.

With this combination of diverse training in traditional dance and contemporary technique, Rebecca was honoured to be invited to represent and promote Singapore culture through dance in various international youth camps and dance festivals. She was a dancer for many top choreographers around the globe such as Wayne Scott Kermond, Katie Kermond, Carly O’Connor and Kane Bonke, Albert Tiong, Daniel Yueng, Sven Till, Wolfgang Hoffmann to name a few.

Her passion for teaching brought her to teach schools in Sydney, Singapore, Malaysia and Melbourne. Rebecca loves integrating props, multimedia and humour into her choreographies.

Miss Bec has recently joined the teaching staff at TBDA and will be regularly teaching Intermediate Hip Hop, Senior Hip Hop and Advanced Hip Hop on Monday evenings in 2012.