The SCPAC Team

We are lucky to have the most amazing team at Sunshine Coast Performing Arts College, our dance/performing arts teachers and admin staff work hard both behind and in front of the scenes, all with a shared passion to provide a nurturing and professional dance environment for our students.

Our whole team share the desire to provide a safe and supportive environment for our dance-family to evolve and grow in their chosen dance and performing arts disciplines.

staff-alicia

Alicia Jones

Principal / Director

SCPAC trained from the age of 6, Alicia studied all styles of Dance available to her, including Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Pointe, Acrobatics, Drama and Musical Theatre.

After falling in love with teaching at a young age, Alicia took ownership with her mother Janelle and has been managing SCPAC since 2016.

janelle

Janelle Bryant

Administration / Director

Janelle Bryant has over 30 years of experience in business administration and management.

Having owned and operated many businesses in her life, Janelle was the ideal person to take ownership and management of SCPAC in 2016, along with her daughter Alicia.

dara

Dara Cust

kahli

Kahli Burchmann

kaela

Kaela Stevens

jasmyn

Jasmyn Bryant

dimity

Dimity Howard

Read more about our team

Our teachers love of dance is as strong as our students, and they used to be students themselves once upon a time. We love sharing our teachers accolades and dance history.

An SCPAC alumni, Alicia studied all styles of the Performing Arts from an early age. Participating in Exams and performing in local and interstate events and competitions growing up, Alicia represented SCPAC as the Competitive Team Dance Captain. Alicia has participated in performances alongside Expressions Dance Company and gained additional training from the best Choreographers in Australia. In her senior years, Alicia was accepted into A Full-Time teaching course in Sydney, and short-listed to be Ariel in Hong Kong Disneyland. In 2012, Alicia began studying her Full-Time Diploma in Elite Dance Performance, here on the Sunshine Coast. Alicia also worked as a Performer, Host and Suit Operator for International Company, ‘Showtime Attractions Australia’. Over her years, Alicia has also choreographed major events, including musicals and Flash Mobs for ‘The Today Show’ and the Commonwealth Games.

Alicia loved performing but fell in love with teaching at a young age. Miss Alicia began her studies to become a qualified teacher. Finishing her A.D.A exams (Formerly F.A.T.D) in both Ballet and Jazz (up to & including the Silver Level), she continued on to complete her Comdance (Formerly C.S.T.D) Grade 6, 7 & 8 Modern Jazz Exams. In 2013, during her last year of full-time dance training, Alicia successfully completed her Comdance Jazz Teaching Certificate without a mentor, as she was the first teacher to be qualified and accepted into the Syllabus at SCPAC.

In 2014 Alicia completed her Comdance Jazz Teaching Diploma, while successfully entering 44 students into exams. In 2015, Alicia moved to Far North Queensland, and began teaching at the Townsville Academy of Performing Arts (TAPA).  During her time at TAPA, Alicia met one of the greatest influences in her career and learned the importance of Safe Dance and technique training. Here, she also became an Affiliate Teacher of the A.T.O.D Association, entering students into the Modern Jazz examinations through alternate syllabi.

In December 2015, Alicia and her Mother, Janelle Bryant, took over Sunshine Coast Performing Arts College (SCPAC). As the new Principal, Alicia immediately began making changes for a positive new future, based on her training in Far North Queensland. Alicia attained her Certificate IV in Dance Teaching & Management, as well as her Certificate IV in Training & Assessment whilst in her first year of business. Although quite young, Alicia’s dance qualifications, knowledge and experience go far beyond her years. Alicia is constantly attending workshops and seminars to expand her knowledge to stay current within the dance industry, whilst also mentoring her staff with the ‘Dance Teacher Mastery’ Program and providing Nationally Recognised Training for her students, with the Certificate I – IV in Dance program.

Being both a student and teacher at SCPAC from the beginning, Alicia has unique insight into both sides of the dance world. Her desire is not merely to produce great dancers and competitors, but rather to develop artists and facilitate each students' dreams, whether that be professional dance, or otherwise. Alicia is passionate about being a positive role model and an inspiration to her students beyond just dance.

Janelle Bryant has over 30 years of experience in business ownership, administration and management.

After leaving school Janelle worked in administration for 2 years at Concord Hospital before undertaking an apprenticeship as a Compositor - Design and Layout working for her Family Printing Business on the Central Coast of NSW. After 5 years in the Printing industry, it was time for a change. Moving the family to Bundaberg Qld, Janelle and her family purchased a Caravan Park, which found them owning, managing and renovating the park for the next 3.5 years. In 1997 Janelle moved to the Sunshine Coast, with her husband Roger and two kids, pregnant with her third she focused on building their new home and raising the kids. After baby number 4 had arrived, Janelle and Roger were back into owning and managing their own businesses in the Garage Door Industry.

With two boys and two girls, Janelle was involved in dance with her girls for 15 years before purchasing Sunshine Coast Performing Arts College with her eldest daughter Alicia Bryant. The perfect team, with Alicia looking after the teaching side and Janelle the business management side.

Along with SCPAC, Janelle currently owns and manages two other businesses on the Sunshine Coast.

Dara Cust commenced her dance training at the age of 7 on the Sunshine Coast at Tina Geddes Dance worx and Fierce studios. In 2005 she extended her studies training with Queensland Ballets Extension Program (Now recognised as QB junior program) where she had her first opportunity performing professionally in a Russian Character piece in the Companies annual 'International Gala' Season at QPAC.

She continued her classical and contemporary training and taught senior Jazz at Anne Fraser School of Dance until she graduated year 12. After receiving Distinction in her final RAD advanced two exam Dara went on to a full-time ballet course, Queensland Ballet Professional Year Program (Now recognised as the 'Young artist Program'). The elite program of 12 students gave her opportunities to take company class and rehearsals alongside the company dancers, specialised tuition from industry professionals and perform in various ballets, both in Brisbane and on tour. She was awarded the Patricia MacDonald Scholarship at her graduation that year. Dara continued on as a trainee dancer in the Company and was offered further performance contracts in 2010. Also, working in their Educational Sector as a guest teacher Dara ran workshops in dance schools and primary/secondary schools in open ballet class and QB repertoire. This is where she first worked with SCPAC.

With a stark contrast to her recent years in classical, Dara continued her performing career with the world's largest Cruise ship company 'Royal Caribbean International', rehearsed in Florida and set sail to perform numerous shows on various ships around the world. In between contracts, Dara taught choreography, open classes and workshops for various schools including ‘Queensland Dance Performance College’ (Now recognised as SCPAC Transition Program). Dara then began teaching on a permanent basis on the Sunshine Coast and North Brisbane, where she has happily resided with SCPAC.

Allana started dancing in all styles at the age of 4 with a particular love for classical ballet. At 15 she attended the Queensland Dance School of Excellence, now QLD Ballet Academy, attaining a diploma of dance. After graduating Allana was accepted into the full-time program at the Queensland Conservatoire of Ballet, where she completed a diploma in classical and contemporary dance. Her next 2 years of full-time training were with Prudence Bowen Atelier.

At 14 Allana began assistant teaching at her local dance school. She continued in that role during her full-time training for a further 6 years before moving to London where she taught at 2 ballet schools.

Allana then moved to Ireland when she accepted a full-time teaching position at a distinguished dance school and soon after was given responsibility for the ballet department. She also coached both male and female students who were later accepted into full-time dance studios in England.  It was through that experience that she discovered her passion for teaching and immense joy from helping and inspiring young dancers to work towards their dreams.

In 2013 Allana began her teacher training with the Royal Academy of Dance and is now a fully accredited Royal Academy of Dance teacher.

Highlights in her career include attending the Genée International Ballet Competition in London, the annual Dance Teachers Summit in New York and acceptance into Disneyland Paris. Allana's passion for dance has enabled her to make a successful transition into ballroom dancing competition where she holds a current Australian title.

Dimity started her dance training at the age of three in Mackay, where she attended Leisa Payne School of Dance and studied all genres including Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Acrobatics, Acting and Singing.

Dimity has attained all Royal Academy of Dance Classical Ballet graded and vocational examinations up to and including Advanced 1. She also completed her C.S.T.D Jazz examinations from Primary up to Grade 8 and her C.S.T.D Tap Pre-Primary and up to Advanced Gold Bar exams. 

From a young age Dimity started taking Drama and Singing classes, and throughout the years she has completed all of her Speech and Drama exams with Trinity College of London. In 2015 Dimity attained her Diploma of Performing Arts (Musical Theatre) while in grade 12.

Throughout her 12+ years of competing, Dimity has travelled to multiple Eisteddfods across Queensland, where she has competed in the Charters Towers, Townsville, Ayr, Rockhampton, Emerald, Bundaberg, Gladstone and Mackay Eisteddfods. She has won multiple solos, groups, championships and major awards.

Dimity’s love of teaching started at the age of Fifteen, she started out as a student teacher and moved onto taking her own classes at the age of Seventeen.

Mackay City Council has also bestowed Dimity with the prestigious award of the Jack Sturgeon bursary for Arts in 2016. In that same year she moved to Sydney to attend Macquarie University completing a Bachelor of Arts (Majoring in Dance and Performance).

Over the four years while in Sydney, Dimity taught at numerous dance schools. She also worked in the TV industry, working on the Jackie Chan film “Bleeding Steel” and numerous TV Series such as Home and Away, Skinford, Doctor Doctor, The Easy Beats and many more.

In December 2019 Dimity moved to the Sunshine Coast after graduating University. Dimity started teaching at SCPAC in 2020 teaching RAD Ballet, C.S.T.D Tap, C.S.T.D Jazz and many other classes including Jazz Technique, Adult Jazz, Drama and Production.

At the end of 2021 Dimity started studying the Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies with the Royal Academy of Dance. This two-year program will allow Dimity to register as a teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance.

Dimity’s qualifications include:

  • Blue card
  • First Aid Certificate including Anaphylaxis training
  • Acrobatic Arts Certificate Module 1
  • Diploma of Performing Arts (Musical Theatre)
  • Bachelor of Arts (Majoring in Dance and Performance)

Kaela started dancing at the age of 3 in Sydney, before moving up to the Sunshine Coast and training with SCPAC. In all her dancing years, Kaela has had experience in both CSTD Jazz and RAD Ballet training. Over the years Kaela has trained in every style of dance, including Jazz, Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Tap. Kaela has also performed in eisteddfods, competitions and dance companies all over Queensland.

Kaela’s passion for teaching dance started in 2015 where she began teaching a Hip Hop class and multiple genres of dance with our very own primary students. Kaela expanded her dance studies, completing her Certificate IV in Dance. Kaela also completed a Bachelor of Primary Education and is currently working closely with students with special needs. Kaela currently runs the Senior Performance Team at SCPAC contributing her teaching, choreography, and polishing skills to their eisteddfod routines. Kaela also runs the Hip Hop, Commercial Jazz and Heels classes while teaching junior CSTD Jazz and Jazz Technique classes also.

In 2019 Kaela visited America and had the opportunity to attend multiple studios such as: Millennium Dance Complex, Movement Lifestyle, EDGE Performing Arts, Playground LA, and Kreative Minds. In this trip she learnt from some of the best choreographers to build her Commercial style in Jazz, Hip hop and Heels. Some of the choreographers included were Kirra Harper, Liana Blackburn, Gerran Reese, Candance Brown, Alexis Carra and Denzel Chisolm.

Kaela continues in her own time to participate in open classes across Queensland and perform in company showcases to ensure she is teaching the most on trend and up to date styles as possible. Most recently Kaela performed with NeoVida Contemporary Company. Kaela is passionate about being a positive role model, not only in dance but also in life to all students at SCPAC.

Jasmyn started dancing at the age of four here at SCPAC. In all of her years of dancing, Jasmyn has trained in every style of dance including Jazz, Commercial Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tap, Acrobatics and the Performance Team.

Jasmyn has competed in eisteddfods around Queensland since she was 10. As well as dancing through a studio, Jasmyn has studied dance through both junior and senior school where she was given the opportunity to kickstart the eisteddfod groups at her high school and choreograph the competition routines.

The desire to dance out-grew the school gates as Jasmyn travelled with her studio to Sydney each year from 2013 to 2017 for the Australian Dance Festival where she performed with her studio team, attended workshops and sought advice and guidance from industry leaders such as Marko Panzic, Paul Malek, Cat Santos, Lauren Seymour and so many more. Jasmyn has also been a part of other performances including two televised flash mobs with her studio organized by the Sunshine Coast Council in 2016 and 2018.

Jasmyn began student teaching at the age of 11 and since then has not only completed her grade six, seven and eight CSTD Modern Jazz Exams but also attained her Module One Acrobatic Arts Teaching Certificate in 2017, her CSTD Modern Jazz Teaching Certificate in 2018, her Module Two Acrobatic Arts Teaching Certificate in 2019, her Acrobatic Arts Pre-School Teaching Qualification in 2021 and is currently in the midst of training for her CSTD Modern Jazz Teaching Diploma. Jasmyn now teaches many styles of dance to ages 2 through to 13 including two of the competition teams here at SCPAC.

Kahli started her vocal training at the age of 13 on the Sunshine Coast. She attended private tuition vocal lessons for 4 years and was trained on ballads and the classic hits. She has also attained AMEB certificates up to Grade 7 and received honours.

Kahli has been teaching Vocals since the age of 17 and has since then expanded her practice to teach guitar and keyboard as well. Music is her passion and she thrives on the connections that can be made through singing.

Kahli since then has attained an abundance of music awards all through schooling and in 2016 received the TAFE Queensland Scholarship for Music. In 2016 she graduated with a Diploma of Music and in 2017 went on to study a Bachelor of Music at the Queensland University of Technology. She is currently in her final year of her Master of Teaching degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast and aspires to be a music teacher to share her passion.

Throughout this time Kahli performed regularly on the Sunshine Coast for 9 years. She has performed in groups, duo’s and her own independent projects. Kahli’s latest projects include song writing and distributing songs through major platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. She collectively has over 46,000+ streams on Spotify alone for original songs,  ‘Gold’, ‘Unsteady’ and ‘Vanity’. She has also received radio play on Triple J Unearthed. She plans to release more music in the future.