STAFF

JAIME RICHMOND
Principal
Jaime has been dancing since the age of 3. She obtained a Certificate III in dance from Tony Bartuccio's Dance and Performance Centre and she studied dance/drama at Deakin University. Jaime is an Associate in the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance and a Member of the Southern Federation of Dance. Jaime performed professionally since the age of 17, dancing for the Melbourne Storm NRL team, the Victoria Giants, and also choreographed and danced for the South Dragons in the NBL. She has performed internationally with her own award-winning Rock Eisteddfod creation. Since becoming a mother, she has retired from performing but has really sunken her teeth into teaching. She loves teaching kids of all ages from the pre-schoolers through to the elite seniors at Vibe. She has choreographed many National winning routines and also choreographed Vibe's first-ever Pinnacle winning item. Jaime's passion has always been dance and performance, and her dream is to share this with others!

PAUL RICHMOND
Director
Paul is the Director of Vibe Studios and can’t dance to save himself. He has 15 years of sales and marketing experience in a variety of fast-moving consumer goods businesses including, Carlton & United Breweries, Lion Dairy & Drinks, and Peters Ice Cream. He played a key role in turning the “MEGA” Studio dream into a reality. Paul has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Vibe Studios.

LAUREN KERR
Lauren has been dancing with Vibe since day 1. She began training in Jazz, Hip Hop and Cheerleading and later added Ballet and Contemporary. She became an assistant in her second year with Vibe and became a qualified USAF coach in 2009. She is now our Head Cheer Coach, a qualified Level 4 USAF Coach, qualified with the ADA at an Intermediate level and First Aid Certified. She has also completed SFD exams in Jazz and Ballet with excellent marks and is an accredited SFD Jazz instructor. Lauren believes in creating a positive, encouraging environment in which her students can grow and develop their skills, not only as an athlete but also as a person. She is proud to have taken home two Grand Champion Banners last year, as well as coaching Vibe's first cheer team to win a bid at Pinnacle.

AMANDA HOWARD
Amanda began dancing at the age of 4 and later joined Vibe in 2008. Here, she has been trained at a competitive level in Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Pom and Cheerleading. In addition to this, she has completed up to level 8 in SFD Jazz exams. After assistant teaching with us for many years, Amanda began teaching with us in 2013. She is qualified with the ADA at an Intermediate level and with USASF at level 4. Amanda studied Primary Education at Deakin University and graduated with High Distinction in 2017. She has choreographed multiple State and National winning dance and cheer routines for our competitive students over the years. Fusing together her passion for dance and her passion as an academic educator makes Amanda an excellent staff member at Vibe Studios.

NICHOLA THIEDEMAN
Nichola was introduced to dancing at the age of 7 years old. She is trained in many styles but ballet is definitely her passion. She started competitive dance in 2011 and has been a member of Vibe's competition teams ever since. Through the Southern Federation of Dance, Nichola has completed up to the Elementary level in classical exams, receiving honours with distinction and has also obtained the SFD teachers certificate. Nichola is also Cecchetti trained, still working towards all her dancing exams but has received her first Cecchetti teaching certificate in early 2021. Nichola began teaching in 2015, she has taught from preschoolers right up to the senior age group covering many styles and started teaching troupe in 2020. Nichola is loving every minute of her teaching journey.

CLAIRE FALLA
Claire has over 20 years of teaching experience in ballet, pointe and contemporary dance. Claire began dancing at the age of 5 under the direction of Miranda Kalgovas and has studied many different styles of dance. As a student, Claire was a Cecchetti Junior and Senior scholar and has completed her Advanced 2 examination as a dancer. Claire graduated from The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and later gained her Bachelor of Dance at VCA. Claire continued studies in dance teaching completing her Cecchetti teaching status to the highest level Fellowship. Throughout her career, Claire has had the opportunity to work with some of the best teachers and choreographers from around the world. With these experiences, Claire brings an extensive knowledge of dance to her teaching and has had many students go onto successful careers in dance
here in Australia and overseas.
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Qualifications
Bachelor of Dance – The University of Melbourne (VCA) 2000
Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Australia (Fellowship F.C.B.A – C.I.C.B)

RODNEY BURNS
Rodney has just started up with us here at vibe. He has been in the cheer world for over 10 years and is a qualified level 6 tumbling and stunting coach. He has been coaching children of all ages for over 15 years. Rodney first started out in Martial arts earning a black belt in MMA, he then transitioned into Extreme Martial Arts (the cool fight scenes you see in movies) and competed at the World Cup in Sydney earning a first place trophy and being a world champion for Extreme weapons. Rodney then went on to coach woman’s and mens Artistic Gymnastics for over 5 years and did some work in the International deployment program (Young Olympic level), he then transitioned into cheerleading and has since won over 6 national first place banners and a first place trophy in the Aloha competition in Hawaii.

SENA TAWIA
Sena has been dancing for over 20 years. She trained classically in ballet, jazz/funk, contemporary and musical theatre while growing up. However, she found her love of hip hop while in high school and hasn't turned back since. In 2013 she travelled to the United States to live and study dance full-time at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Her professional work includes NBL Melbourne United Dancer, Australian Open, Australia's Got Talent, Everybody Dance Now, Disneyland, Universal Studios Los Angeles and Disney's Anybody Can Dance 2. In 2018, she attended the IASF World Dance Championships in Florida where she placed 4th with all-girl crew DE.3. Sena holds a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science and a Bachelor of Media and Communication. When she isn't teaching or training, she works as a photographer/videographer, content creator and marketer.

ANNA ABATE
Anna started dancing at the age of 9 and began teaching in 2015. She received her Certificate IV in Dance and Diploma of Musical Theatre at Spectrum Dance full time performing arts. Anna has completed her SFD exams in Jazz and Ballet and is currently training in the styles of Jazz, Musical Theatre, Contemporary, Lyrical, Ballet, Hip Hop, Commercial, Partnering and Acro. Anna has performed at The Hope Ball, Ascend into the Darkness, The Australian Dance Festival, Shared Tables, Crown Palladium and The Palms at Crown. Anna also works for a children’s entertainment company called showtime attractions.

TAYLA DONKER
Tayla started at Vibe in 2007. She has done hip hop, cheerleading, jazz, ballet, contemporary and tumbling over the years she has been at Vibe. She is currently a part of the Level 4 Grand Champion, Pinnacle bid winning team Anacondas. Tayla started assisting in 2017 with the Grand Champion, Pinnacle bid winning team Taipans. Recently she gained her Level 1 coaching credentials with IASF and is excited to progress her coaching ability in the future. Tayla was offered her first fun cheer class in 2018. She now teaches both competitive and fun cheer which she very much enjoys and she cant wait to teach fun and exciting routines to all her students!

ELISE RULE
Elise Rule has been dancing for over 20 years and is trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop and contemporary. Elise has completed SFD exams in jazz, tap and ballet and trained full-time at Patrick Studios Australia with some of Melbourne's best teachers. Elise has worked professionally at the Annual Crown Palladium Ball, Bollywood film "Me and Mrs Kana" and "Pink Goes Gaga" tribute shows. Elise began teaching dance in 2005 and had fast become one of Vibes most requested teachers! Now, Elise is known as Miss Rule at her day job as a primary school teacher!

AINSLEY HEINRICH
Ainsley has been dancing since the age of 5, training in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary & Hip-Hop. In 2002 she gained the Southern Federation of Dance (S.F.D) Jazz Teaching Diploma then went on to freelance teach before owning her own dance studio for 5 years, whilst studying a Diploma of Dance Teaching at Box Hill TAFE. Ainsley has guest taught at Primary and Secondary schools, choreographing a variety of routines for school productions, graduations, VCE and VET dance. Ainsley danced with the Victorian State Dancers performing in 2 state school spectacular performances (Melbourne Park), and a wide variety of functions for both government and private industry. Ainsley joined Vibe as a guest teacher for exam levels, and hasn’t left!

ALEX COXHILL
Alex has been dancing ever since she was 4 years old and first came to Vibe in 2010. She became a part of the Open Shooting Stars and Lethal teams in 2017 and is still a part of them now. Alex is trained in jazz, contemporary/lyrical, ballet, hip hop and acro. She has completed her classical level 7 SFD exam and completed her first Cecchetti ballet exam in 2018, receiving honours in Grade 6. In early 2018, Alex danced in the Indefinite Dance Company’s contemporary show ‘Truth or Dare’ and also been a part of various performances with IDC including the Dance Writer Charity Gala and Masters of Choreography's ‘Shakespeare: Tragedies & Comedies’. Alex was recently a member of the winning team in the 2018 Grounded Battle of the Arts Next Gen Division. Alex has been assistant teaching since 2017 and is beyond excited to be living her dream of becoming a teacher in 2019!!

EMILY ARTIS
Emily has been at Vibe since 2015 and started cheerleading in 2016. In 2018, she was offered a position as an assistant teacher and also gained her qualification in Level 1 with the IASF. In her final year of high school, Emily was one of three choreographers for her school’s production of ‘We a Will Rock You’. Emily is beyond excited to be teaching and for the challenges it may bring.

FIRDAUS "BAUS" SABRY
Baus has over 10 years of dance experience namely Breaking and Hip Hop. He belongs to Soul Higher crew (Malaysia) and is now also representing Melbourne's best Hip Hop dance crew The SuperHoodz. SuperHoodz is the official hip hop dance team for NBL's Melbourne United and JD's Sports Melbourne. They recently just ended their America tour working with Disney and Universal Studios in California. When Baus is not performing, he is conducting workshops in primary schools and universities throughout Victoria. Baus strives to empower the next generation of dancers to become the best version of themselves

STEPH COXHILL
Steph first started dancing at the age of 5 and has been dancing at Vibe since 2010. She joined our troupe teams in 2016 and is trained in the styles of jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, pom, ballet and acro. She has completed her grade 6 and intermediate Cecchetti exams and had studied and trained 2 years of full-time dance at Patrick’s School of the Arts, and received her Certificate IV in Dance in 2021. In 2018, Steph was crowned as the winner for a piece she choreographed in the Grounded Battle of the Arts Next-Gen competition. She returned in 2019 and placed 3rd. Steph has also performed in many shows and performances with Indefinite Dance Company, a contemporary dance company directed by Casey Chellew including 'Truth or Dare', Masters of Choreography 'Shakespeare Tragedies VS Comedies', VDF, 'Affix', ‘Home’ and ‘All In’. She performed in the 2018 Victorian State Schools Spectacular at Melbourne Arena as an Ensemble Dancer, and in 2019 as a Principal Dancer. Steph became a teacher at Vibe in 2019, she loves sharing her passion for dance with her students and enjoys watching them grow and succeed!

JESSICA DAISH
Jessica started dancing at the age of 4 in 2008 at Vibe. She has been trained in the following styles — contemporary, jazz, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre, pointe, tap, popping & locking, pom and cheerleading. Jessica has been a part of several dance company performances including Indefinite Dance Company’s ‘Truth or Dare’ and ‘Affix’. She has also performed in Masters of Choreography’s ‘The Ringmaster’ and ‘Shakespeare; Tragedies and Comedies’. Jessica was a part of Vibe’s first ever team to win a Pinnacle bid and a Worlds bid. She went to America to compete in the 2017 USASF World Championship with Vibe and took many dance classes at studios such as Millennium Dance Complex, Broadway Dance Centre and The Joffrey Ballet School. Jessica has a Certificate II in dance and is currently completing VCE Dance at Rowville Institute of the Arts. She has also had some experiences with choreographing. She choreographed a piece for Indefinite Dance Company’s ‘In Bloom’ called ‘Home’, as well as a piece for Grounded Battle of the Arts ‘Triumph of the Tribes’ with which she placed 4th. Jessica looks forward to teaching at Vibe and can’t wait to begin her teaching career.

TAHLIA FARRELL
Tahlia began cheerleading with Vibe in 2011, after training in gymnastics for 4 years. She began teaching at Vibe in 2016 and is USASF qualified to coach levels 1 and 2. Teaching is her passion, and she is currently undertaking a degree in primary teaching at Deakin University.

CHRISTINA CRACHI
Christina has been a student at Vibe since 2007 and has competed in Hip hop, Pom and cheerleading throughout the years. Currently, she is a part of the 2021 Level 3 Grand Champion team Black Mambas. Christina recently found her passion for teaching cheerleading, where she started assistant coaching in 2020, and tumble coaching in 2021. Christina also holds her Level 1 coaching credentials with IASF.

HOLLIE WHEELER
Hollie has been at Vibe since 2015 and began competing in All-Star cheer at the beginning of 2016. She has been an assistant coach for the last 3 years and now teaches her own classes as an accredited Level 1 Cheer and Tumble coach. Vibe is one of her favourite places in the world and she thinks Vibe is an amazing place to be a part of.

SANDI KRISCHUNAS
Administration/Accounts Manager
Sandi taught mainly preps and grade ones for approximately 20 years at Lilydale West Primary school. In 2004 when her daughter Jaime opened Vibe Studios, Sandi volunteered to take on the relatively easy task of handling invoices and paying the bills for Jaime.....something she did in her 'spare time'. A few years down the track, Vibe grew a bit bigger, so Sandi found a partner and started team-teaching (one week on, one week off) so that she had more time to devote to Vibe. A couple of years later, she retired from teaching and now works full time for Vibe as Administration/Accounts Manager. She loves her job and the Vibe 'family', and of course she loves that she works closely with Jaime, even if Jaime is now her boss!

LISA KERR
Administration
Lisa joined Vibe at the beginning of 2014 as a receptionist at our Bayswater factory. She is a qualified primary school teacher, spending the last 30 years teaching at various primary schools in the local area. Lisa is an original vibe mum enrolling her daughters Lauren and Sarah the day Vibe opened. She absolutely loves the family atmosphere at Vibe and enjoys watching the students reach their full potential. Lisa has completed her Level 2 First Aid training and works as our receptionist.