Born in Tanzania, East Africa, perhaps I was born with the African love of movement and rhythm!  I began my dance training at age 3 (British Ballet Organisation Method) and later trained up to Solo Seal standard in the Royal Academy of Dancing Syllabus and during my youth I danced with the South Australian Children’s Ballet.  Despite knowing the lack of stability that a career in dance might bring and of the competitive prospect of gaining work in the dance industry, dance was my passion and so in 1998 I undertook an Associate Degree in Dance at the Queensland University of Technology, and graduated in 1999.
I gained my first professional dance employment with Expressions’ Dance In Education Company, then two years later, the Artistic Director, Maggi Sietsma, invited me to join the main company, and I made my debut performing at the Beijing Modern Dance Festival.  I continued with the company, performing major roles both nationally and internationally for another six years.  During this time I had the opportunity to dance works choreographed by many world class choreographers and I was also fortunate to perform in Katie Noonan’s music film clip “Time To Begin”, choreographed by Natalie Weir.  My choreographic debut was “Café 3941” in 2006 for the company’s “Either Side of Forty” Season. 
In 2008 I chose to become a Brisbane based Independent Dance Artist in a quest to push my development as a dance artist.   I have since collaborated on many Brisbane projects and in 2009, performed a short, self choreographed work as a guest artist for the Royal Academy of Dancing’s “Sir Robert Helpmann Centenary Scholarship Awards” in Adelaide.  In November of 2010 I was commissioned by the South Australian Children’s Ballet Company to choreograph and perform a contemporary solo as a guest artist for their Silver Gala celebrating the company’s 25 year history.  This year I am excited to have been commissioned by EDC to choreograph and perform a solo for their “SOLO Festival” at the Judith Wright Centre in April/May.  I  also recently danced in the film clip for Electropop Duo - Edge of Colour’s new single “Tokyo” which was a great deal of fun.
A significant amount of my work as an Independent Artist has been in collaboration with Independent Dance Artist, Zaimon Vilmanis.  We collaborated to create “Forgotten Interlude”, commissioned by Sybella Blencowe, which premiered in Adelaide and was then also presented in Brisbane for Ausdance Queensland’s Bell Tower II Series.  We also choreographed and performed “Drift”, for Mad Dance House which was later commissioned by the Aboriginal Centre of Performing Arts to be remounted on two of their students for their season of “Souls Entwined”.  Last year I worked in partnership with Zaimon and Independent Photographer/Film Maker/Composer, Ryadan Jeavons , on “A Likely Distrust” - a project researching the interaction of dance theatre with film projection.  It was a first stage development made possible by a Fresh Ground Residency (a Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts Initiative supported by Arts QLD).  We hope to take this to a second stage development this year and to form a new dance/theatre/ film collective in Brisbane in the near future. 
The opportunity to extend my dance experience was presented when Leigh Warren invited me to join his Adelaide based project company in 2009. In my first year I was involved in the ‘Artists in Health’ program at Flinders Medical Centre which was awarded a South Australian Business Arts Award.  That year I also danced in the company’s national tour and at the prestigious Holland Dance Festival.  Early in 2010 I took the opportunity to work collaboratively with Guest Choreographer, Prue Lang (Ex-dancer for William Forsythe and well regarded Independent Choreographer in Paris, France) as well as with Leigh Warren for the company’s premiere double bill, “Frame and Circle” for the Adelaide Festival. In the same year I danced in “Maria De Buenos Aires”, a tango opera in collaboration with the State Opera of South Australia.  This year I will join Leigh Warren and Dancers for the Oz Asia Festival (Adelaide) and the Brisbane Festival.
I also continue to be a sessional dance lecturer for the Queensland University of Technology, an Associate Artist for EDC and I teach for various dance schools in Brisbane.  I have led dance workshops and classes around the world; highlights have included teaching for the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, the Wellington Summer School, the Development of Contemporary Dance in Noumea, and last year for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
In 2009, I was selected to be a participant in the SCOPE (Securing Career Opportunities and Personal Employment) program and continue with the program, valuing the organizations ongoing support in this transitional period of my career.
I also maintain a membership with Ausdance and through this dance advocacy I have become aware that the dance scene in Brisbane is very fragile.  Last year, I formed Brisbane Dance Artists Hub to provide Brisbane Dance Artists with a friendly platform to communicate with each other.  Through BDAH I hope to strengthen the voice of the Brisbane Dance Sector in years to come. 
The evolvement of Dance in Brisbane is extremely precious.  Because of my belief that actions speak louder than words I have found myself pursuing a new pathway in the dance industry so that I can play an active role in contributing to dance’s evolvement.  I continue to base myself in Brisbane and aim to shift my dancing focus to choreography over coming years, endeavoring to create my own portfolio of choreographic works; hoping to establish my career as a highly sought after Choreographer and as a Dance Artist that chooses to rise to the challenge of making significant contributions to my art form.

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