Our Team
Our Director - Miss Candice
* Over 18 years Teaching Experience
* Cert IV in Performing Arts (Vocals & Dance)
* Acrobatic Arts Teacher Accreditation
Candice Arnold is the founder and director of Footloose and is a local mum of three who has lived in the Hornsby Shire her entire life. Starting as a Dancer at the age of 3 Candice commenced her Teaching Career when she was just 15.
After completing High School, Candice continued her dance training graduating from ED5 International in 2009 with a Certificate IV in Performing Arts. After briefly pursuing a career in the dance industry, including performing overseas, Candice soon found that Teaching dance was her true calling and hence Footloose Performance Studios was born.
Candice has been running Footloose for over 10 years and it brings her so much joy to share her love and enthusiasm for the Performing Arts with not just our Students, but the whole Footloose Performance Studios Family. With an extensive background in both Dance and the Performing Arts, Candice’s mission is to provide her students with excellent dance training while giving them a memorable and positive dance experience they can’t find anywhere else.
To find out more about Miss Candice and her experience in the Dance Industry
Our Superstar Teachers!
Jessica Rego
* Cert IV in Dance (Triple Threat)
SST, Performance Troupe, Jazz, Acro, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Dance Cirque
Jessica is a teacher and performer from Sydney. She completed her Certificate IV in Performing Arts at Brent Street 2015 under the guidance of Cameron Mitchell, Lucas Newland and many other industry professionals. In 2017 Jessica took part in Show Business Melbourne and was mentored by Marko Panzic.
Jessica has been teaching since 2014 in multiple styles including Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, Musical Theatre and Acrobatics.
Kai Bowers
* Cert IV in Performing Arts
* Professional International Program – Majoring in Contemporary & Commercial
SST, Performance Troupe, Jazz, Hip Hop, Acro, Contemporary
Kai is a Sydney based dancer and choreographer. From a young age Kai has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Tap, Acrobatics, Drama and Singing competing and performing with their dance schools competition teams. Kai attended Pymble Ladies’ College where they continued their studies in dance completing their HSC dance and receiving multiple callback nominations, as well as being a member of their competition teams and performing in many of their musical theatre productions.
Following High School Kai completed Full Time training at Urban Dance Centre where they received their Certificate IV in Performing Arts before moving to New York to complete a Professional International Training Program at Broadway Dance Center. Their triple threat education extends over 20 years in schools and programs within Sydney, LA and New York.
Kai has worked as a performer in shows throughout Australia and the United States alongside the likes of Justice Crew and Redfoo, with the choreographers of Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Rihanna and Lady Gaga and for shows, events and companies such as The Morning Show, Channel V, Mardi Gras, The X-factor, Optus and The Starlight Foundation.
In addition to performing, Kai has been teaching for over 10 years in a variety of styles with their favourite styles to teach being Jazz, Contemporary and Hip Hop. Kai has choreographed for performances and competitions in studios throughout Sydney and New York and is excited to work with the Footloose Performance Studio dancers.
As a Teacher, Kai’s main aim in the studio is to push students to test their limits and surpass their comfort zones in a safe, comfortable and fun environment; and to nurture a passion and encourage pride in their achievements.
Klarissa Gennusa
* Registered RAD Ballet Teacher
Ballet, Pointe
Klarissa trained at The Conlan College of Classical Ballet for her foundation followed by full time training from 2010 until graduating in 2015. Klarissa has completed all of her RAD Examinations receiving high distinction in all major examinations with 100% in her Advanced 2. She recently featured in the movie “Dance Academy the Comeback” released in cinemas 2018 as well as starring in a store film “Reverie” played at Sydney Film Festival.
Following graduation, Klarissa received many offers to travel overseas with companies such as Ajkun Ballet Theatre and Stara Zagora State Opera Ballet and in 2018 Klarissa joined Melbourne City Ballet. Her performance credits include “Crystal Fountain fairy solo”, ” Silver Jewel solo”, “White cat pas de duex”, nymphs, attendant in Sleeping Beauty, “Mercedes” Carmen’s best friend in Carmen, “Kate American Pas de deux” in Madame Butterfly, “Spanish pas de duex”, snowflakes, party guest in Nutcracker.
Klarissa has been teaching all over Sydney, Melbourne and Tamworth for many years. She has a passion for inspiring young dancers and spreading her love and knowledge for dance to each student to watch them grow individually as a dancer.
Anna-Julia King
Jazz, Musical Theatre, Singing, Yoga / Pilates & Barre
Anna-Julia is a British performer who has worked in theatre internationally for over 10 years and trained from a young age with BBC Childrens Television and also LAMDA.
Career highlights include Rodger&Hammersteins Cinderella (Cinderella), Rent! The Musical (Swing), Peter Pan The Rock Musical (Wendy) MTV music awards – Italy, Lip Sync Battle PARAMOUNT TV Network, FLICK – The Power of Motion Pictures (Lead Vocalist), America Rocks (Lead Vocalist) and The Celtic Angels – Germany (Vocalist)
Anna has also worked on Cruise Ships as a Singer and Vocal Supervisor (Carnival Cruise Line & Seabourn Cruise Line).
Brooke Winchester
Ballet, Jazz
Brooke has been dancing since she was five years old (which is now a very long time!) and has always, from her very first ballet class, loved every moment of it. Growing up in Kempsey, NSW Brooke trained at Woodlands College of Dance, completing her Exams in Ballet Australasia Limited (BAL)
Ballet (up to elementary level), Tap (advanced level) and Jazz (advanced level) as well as competing in dance eisteddfods for many years.
After graduating high school and moving to Sydney, Brooke may not have pursued a career in the dance industry but she continued to attend open dance classes to keep her love of dance alive.
As a current Footloose Dance Mum (of two beautiful little girls) and a Footloose student herself, Brooke is so excited to be part of the Footloose Team and can’t wait to inspire confidence in her students and share her love of dance with the next generation of dancers!
Emily Rego
* Diploma in Dance
Pre-School, Little Monkeys, TumbleTown, Jazz
Makaila Thorne
* Cert IV & Diploma in Dance
Pre-School, Little Monkeys, Jazz
Makaila found her passion for dance at a very young age at GCSDANCE on the Central Coast where she trained with a focus in RAD Ballet, Jazz and Tap.
After finishing school Makaila furthered her dance studies at Ettingshausen’s Pro where she was trained and mentored by some of the best in the industry graduating with a Certificate IV and Diploma in dance. While at Ettingshausen’s Makaila was given the opportunity to perform on The Voice & Dancing with the Stars as well as appearing in the Opening Performance of the 2020s ICC World Cup.
Kaitlyn Tavoletti
Tap
Kaitlyn is a teacher and performer from Sydney. Dancing competitively from the age of 6, Kaitlyn has been trained in all styles of dance including Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics, Lyrical and Contemporary. She is also trained in Lyra and Silks. Kaitlyn has performed at a variety of events in recent years including the Lisa Harnum Foundation Dinner – 2016, the ANWTS Charity Gala Dinner in 2018 and the Ronald Mcdonald House Christmas In July from 2017-2019 and is currently represented by Dargie Entertainment.
Kaitlyn has been teaching multiples styles of dance since 2016 and is looking forward to being part of the Footloose Team.
Our Superstar Customer Experience Team!
* Candice Arnold – Director /CEO
* Karen Jones – Administration Manager
Karen is a former Registered Nurse with extensive experience in work, health and safety. Karen moved from hospital nursing into school nursing when she took up a position at Barker College in 1990. In 2017 she retired as the Barker College Health Centre Manager to support Candice, her daughter, in her passion to grow her dance studio. Although a Nurse by trade, Karen has always had a love for drama, dance, theatre and musicals. As Candice’s mum, she became a dance parent very early on and was involved in co-ordinating many Primary School Musical Productions, as well as directing many productions for Berowra Musical Society. While her children are now grown up, Karen loves supporting Candice with managing the Studio while teaching some of the Musical Theatre classes and being part of the creative process behind the end of year performances.
* Jodie Minchero – Administration Assistant
Jodie is a local mum of 3 and has joined Footloose in an administrative role to provide some behind the scenes support. She has worked within a number of industries such as hospitality, education, IT, and healthcare and has over 30 years administration experience.
Jodie says – “Having 2 of my own kids dance with Footloose I was always impressed by the professional and supportive environment for all the dancers, I am really excited to now be part of the Footloose Team”.
