Faculty

Lisa Perry - Tap

Lisa Perry is a hugely experienced dancer who has worked with many of Australia’s leading choreographers including Ross Coleman, John O’Connell, David Atkins, Toni Bartuccio, Kelly Abbey, Aleeta Blackburn and William Forsythe among many others. Lisa has worked extensively in musical theatre, film, television and corporate entertainment and appeared in numerous music videos and commercials.

Lisa has also worked as a performers agent and was one of the founders on Mark Byrne Management, now a highly successful entertainment group and has a great deal of industry knowledge and contacts.

Lisa is a gifted and talented instructor and has been teaching dance since she was sixteen. After giving up professional dancing to be a full-time mother Lisa is delighted to be able to share her incredible passion for dance, particularly Tap, with a new generation of dancers.

Dein Perry - Tap



Dein Perry is one of the foremost exponents of Tap in the world. He is the creator and choreographer of TAP DOGS one of the most successful Tap shows of all time and won the prestigious UK Olivier Award (for Best Choreography) two years in succession (TAP DOGS in 1996 & Hot Shoe Shuffle in 1995).


Hot Shoe Shuffle was the first all-Australian musical to play London’s West End and Dein created the choreography with David Atkins and starred in the production which toured extensively in Australia and internationally.
Dein then conceived and choreographed TAP DOGS, which was the hit of the 1995 Sydney Festival and has since toured four continents. TAP DOGS has won numerous international awards including an Obie (USA) and the Pegasus Award from the Spoleto Festival.

Dein’s many awards include; the Mo Award for Dance Performer of the Year three years in a row (1996 -1998); two Australian Green Room Awards for Best Original Choreography (TAP DOGS in 1996 & Hot Shoe Shuffle in 1995) and he was nominated for a New York Drama Desk Award for Best Choreography (TAP DOGS 1997). 


In 1998 Dein Perry’s Steel City (directed, choreographed and performed by Dein) toured Australia before playing a special season at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Dein went on to direct and choreograph his first feature film, Bootmen (Fox Searchlight) which was released in October 2000 and received five AFI awards.


Dein choreographed the final segment of the celebrated Sydney 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony, which was screened around the world to an audience of over 3 billion. 
TAP DOGS returned to Sadler’s Wells in 1993, the tenth anniversary tour played Australia in 2005 and the show continues to tour the globe.


Currently TAP DOGS is performing at London’s West End and a second company is touring Canada and USA before returning to Sydney’s Capital Theatre
in early 2011.


More recently Dein has been revolutionising the football world with his drum squad, directing and conceptualising high profile corporate engagements and has a number of theatrical projects in development.


Dein is passionate about Tap and is delighted to be able to share his knowledge and expertise with young Australians through Tap Dogs HQ.


Nathan Sheens - Tap

NATHAN SHEENS (Performer) Nathan is an original cast member of Tap Dogs and has toured around the world with the show including London's West End and New York City. He became Dance Director and took over the lead role for the 1997 North American Tour. In 1998 he played the lead role in Dein Perry's Steel City, which took him back to NYC for a season at Radio City Music Hall. He appeared with the Dogs at Quincy Jones 25 Years in Music performing with the phenomenal Stevie Wonder. In 2000 Nathan assisted Dein Perry to choreograph the Sydney Olympics Games Opening Ceremony. Other theatre appearances include original cast of the Australian musical Shout and the role of Eddie for hit musical MAMMA MIA! at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre. Most recently Nathan has been appearing as part of the original Australian cast of Billy Elliot in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Jay Johns - Hip Hop and Acrobatics

Jay began his dance training from the age of 13 at Dance Avenue Studios. Inspired by mentor Michael Corbett he then proceeded to complete Certificate IV in Performing Arts at ED5 International Graduating in 2012 & under the direction of internationally acclaimed choreographer William A Forsythe. Jay's on stage performances include Beats Per Minute (Nathan Sheens) Premiers concert, NRL Grand Final & television appearances on Australian Idol & So You Think You Can Dance.

Matt Papa - Tap

Matt Papa is trained in all styles of dance and was a finalist in the Australian Dancer Of The Year 2005 & 2006, since then has gone on to perform worldwide from: Australia, Europe and the USA with the Tap Dogs and has been a cast member since January 2007. 



Since then Matt has had the opportunity to perform with the company at such events as: The finale shows of So You Think You Can Dance Australia and Dancing With The Stars as well as the NRL Centenary Ball, Sydney Boat Show, Bacardi B Live and the 2008 World Youth Day Opening Ceremony. 



Some of Matt’s other credits include the Jeans West Fashion Launch, Hearts 4 Haiti and Doulton House corporate events with The Next Step as well as television appearances on All Saints and Home and Away as well as being in advertisements for Suntory Whiskey (Japan), jaPOP (Japan) and Capri Sun (USA). 



Matt was also invited to choreograph a piece for the 1st Carnival Choreographers Ball in Sydney which was a three man tap number called ‘213’, most recently Matt has created a touring workshop called TAPistry that aims at bringing tap dancing workshops to regional areas of Australia.

Jason Lewis - Hip Hop & Tap

Jason began his dance and acting training at the tender age of 7, at Brent Street Studios, McDonald College and CHPYC in Sydney, Australia. His 15 years of experience has seen him travel the globe, performing with such artists as Fergie (MTV Awards), Olivia Newton-John, TV Rock, Caroline O’Connor and Cindy Lauper.

Jason’s intense training has allowed him to work with the best choreographers in the business, Kelly Abbey (Happy Feet) Cameron Mitchell, Matt Lee (Australian Idol), David Atkins (HAIR Media Launch). At age 16 Jason began creation on his own show ‘The Next Step’ and is currently directing, choreographing and managing this all male group.  (www.thenextsteponline.com) Jason has been a member of Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs since 2005 and been fortunate enough to experience their worldwide tours (SOUTH AFRICA, KOREA, EUROPE and LONDON).

Jason unique Hip-Hop style has allowed him to achieve 8 years experience teaching all over Australia. He has been teaching at Tap Pups for 2 years and will continue to pass on his knowledge, training and passion for dance for years to come.

Linda Gamblin - Ballet

Linda trained with the Royal Ballet School in London and went on to perform principal roles in ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Nutcracker La Fille mal garde, and Beauty and the Beast, whilst working with the Australian Ballet, Royal Ballet London, National Ballet of Portugal and Sydney Dance Company.

Linda has worked with contemporary choreographers such as Michael Clarke, Jiri Kylian, Meryl Tankard and Graeme Murphy and has performed extensively throughout the world with highly successful tours to Europe, Asia and the United States. In1989 Linda represented Australia competing in the VI International Ballet Competition at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow winning the Moscow Magazine Award for popular dancer.

Sally Clark - Jazz

Sally has worked extensively in theatre, film, television and fashion throughout Australia, South East Asia, Japan, Germany and the USA as a dancer(Jazz, Tap, Classical), singer, actor and model.

She has performed in the musicals, Cats (Bombalurina) Follies (Young Phyllis) Anything Goes (Purity) Nine (Guillietta) and on television in “Home & Away”, “All Saints” as well as “The Don Lane Show”, “The Bert Newton Show” and “Countdown”.  Her film credits as a performer include “Bootmen” and “The Three Stooges” .

Sally is also recognized as one of Australia’s leading choreographers with screen credits such as, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, THE THREE STOOGES (US telemovie), THREE MEN & A BABY GRAND (ABC TV) and the Australian Fashion Awards (Channel 7)
Her choreographic work also sees her creating Corporate theatre events for LEXUS, GOLDWELL, MERCEDES, TOYOTA, OPTUS, SCHWARZKOPF, THE BERLEI GROUP, GILLETTE, WELLA, CALVIN KLEIN, COCA COLA, SAMSUNG and VIRGIN MOBILE – as well as Fashion productions for MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION FESTIVAL BRISBANE and ROSEMOUNT AUSTRALIAN FASHION WEEK.

Other work sees her conducting Workshops in Musical Theatre Teacher Training, Master classes in “Presence and Performance”, and she has been a regular writer for Dance Australia magazine, since 1999.

Deborah Whitelock - Acrobatics

Deb is a professional dancer and choreographer with 25 years experience in the dance and entertainment industry.

Studying at the studio of Peta Norton in Perth, she is highly trained in all styles of jazz as well as, tap, classical ballet, lyrical, highland dancing and acrobatics, gaining a wealth of knowledge which she gladly passed on to students of her own studio for over 12 years. Along with her dance training she has qualifications in Health and Fitness (Cert III & IV), Sports Science (BSc) and Sports Training.

Her professional performance experience has seen her work with well-known Australian and International music artists, performers and choreographers and along with teaching acrobatics at Tap Pups, she currently works at ED5 International, Mango Dance Studio and Caper School of Performing Arts.

From 2003, Deb has travelled the world with Grayboy Entertainment (Sydney), Princess Cruises (LA) and P&O Cruises Australia (Sydney). Her association with these companies included the roles of Dance Captain and Assistant Cruise Director and most recently, choreographer, where she is solely responsible for rehearsing and introducing new casts to all technical aspects of each show onboard.

On returning home to Perth, Deb choreographs event entertainment for Bent Knee Creative, and on her most recent trip home was Guest Adjudicator for the Onstage Performing Arts Competitions.

Sally Hare - Hip Hop

Sally made her musical theatre debut in the Australian production of Fame the Musical (chor/dir: Kelley Abbey). She featured in What is Jazz (Veronica Beattie), and was chosen to perform at Hats Off. Film credits include Happy Feet 2 (dir: George Miller) and Goddess (dir: Mark Lamprell).

Sally’s versatility has enabled her to perform at major events such as the Snoop Dogg and Nelly Concert, The Soul Nation Festival in Jakarta performing with RnB artist Israel (chor: Rosa Aguis), The World Festival of Magic Australia and New Zealand, the 2000 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies (dir: Doug Jack chor: Dein Perry), and a number of major sports events. In 2009 she choreographed and hosted Wrong Prom at Carriageworks and was chosen by Kelley Abbey to perform in the My Mutation Live event as part of the Sydney Festival.

Sally has appeared on SYTYCD Seasons 2 and 3, Australia’s Got Talent Season 2 and Mornings with Kerry Anne, has featured in TVC’s for Foxtel, SYTYCD, Suntory, Samsung, McDonalds and Bonds and has danced at a number of corporate events for a number of Australia’s leading choreographers including Jason Coleman, Simon Lind, Project Moda, Leah Howard, Juliette ‘Jet’ Verne, Veronica Beattie, William Forsythe, Robert Sturrock, Travers Ross, Virginia Ferris, Olivia Ansell and Alana Scanlon, to name a few.

Renae Perry - Tap

My sister Renae has been an experienced Tap teacher over the past 20 yrs. She has learned the same techniques and trained for the same amount of time as myself. 

It is wonderful to have Renae head the Newcastle branch of Tap Pups as Tap has always been a part of our family. I am proud to finally have my sister as a part of the Tap Dogs team. She will run the same steps and combinations as I do with the Sydney branch.

In between commitments I will visit the school to see how the boys are progressing to ensure a high standard.

- Dein Perry

Tiara Perry–Coates - Tap

Tiara has been trained in all styles of dance by some of Newcastle and Sydney’s leading  dance teachers. Since completing her Performing Arts Certificate IV at Brent Street Studios she has performed in many stage, film and corporate productions, including Bootmen.

As well as teaching tap dancing at some of Sydney’s leading dance studios, Tiara is also a tap dancing examiner in the Newcastle region, which is renowned for it’s high standard of tap.

As Tiara works closely with Dein and TAP DOGS HQ, she is able to bring Dein’s latest work up to the Newcastle branch of TAP PUPS.

Sandra Parkes - Ballet

Sandra trained as a student of renowned ballet teacher Tessa Maunder. As a dancer she achieved many awards Australia wide including the prestigious Pavlova Ballet Championship. Sandra has been teaching for the past 22years with many of her students now performing with the Australian Ballet Company as well as many being placed in Ballet Companies throughout America and Europe.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Sandra, with her strong and very successful technical training methods, as a part of our teaching faculty.

Damien Moore

Damien joins our team this year as a specialist coach in Tumbling and Sports Acrobatics. He brings with him a wealth of experience and has been coaching for more than 15 years. Damien was twice named Australian Men’s Tumbling Champion. He also represented Australia at the Junior World Championships in Beijing where he was placed 6th overall and placed 3rd in his twisting pass. At his peak, Damien trained under the expertise of the Chinese junior Olympic Team coach, Huan Lin Sin, where he learned skills that would keep him on par with the best tumblers in the world. Damien hopes to bring some of this knowledge and experience, along with his own creativity and flair, in order to develop the individual potential of each student.

Edward Miller OAM - Ballet (Guest teacher)

Edward Miller has had an extensive career in Ballet Companies in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Although his achievements are many, they include being a soloist with the Borovansky Ballet and the Royal Ballet, including two Royal Command Performances. He has been a guest teacher with many ballet companies and schools around Australia.

Edward received an “Order of Australia Medal “ in 2000, for his services to Classical Ballet and the Community.

With his wealth of knowledge and experience particularly with the training of boys,  we are very fortunate to have Edward (Ted)  as a part of our teaching faculty.

Elissa Klinkenberg - Jazz

Elissa began Tap & Jazz at the age of 5 studying the international tap syllabus L.G.T.D.A. At the age of 11 she was excepted into the Hunter School of Performing Arts and continued her training and had great success in eisteddfods' throughout NSW winning many championships & scholarships.

Elissa has performed in various ensembles including Celebrations for Prince Charles and the 2000 Sydney Olympic opening ceremony.

After graduating from high school in 2001 Elissa went onto study in the Fitness Industry completing her Certificate III & IV in fitness before taking on the role as a full time Personal trainer and Dance teacher. In January of 2006 Elissa began teaching in Primary schools around Newcastle and the Central coast with students successful in Hunter Region School’s Dance Festival and Star Struck each year.

Elissa has worked closely with Renae Perry for many years and is pleased that she can continue her passion for dance in such wonderful company.