Emma Hunter
Business Director
Emma is an accomplished and versatile dancer, with a passion and appreciation for all dance styles. She began her training at the young age of 6 with Académie De La Classique, where she was exposed to Cecchetti Method and RAD methods of classical dance. Through dedication and hard work, she successfully completed all major exams, solidifying her foundation in ballet. Expanding her skills, Emma also trained in Jazz, Tap and Contemporary styles, adding range to her repertoire. Completing her certificate III & IV in Dance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, led her to move to Melbourne to pursue full-time study in 2007 at the National Theatre Ballet School, graduating in 2009 with an Advanced Diploma in Dance (Classical Ballet) and furthering her studies years later with The Western Australian Conservatoire of Classical Ballet before returning to Melbourne in 2012.
Emma’s career led her to work as an independent Artist with Vienna Festive Ballet in London, Melbourne Dance Theatre (now known as Victorian State Ballet) and was a founding company member of Melbourne City Ballet. Her career highlights have been performing at both the Adelaide and the Sydney Fringe Festivals, being a Ballet Mistress for the Melbourne City Youth Ballet, performing soloist roles in Carmen, Coppelia and being principal dancer during the Melbourne season of Placebo in ‘Grief’ and ‘Catharsis’. View Emma's Career highlights here.
Emma hung up her dancing shoes and retired from dance 10 years ago to begin a career Managing Bloch Camberwell. Working within this environment provided her the ability to share her skills and knowledge with new ballet parents, full-time students, and teachers. Bloch instigated and developed Emma’s skills in the art of pointe shoe fitting which continued at Costume and Ballet Centre on her return to Perth in 2018.
Emma is now a qualified Occupational Therapists graduating with Honours from Curtin University. Along with her many other ambitions, Emma hopes to work within the Soft Tissue industry, focusing on muscular health and well-being. Emma has first-hand experience and a deeper understanding of the importance of educating students on safe dance practices, injury management, and prevention to enhance their enjoyment of their sporting endeavours no matter where it takes them in the future.
Charlie Hunter
Business Administrator
Charlie Hunter is the driving force behind our new endeavour. Charlie grew up in Dance from the age of 4 and from an early age has studied a range of styles from Classical Ballet (RAD Syllabus), Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical, Glen Wood Tap, Ballroom, Latin, and Irish Dancing. Charlie has completed a range of Irish Dancing exams and won the NSW State Irish Dancing Championships in 2007, 2009, and 2010 and outside of dance, has competed at State level track and field events throughout High School.
Charlie has always been passionate about dance, athletics, nutrition, science, and fitness. After graduating High School, he was drawn to Wollongong University to Study Mechanical Engineering and Physics and although is extremely passionate about these fields, such passions were overshadowed by his love and attraction towards dance, encouraging him to take leave from his university studies to dance full-time.
After studying full-time Classical Ballet in the Northern suburbs of Sydney, he became a personal trainer and massage therapist through the Australian Institute of Fitness (AIF). Shifting between the dance and the fitness and athletics worlds he quickly discovered a disconnect between the athletics training methodology and the artistic model. Though dance is considered an artform, no one will argue against the athletic component that exists therein. Charlie has thus become obsessed with deciphering these nuances of both worlds, recognising infinite ways these fields overlap.
Becoming obsessed by the differences and the overlaps he has become extensively well-read in Strength and Conditioning, Sports Training, and Nutrition. After a decade of investigation and reading more than 250 books, he believes he has started to uncover and unravel the methods top athletes use to ensure their high level of performance and their secrets to maintaining such performance through a focus on longevity, and has begun applying these training models to the dance world.
Collaborators
We don't think for a single second that we know everything and have all the answers. We understand that we are imperfect fallible humans and as such we often seek advice from those with more professional experience and talents than we alone do, as such we are constantly learning and evolving, finding new ways to do things better and meet the needs of our people. Some of those we work with are as follows.
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Christian Luck
Former Soloist at Western Australian Ballet
Christian was born in Sydney and started dancing at the early age of 4. When he turned 12, he was invited to attend the Mc Donald college of the arts on a full scholarship. In 2001, Christian was accepted into the Australian ballet school where he successfully completed his diploma of the arts in 2003. In 2004.
Christian started his professional dancing career with Western Australian Ballet and 18 years later, became the Company’s longest serving company member in their 73 year history. In this time, Christian performed in over 100 ballets and travelled all over the world with WA Ballet. Some career highlights include, Marcelo in Simon Dow’s La Boheme, Boris Lementov in Simon Dow’s the red shoes, Prince Charming in David Nikons beauty and the beast, Tyballt in Yuri Vamos’s Romeo and Juliet and many many more.
Christian retired from full time professional dancing at the end of 2022 and has since joined Youth Ballet WA as a fulltime ballet coach, nurturing the future generations of classical ballet. Although retired from active service, Christian is still regularly invited to perform as a guest artisit for WA Ballet, recently taking on the role as The King in their 2024 Season of Sleeping Beauty at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, WA.
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Chris Carswell
Grade Examiner (BG), Competition Adjudicator (ADCRG), Teacher (TCRG), CLRG, Irish Dancing
Chris was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, settling in Geelong in Victoria in 1999. He started dancing in 1995 at the age of 12 with the Rabusin School and later the Breen-Kerr School with Kellie Breen TCRG (Teahers Qualification) and Alison Kerr ADCRG (Adjudicators Qualification). Chris achieved top 10 placings at the World Championships and All Ireland Championships, and top 5 placings at the North American Championships, European Championships and British Nationals. Chris also won the prestigious Senior Men Australian Championship in 2004 and 2005, as well as numerous regional Oireachtas titles in both Solo and Ceili.
Chris retired from competition in 2008 and moved to London, where in 2010 he studied for his TCRG. Chris moved back to Australia in 2012 and achieved his ADCRG in 2013. Since then Chris thoroughly enjoyed adjudicating regularly throughout Australia and internationally, notably at the 2019 Great Britain Championships in Torquay, England, the 2023 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, and the 2024 North American Championships in Dallas, Texas. He has also adjudicated at many regional Oireachtaisí and Championships worldwide over the last 11 years. Chris also has long experience teaching fun, non-competitive Irish dancing for primary-aged students in the UK and Australia. In 2024 Chris also became a CLRG Grade Examiner (BG).
Chris has been National Secretary of the Australian Irish Dancing Association (AIDA) since 2019, and has been a member of the National Council of AIDA Inc. and of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) since 2017. He currently serves on CLRG as Vice Chair of An Coiste Faire (the Ethics Committee) and a member of the Inclusion and Diversity Work Group, having previously served on the Music and Dance Committee and the “An Ré Órga” committee for the 50th Anniversary World Championships.
Chris retired from competition in 2008 and moved to London, where in 2010 he studied for his TCRG. Chris moved back to Australia in 2012 and achieved his ADCRG in 2013. Since then Chris thoroughly enjoyed adjudicating regularly throughout Australia and internationally, notably at the 2019 Great Britain Championships in Torquay, England, the 2023 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, and the 2024 North American Championships in Dallas, Texas. He has also adjudicated at many regional Oireachtaisí and Championships worldwide over the last 11 years. Chris also has long experience teaching fun, non-competitive Irish dancing for primary-aged students in the UK and Australia. In 2024 Chris also became a CLRG Grade Examiner (BG).
Chris has been National Secretary of the Australian Irish Dancing Association (AIDA) since 2019, and has been a member of the National Council of AIDA Inc. and of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) since 2017. He currently serves on CLRG as Vice Chair of An Coiste Faire (the Ethics Committee) and a member of the Inclusion and Diversity Work Group, having previously served on the Music and Dance Committee and the “An Ré Órga” committee for the 50th Anniversary World Championships.
Graham Slack
Pianist, Composer and Music Producer
Graham is a classically trained pianist, and award-winning composer.
After attending music college, he had several different jobs accompanying ballet, dance lessons and exams around London, including the Central School of Ballet. He gained experience in traditional scored music as well as improvised dance classes using the Cecchetti method. He has also written music for 2 ballets - The Magic Word, and The Princess & the Frog for the ‘Let’s All Dance’ Company, which are performed regularly. He then attended the National Film & TV School in Buckinghamshire.
As a composer for TV, he has composed over 150 episodes of Morphle (Disney, Netflix, over 11 million subscribers on YouTube), Go Buster (seasons 5 & 6) and Mila’s Book of Magic Pets.He has written music for the Yakult TV & cinema adverts, as well as promos for Google, Listerine, Thomas Cook, Sky Sports & Play-doh.
He has also composed music for feature films, including The Riddle (Metrodome)(starring Vinnie Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi ), and horror film Assault of Darkness (Lionsgate). His latest film ‘Mum Said’ has just been released and is on Amazon Prime, and has received an Award of Excellence for Original Score from IndieFest.
Graham is also a local piano teacher in the town where he now lives in Sussex, South - East England. Graham can be contacted at www.grahamslack.com and is a regular ongoing Collaborator with SoaR Dance Studio Composing and Producing all of our music for Ballet and Irish Dance Classes.
As a composer for TV, he has composed over 150 episodes of Morphle (Disney, Netflix, over 11 million subscribers on YouTube), Go Buster (seasons 5 & 6) and Mila’s Book of Magic Pets.He has written music for the Yakult TV & cinema adverts, as well as promos for Google, Listerine, Thomas Cook, Sky Sports & Play-doh.
He has also composed music for feature films, including The Riddle (Metrodome)(starring Vinnie Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi ), and horror film Assault of Darkness (Lionsgate). His latest film ‘Mum Said’ has just been released and is on Amazon Prime, and has received an Award of Excellence for Original Score from IndieFest.
Graham is also a local piano teacher in the town where he now lives in Sussex, South - East England. Graham can be contacted at www.grahamslack.com and is a regular ongoing Collaborator with SoaR Dance Studio Composing and Producing all of our music for Ballet and Irish Dance Classes.
Rachel Sneesby
Communications, Marketing, & Public Relations
Rachel is a dedicated mother of two, born and raised in Sydney, with a passion for helping others realise their ambitions. While not a dancer herself, she has a deep appreciation for the discipline, grace, and beauty of ballet. Rachel hopes to see her daughters develop their own love for the art form—while also enjoying the stunning outfits that come with it.
With a Bachelor of Communications, Rachel has built an impressive career in marketing and partnerships, having worked in corporate partnerships for leading organisations such as UNICEF Australia, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Football NSW, and the NRL. Her diverse experience across these sectors has honed her expertise in branding, digital marketing, and campaign development. Rachel thrives on creating compelling stories and connecting brands with audiences through strategic marketing initiatives.
In addition to her corporate experience, Rachel loves working with her personal clients to help them bring their creative visions to life. She specialises in digital marketing and design, working closely with clients to craft compelling stories that resonate with their audiences. Over the years, Rachel has been part of numerous high-profile events, including the Usain Bolt charity foundation dinner and the Athletics All-Stars event, featuring NRL athletes, UFC fighters, TV personalities, Australian artists, and Olympians. She also played a key role in Hopefest, a charity event led by Australia’s sports stars to raise funds for the 2011 Queensland Floods.
Outside of her professional life, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and exploring new opportunities that fuel her passion for creativity, growth, and making a positive impact.