"Classical Connections" Newsletters
Click on the links below to read current and past editions of WACBTA’s newsletter “Classical Connections”, with news and interesting articles on a wide range of ballet-related topics.
Let us hear from YOU! If there is a topic you would like to read about, let us know and we will find an expert to write about it. Or even better, if you would like to submit an article on a relevant topic, please send it to us at admin@wacbta.org.au.
Issue 3: March 2026 – LATEST ISSUE!
Issue 2: August 2025
Issue 1: March 2025
Read more about our valued contributors
JOSEF BROWN is an Australian actor, dancer and choreographer. Josef attended The McDonald College of the Arts and the Australian Ballet School, where he was promoted to soloist in 1994. He joined the Sydney Dance Company in 1997 and appeared in and choreographed various productions. Josef originated the role of Johnny Castle in the stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing. For his portrayal of Johnny, Josef won the Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical accolade at the 2005 Australian Dance Awards. He has appeared in TV productions such as Dance Academy, Home and Away and Neighbours.
Josef is currently the Relations and Development Director at MDM Dancewear, and the Managing Director of The Library Aesthetic. https://thelibraryaesthetic.com/
MARIAH-JANE THIES is an award-winning Canadian dance educator with a 40-year career dedicated to innovative and holistic training. Specialising in ballet and modern, she draws from brain science on stress, learning and developmental movement to create The Radiant Dance Teacher course suite to enhance both technical skills and embodied and real learning. A registered RAD teacher, mentor, and teacher supervisor, Mariah-Jane holds a dance teacher degree from GMCC and is a certified Evans Laban-based Modern teacher. Her expertise and certifications extend into Brain Gym and Rhythmic Movement Training, where she focuses on integrating primitive and postural reflexes to optimise movement, learning, and performance.
In 2024, she was honoured with the RAD Innovation in Dance Teacher Award for her groundbreaking work on the ideal brain state for learning and performance and her leadership in building The Radiant Dance Teacher, a thriving community of 3,000 educators. She is also a requested content creator for The Library Aesthetic Dance Media, an exciting new online platform for dancers and teachers. A sought-after speaker, Mariah-Jane presents internationally at conferences such as IADMS, NDEO, RAD, Body-Mind Centering and the World Congress of Dance, continually pushing the boundaries of dance education.
SCOTT PUTMAN is a US-based teacher, choreographer and movement specialist, who was formerly Head of Dance at Virginia Commonwealth University, and who has worked throughout the USA and internationally in the UK, Mexico, Italy, France, China and Australia. Scott is the creator and Master Teacher of the seminal Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS), a series of exercises designed to activate intrinsic musculature for greater structural integrity and kinetic efficiency. EBAS developmentally works from the inside out informing the students’ understanding of centre line concepts while activating core integration, enhancing the students’ ability to articulate and gesticulate their bodies. It is a holistic practice acting as a cross-training for all forms of dance, physical theatre, sports and yoga.
If anyone would like to explore EBAS, WACBTA secretary Robyn Cooper, runs free online classes for anyone who would like to join. Contact her on admin@wacbta.org.au for more details.
DENISE NUNN began her dance training in NSW and trained at the Royal Ballet School, London until graduation, when she took up a long-term contract with the Royal Ballet Company Covent Garden, London.
Denise performed all the classics and had roles created on her by Sir Frederick Ashton and John Neumeier, and later, while with the Australian Ballet Co, Graham Murphy.
In recent years Denise has taught and choreographed for noted ballet schools at many levels. Having always had a keen interest in ballet technique, she has drawn upon her studies of both the English and Russian systems of Ballet Training, specifically the work of the renowned teacher, Eileen Ward, who herself studied extensively with Vera Volkova, an exponent of the Vaganova tradition.
LEANNE STOJMENOV grew up in Perth, and began her professional career at West Australian Ballet at the age of 17, then in 2001, she joined The Australian Ballet Company, where she spent 18 years, eight of those in the role of Principal Artist, leading the company. Leanne worked with choreographers including Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, John Neumeier, Wayne McGregor and Sir Peter Wright and performed works by aspirational visionaries such as George Balanchine, John Cranko, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian and Nacho Duato. She was awarded the Australian Dance Award for Most Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for her portrayal of Cinderella, in Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella.
Since retiring from the stage, Leanne has worked as dance lecturer at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and as one of the founding committee members and later Vice President of Ballet Without Borders. Leanne joined the West Australian Ballet’s Artistic Management Team as Rehearsal Director in 2024 and in August 2025, she was appointed to take over from David McAllister as WAB’s Artistic Director from 2026.
ANGELA PERRY is a well-known and respected Perth educator, holding a BA, MEd, and a Grad Dip (Ed Dance/Drama). With over 40 years in dance education and a passion for arts, education, and community impact, Angela has shaped the performing arts community across schools, universities, and VET programs. She has choreographed for musicals and productions across various dance genres and founded the Australian Dance Teaching Festival and Teaching Awards to elevate the dance teaching profession. She has worked for Notre Dame University Australia, Edith Cowan University Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Curtin University, has written for a variety of publications including production critiques and review writing, research articles, books and dance curricula.
She has worked with students on many different levels and in a variety of settings, including mainstream, giſted and talented, and those with special needs or at educational risk.
A judge for the Performing Arts WA Awards since 2018, Angela is also a Curtin University Excellence in Teaching Award recipient and a WAAPA graduate.
