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About Us

What We Offer

Established in 2006, Dance Northside teaches community-focused recreational dance for students aged 18 months to adult in a quality, educational, non-competitive, and fun age-appropriate environment that embodies kindness, respect, and community. We offer classes for students of all ages across a variety of styles. Our focus is on sharing our love of dance with all our students, and we have a strong commitment to their holistic development as well-rounded happy individuals and competent dances. Our values of kindness, respect and community surround everything we do at Dance Northside. The health and wellbeing of our community is important. All classes are delivered in accordance with our COVID-19 Plan.
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The Team

Holly Diggle - Studio Director
Holly holds a BA in Dance Performance (Theory and Practice), a Diploma in Dance Teaching and Management, an RYT 200hr Yoga Teacher Certificate and a 50hr Kids Yoga Teacher Certificate, both accredited with Yoga Alliance and is Youth Protection Advocates in Dance (YPAD) certified.

She has extensive professional performance experience, having performed throughout Australia and toured internationally. Over the years she has worked with choreographers such as Elizabeth Cameron Dalmon (OAM), Graeme Watson, Michael Whaites, Cadi McCarthy, Bernadette Walong, Darren Green, Robyn Prichard, Meg Millband, Adelina Larsson and many more. Holly was nominated for an Australian Dance Award ‘Most Outstanding Female Performer’ for her work in Mirramu Dance Company’s ‘River’ and was awarded ‘Most Outstanding Choreography Award’ and the ‘People’s Choice Award’ for Contact Improvisation Performances in collaboration with Keira Mason-Hill for Short and Sweet Dance Festival. Holly was honoured to become one of the ‘faces’ of the ACT Public School Alumni and to be publicly acknowledged, as a ‘Person of Note’ in 2014. The alumni list was initiated to acknowledge people educated through the ACT public education system, who have gone on to become leaders in their chosen field. In 2018 Holly was a finalist in the Canberra Women in Business Awards. Holly has over a decade of teaching experience, ranging from dance studios, primary schools, high schools, colleges and universities. She has also worked with refugee groups, women in recovery and youth at risk. Following her young son Toby's birth, Holly created Little Wigglers (originally Wiggle with Diggle) into the Dance Northside timetable, a class for dancers aged 18 months to 4 years.

Holly’s specialty is Contemporary Dance, and she gives a strong, physical and technical class. Her teaching methodology is inspired and informed by the desire to provide a positive, confidence-building experience for her students. Holly is committed to her students' holistic development, both as dancers and as well-rounded and happy individuals.
Morgan Brown - Studio Manager
Since the age of two, Morgan has been dancing since the age of two and has studied tap, contemporary, jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip-hop, and musical theatre. Her love for dance flourished when she commenced teaching at Dance Unlimited, Mudgee in 2011.
She has proven to be an accomplished dancer, finishing all her LGTDA exams with Honours and Honours Plus and completing her RAD Ballet Exams from Primary-Intermediate. Morgan has extensive experience in a performance environment, taking part in eisteddfods and showcases since she was 6 years old. Highlights of her performance career include 1st Place in the Dream Dance Challenge, winning her first tap solo at the age of 7 and choreographing the winning routine of ‘Best Junior Group’ at Dubbo Eisteddfod in 2014.
In addition to her extensive dance experience, Morgan has worked as a manager in the fast-paced world of hospitality. After relocating to Canberra in 2018 is delighted to find a role that can combine her dance and management skills. It was the Dance Northside values that inspired Morgan to apply for the role of Studio Manager, and she is thrilled to be a part of the Dance Northside team.

Our Dance Teachers

Rebecca Allan
Cara Martin
Erin Gale
Niamh Martin
Laura Gerstenberg
Shayla Tarrant
Caitlin Johnstone

Concert

Dance Northside holds an annual end-of-year concert. This is an awesome opportunity for students to showcase their hard work and come together as a community.

The concert is a confidence-building and enriching experience for all students. We put on a high quality, yet stress-free show for both parents and students. The music we use, the choreography we create and the costumes we provide are always appropriate to the student's age. Our makeup requirements are minimal - in fact, optional! No sewing of costumes is required, just a small performance fee. All rehearsals are held within usual class times, with a short performance season.

Performance Team

Dance Northside has two Performance Teams, one is intermediate, and the other is advanced.
The performance teams work with various choreographers to create performance pieces of a high standard in Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Jazz styles, whilst maintaining the well-established values of Dance Northside.

We are not a competitive performance team; we do not compete in eisteddfods. We perform at local dance and cultural events around Canberra such as Raiders Games, Floriade, the Multicultural Festival and local Fetes. We aim to produce high-quality work and challenge our advanced dancers whilst maintaining a strong sense of community and personal growth.

Auditions for the Performance Teams are held annually. Students aged 10 years and over are welcome to audition. Please get in touch if you would like more information.