Having quickly become the Dance and Musical Theatre bible for the nation, DanceLife is a one-of-a-kind publication that’s now the number one destination for Australian dancers and performers. By giving readers up-to-date industry news, auditions, interviews, giveaways and articles from our experts, DanceLife brings together and promotes the dance and musical theatre industry like no other resource before it.
DanceLife has exploded since its launch in July 2008, and now operates an annual dance competition and dance programs for primary and high schools around the nation.
For further information about DanceLife please Contact Us.
Born and raised on the Central Coast beaches of NSW, Chris began a lifelong passion and relationship with the world of Entertainment at a very early age. After extensive training locally and overseas, Chris opened her first dance studio at age 19 and went on to direct successful students to International Careers in Dance & Musical Theatre with entertainment giants such as Disney, Universal Studios, Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey Circus, various Cruise companies and more.
Chris has a Diploma in Business Studies, has studied Event Management by correspondence and recently converted her Bachelor of Arts (Creative Arts major) to further her digital Marketing studies. Chris also has held an Entertainment Industry Representative’s Licence since 2010.
With a strong background and knowledge of the entertainment industry, Chris is excited for the future of DanceLife and DanceLife Unite. After teaching for more than 20 years, in 2005 Chris transitioned to the roles of Agent, Manager, Adjudicator and Producer of Dance related media, events and competitions. Chris acted as the exclusive Australian Casting Agent for Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey Circus (USA) for several years and also manages a select group of talented Children and Adults working in the industry. She has regularly co-ordinated nation-wide workshops for studios with top Celebrity Choreographers from both Australia and the USA.
Chris is excited to be taking DanceLife and DanceLife Unite to the next level, supporting the wider Dance and Performing Arts Community. DanceLife is currently Australia’s top online Dance community and DanceLife Unite is Australia’s NEW Elite and Industry-endorsed National Competition with the most comprehensive options for All Dancers, Everywhere!
For more information about Chris or to make an enquiry please email chris@dancelife.com.au.
Numerous students have been nurtured by Chris over her extensive teaching career. From humble beginnings with a studio class of just five students, Chris developed a teaching style that reflected not only her passion for perfection and love of the ever-evolving art form of dance, but also her ability to mentor and positively challenge students to meet their highest potential. Chris’s protégés have landed long term contracts with some of the most prestigious international production companies in the world including Disney and Universal Studios together with Royal Caribbean, Carnival & P&O Cruise Lines, Bor Productions and gigs on Broadway and in Las Vegas.
Trained and qualified in Classical Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, National Character, Vocal Production, Modeling and Drama, Chris is well known for her ability to extend her students’ technical competency in record time. Her choreography is exciting and known for its intricate and highly technical elements. Numerous soloists and troupes have gained exceptional exam and competition results over many years. Chris has studied multiple syllabi in dance – RAD (Royal Academy of Dance), BBO (British Ballet Organization), BAL (Ballet Australia Limited), BDA (British Dance Association), and her favorite – CDA (Contemporary Dance Association – Australia). From this extensive understanding of training methods, she has created her own.
Chris has combined her long term teaching experience, technical knowledge and unique understanding of the development stages of young dancers into two exceptional training programs – her Dance Syllabus (ADTS) for technical instruction of Jazz/Contemporary elements and also her ‘Triple Threat Dancer’ instructional DVD for Beginners to Intermediate level dancers. For more details on either of these programs, contact chris@dancelife.com.au.
Complete professionalism and dedication to positive feedback for competitors is at the forefront of Chris’s criteria as a judge and adjudicator of eisteddfods and talent quests.
Effective, knowledgeable honesty that gives industry insight on technique, choreography, presentation and performance quality is delivered in a nurturing and compassionate manner to all competitors. Her successful teaching background combined with her professional Agent’s ‘eye’ and knowledge of the Industry allow Chris to give highly effective and constructive adjudications to all competitors.
Chris has judged at many comps with her most recent being the Australian Dance Festival in 2011.
Contact chris@dancelife.com.au for further details.
After many years of successfully teaching Dance and Performing Arts, Chris decided in 2008 that a change was in order, sold her studio and embarked upon her new career as an Agent, Manager and Producer of Dance-related concepts.
Having successfully work-shopped her Syllabus techniques for over a decade on her students, Chris decided to make ADTS an official training program. On top of that in 2009 she produced the ‘Triple Threat Dancer’ Beginner to Intermediate Top Tips for Dancers DVD to provide an at-home easy-to-use training program to students keen to advance their strength and technical ability for dance in the age range of 5 to 14yrs.
By 2010, Chris was sought after for her knowledge on employment in the Dance and Performing Arts Industry so opened her boutique Agency for Dancers, Singers, Actors, Musicians, Acrobats and Celebrity Choreographers – CJ DUNCAN MANAGEMENT.
Since 2005, Chris has been sponsoring US based Celebrity Choreographers to teach in Australia with a view to pushing the envelope of keeping Australian choreographic content very current and competitive within the International environment. This has positively influenced the standard of local choreography and brought our national understanding of current trends to a higher level. Over the past 3 years, Chris has undertaken extensive promotion and booking of numerous Australian Celebrity Choreographers’ tours and workshops with studios across the country.
For further information contact chris@dancelife.com.au.
