​​​Before moving to Melbourne and joining Flare in 2015, Kristie had already been exposed to many different dance styles. She began with ballet at the age of 5, but soon started learning jazz, hip hop, and tap as well. However, she was mainly a jazz dancer, and completed most of the ATOD exams as well as a few CSTD exams for jazz.

Kristie was always interested in Performing Arts ever since she was young. She learnt both the piano and flute from a very young age, which therefore made her a very experienced performer. Even up to this day, she regularly performs as a musician. She also participated in annual dance performances with other students of the same dance school. Since Kristie mainly concentrated on being a jazz dancer while growing up, she stopped doing other dance genres during her teenage life.

​Kristie is very excited to be a part of the committee again this year. Although she will deeply miss planning and organising everything for Flare as 2016 secretary, she is looking forward to leading Flare and continuing to make many opportunities for members to grow and perform.

Born with two left feet and a bad posture, Lois began her dancing journey when she was placed in a ballet class by her mother who had occasionally caught her learning her sister’s routines from outside the rehearsal spaces. She had always enjoyed watching from afar so transitioning to the stage from the audience seemed like a no brainer. After some many years, Lois stopped classes to focus on her studies and future, only relying on some well renowned YouTube channels to follow the gossip in the dancing world. Soon she felt saddened at the loss of what used to be part of her weekly routine and decided to join Flare, whose President was her sister at the time.

For the past 2 years, Flare has given Lois many new friends who she see as her extended family. From classes to dinners and the spontaneous karaoke sessions continuing into the next morning, the people that make up the club have made a large impact on her life and helped her through stressful times. She hopes newcomers will feel as welcomed as she did and wishes her Flaremily will grow more in the year 2017.

Benedict’s passion for dance was ignited by countless videos of hip hop choreography circa 2010. He didn’t have a chance to grow much in terms of dance until he came to Melbourne for university. He was a part of the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) International and participated in a flashmob choreographed by a fellow Flare member at the annual Night Market, which then directed Benedict to Flare Dance Ensemble.

After joining Flare in 2015, he took part in a couple of pieces for Flare’s annual production “Be”. His love for dance continued to grow in Flare, and he made lifelong friends along the way. In 2016, Benedict danced for Flare’s annual production “Ascendance”, and choreographed a gig piece for a student ball as well. Not long after, he joined the committee as one of the new vice presidents. He is dedicated to supporting Flare’s growth, both as a dance club and a loving community.

​Ashleigh's dance journey began at a young age, when her mother signed her up for preschool ballet classes. Ever since then, her love for dance has grown immensely, and she has become exposed to various other styles through joining Flare. Since joining Flare, Ashleigh has been able to co-choreograph a gig piece and a video project, as well as participate in various dance projects. It is thanks to the club that she has had so many opportunities to dance, choreograph and teach.

Flare has become a tight-knit second family for her, and thus she is eager to give back to the ‘Flaremily' that has given her so much. In the future, Ashleigh particularly wishes to improve her choreographing skills in the hopes that, with Flare, she can share the joy of dance with the community.

Vincent’s dance journey began in 2012 through a spontaneous decision to undertake dancing as a comical way of completing his Year 9 school project. As an anime-loving hermit, whose interests solely revolved around numbers and dinosaurs, he never really expected himself to develop a genuine passion for dance. However, through the nurturing support of his teachers and friends, dance has grown to become an integral part of his day-to-day life. Vincent was inspired to join Flare after watching their 2014 production ‘Breaking Barriers’ and it has certainly been a momentous milestone in his dance life.

Originally he stuck with hip hop but soon began to pick up other styles like contemporary and lyrical. Having performed in various events and videos, having choreographed for casuals and gigs, Vincent has been given a plethora of experience and opportunities in Flare. He hopes that in time he is able to continue to nurture the friendly culture that forms the foundation of this club and to give back to the community which has already given so much to him.

A small Chinese girl, who has way too much energy for her own good, began dancing as a way to stop being a hyperactive child for at least 10 minutes. Fast forward a few years later, she managed to graduate highschool (while retaining her infant body size ) and finally join the dance club she had watched perform for so many years.

Through Flare, Joyce has been able to try out many different genres but sadly a graceful leap in the air always turns out to be more of an awkward hop-and-trip kind of thing. And so, you’ll most likely find her in an Choreography class.

​It is often noted that her loud voice can be heard from anywhere and everywhere, therefore as a way to save costs on purchasing various microphones and speakers, she became a Publicity Officer. Joyce hopes she can help Flare reach more people for it truly is the best dance club in Melbourne.

Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.
– Rapunzel, Tangled

​Adele’s been no stranger to the concept of performing arts ever since the first time her kindergarten teacher pushed her onstage to tell “The Three Little Pigs” for being the most talkative kid in class. She enjoyed the occasional dance in her bedroom however it wasn’t until 2012 that she attended her first dance class. From then on, she performed in multiple showcases and competitions, mainly in the genres of K-Pop and new jazz.

Since joining Flare in early 2016, Adele discovered so much more that she could love doing – various dance styles she never thought she’d be interested in as well as teaching a massive group for the very first time. She’d had her eyes on this very club even while she was still studying in Malaysia and made a promise with herself to one day be part of the Flaremily. She’s excited to see what she is capable of doing at Flare in the years to come, and is striving to become a better dancer and hopefully one day a proud choreographer.

Starting out by joining his high school’s talent competition with 6 other friends (shoutout to Superheroes), Zach had a taste of his first ever dance experience and loved it. He decided to pursue dancing a little more by putting himself in a studio and learning basic hip-hop for 5 months. Despite his growing passion, he stopped dancing at the age of 17 to focus on his studies.

A year and a half later, Zach found himself sitting in the audience of Flare’s 2015 production ‘Be’. Being wowed piece after piece, he wondered if he had the skills or even the guts to set foot in one of Flare’s classes. Little did he know, a friend would bring him to his first class, and he would go on to be graced with his first Cocktail Night piece the next year.

From being the awkward newbie in his first piece, to being part of Flare’s 2016 production, Zach finds that Flare has opened his eyes to so much more in the world of dance, offering genres that he had not even heard of before. As much as he appreciates the opportunity to grow and have fun outside of Uni, the friendships and memories made are what Zach cherishes the most. Finding a family miles away from home, he hopes to give back to Flare as part of the committee this year. Zach is proud to call himself a Flarian and looks forward to continuing life with the Flaremily.

With strong interests in dance since year 8, in 2016 Nancy finally mustered up the courage to start her dance journey through Flare. Having had the opportunity to dance for a whole year, Nancy has found a new passion and love for both dance and the Flare community. Influenced strongly by the street dance, she has developed immensely as a dancer and has also begun to build her confidence throughout the past year with the support of her fellow Flarians.

Despite starting the year with little dance experience, ​Nancy has been given many opportunities within Flare to perform and has participated in various dance projects. She is now strongly driven to improve as a dancer so that in the future bigger opportunities may come her way. As part of the committee for 2017, she hopes to motivate and welcome newcomers of Flare to the community and enrich their dance journey experience.

Georgia has always been a bit of a copycat (or dog, since she loves both). As soon as she found out that her childhood friend started learning jazz dancing, she wanted to try it too. However, at the age of nine, she was starting to feel a little adventurous for once and chose to learn not jazz, but hip-hop dancing instead. Little did she know that it was the best decision of her life, and alongside many other dance genres, she would grow to love this amazing art form - it never failed to make her happy. The amount of times she has embarrassed her friends and family when she grooves to the beat in public is perfect proof of how she cannot live without it.

There were a few blank years in high school with little to no dancing at all, but Georgia has concluded that she will never make the same mistake ever again. She wishes to continue her journey in discovering dance, not only aiming to improve her skills within the genre she started out with and is most comfortable with, but also sucking up knowledge from every other genre of dance in order to become a true dancing sponge.

Kevin's first encounter with Flare was during the O-Week of his first year of university (2015). After witnessing a breathtaking performance, he, along with several other fresh-out-of-high-school friends, was inspired (coerced) to join. They all whipped out their cash and signed up that very day. Riding the waves of this newly found passion, he went on to attend his first ever dance class during Flare's Welcome Week. Following this success, he proceeded to not attend a single class for the remaining 10 months of 2015.

2016 however, was a different story. After spending the entirety of his first year studying and striving for nothing but grades, he felt he needed something more in his life. He wanted to throw himself into something completely unrelated to academics and what better way to fulfil that goal than joining that dance club from first year in which he'd had zero participation? So once again, in the year 2016, Kevin whipped out his cash and signed himself up.

This time however, Kevin genuinely wanted to participate. So he went to classes, practised routines, tried out for gigs and somehow he found himself a part of three amazing performances. And although some of the most nerve-wracking, heart-pumping and all round terrifying experiences of his life, they were some of the most rewarding. But it wasn't just rewarding in the sense that he could improve from a fumbling mess to something relatively stage-worthy, it was also because in the process of going to classes, rehearsing and just simply "giving it a shot", he was able to meet so many people who he now consider as some of his closest friends.

​Jeffery’s passion for dance was inherent, yet he was always hesitant to pursue it. 2014 was the year that would change his life, joining Flare and encountering those who he would refer to as “Flare-mily”. With little to zero knowledge of dance, his first few dance classes were a complete disaster. Reluctant to let the fears of being inadequate stop him, his persistence was unwavering. His belief is that if you don’t try, you will never know - if you fail, just try again.

Beginning in K-pop, he soon explored other genres such as Contemporary. Little did he know, he would end up performing in a Modern Chinese piece which further built his foundation and techniques. That’s the beauty of Flare. The club pushes an individual out of their comfort zone to explore new territories, expanding one’s repertoire and promoting growth as a person and a dancer.

Although there is still endless amount of knowledge to be gained, Jeffery is willing to put in the effort to become a better dancer and he encourages everyone else to do the same. Jeffery plans to utilise his skill set as Ticketing Officer to give back to the club that has given him so much more.

Never had Sheehan done any routine dancing before, but after seeing Flare performances, thought “damn, gonna give this a try!” and that is how his adventure began. A tough beginning, always failing, but ‘give up’ was not an option and he has continued to grow as a dancer. They say that those around you, shape you, and this has most definitely been the case. Inspiration from all his peers “Don’t give up! You can do this” has played a huge role in his love for dancing. Sheehan started off breakdancing, never really considered other styles, but after joining Flare, the possibilities emerged and it was only gonna get better. Dancing with everyone in Flare has been an integral part to his life and it has let him undertake dance in various styles and opportunities still to come. Without a doubt, he says “You definitely will not regret joining and dancing with Flare. If anything, you will only move up, never down.”

And with that, Sheehan hopes to give back to the club which welcomed him warmly. With mates he can’t desert, he wants to encourage anyone with an interest to break out of their shell and join the club you will not regret.

Annalee began to dance ballet at age 9. A few years later, she started jazz and then contemporary and tap. After moving from Canberra to Melbourne for University, Annalee joined Flare at the beginning of 2015. Throughout the last two years of Flare, Annalee has taken the opportunity to both perform and teach dance. In her first year, she performed in a lyrical piece at Flare’s annual Cocktail Night and then a few pieces at the end-of-year Production. Throughout her second year in Flare, Annalee has also taught a few classes and co-choreographed a Jazz video project. Within these two years, Flare has provided Annalee the opportunity to both work on her pre-existing styles and explore dance styles she otherwise would not have tried.

In 2017, Annalee would like to continue to explore new and old dance styles as well as teach more dance classes. Annalee is thrilled to be a part of the 2017 committee where she hopes to help enrich the experience for newcomers as well as encourage dancers to try new styles. As the charity officer, Annalee wishes to help share the caring spirit of Flare with the wider community.

Robert is a second year student from the University of Melbourne science faculty. He is currently studying towards becoming a qualified software engineer. He is also of Chinese origin and speaks mandarin at home.

Robert started his dance journey during the orientation week of his first year at university. It was an impulse decision he had made after only attending one lesson. It ended up being one of his best decisions in uni! He is currently focusing on funkstyles and animation such as popping and gliding.

Robert's other hobbies include film making, photography, League of Legends and skateboarding.

Phillip’s dance experience begun with the Melbourne High School break dancing club, Soul Power. Through Soul Power, he instantly knew dancing was something he was passionate about and deeply enjoyed, however, constant injury staggered his progression as a break dancer.

Because of this upon starting his first year at Melbourne University, Phillip was eager to join Flare in order to expand into different genres of dance such as hip-hop and contemporary. He found himself opening the doors to a friendly and encouraging community, full of countless passionate individuals who were ready to both improve alongside him and bolster his appreciation of dank memes.

Since joining flare, Phillip has taken part in several performances, all of which were the highlights during his first year at Uni. Though the initial transition in dance styles proved difficult, through perseverance and love for the art, he has progressed from an unco-ordinated mess to……. a slightly less unco-ordinated mess, still willing to learn more and improve no matter what.

"Trust me, you’re a good dancer."
– Vodka

Jacqueline's first taste of dance began with ballet at the age of 4, however one year later aged 5, she decided to pursue traditional Chinese dance instead. This became the main focus of her dance for many of the following years of her life until she was exposed to contemporary dance at the age of 16.

Ever since Jacqueline was young, she was always interested and attracted by the performing arts. She learnt to sing in the early stages of her childhood and this became the first step in her becoming a performer. In terms of dance performances, she first started when she was 6. She participated in various dance performances and competitions with her dance troupe back in Malaysia and then in 2012 in China, participated in an international traditional Chinese dance competition in which she won Gold. Not long after, Jacqueline felt that she wanted to become a dancer that could cope with a variety of dance genres, so she began learning contemporary, lyrical and jazz styles. Then, soon after joining Flare Dance Ensemble in 2015, she also began dabbling in commercial styled dance.

Christine began dancing at the age of 4 at a small dance school which ran by the CSTD syllabus. There, she was exposed to ballet, jazz and tap exams. Once she reached high-school, she became heavily involved in her high-school dance program. Through this program she was given many opportunities to perform. Following this love of dance, she was a member of the school’s Rock Eisteddfod team in 2012. Her first experience in creating a dance number was during her VCE studies where she had to perform two solo performances.

Christine joined Flare in 2013, her third year of University, excited to push herself to choreograph a contemporary group number for the production. This very crazy decision proved to be very stressful and overwhelming, but ultimately, extremely rewarding. Not only did she get support from Flare, she developed many friendships with others who share her passion. Due to these friendships, Christine choreographed again in 2014, experimenting with a lively Jazz number instead.

When teaching, Christine is always inspired by the dancers who take her class, truly believing that training and technique may shape a good dancer, but it is commitment and passion that shape a great performer. As a member of the committee in 2017, Christine hopes to help Flare grow to be able to reach and inspire more dancers.