Academy Director Kate Grammatico

Kate began dancing at the young age of 3 in Melbourne, studying tap, jazz and ballet under the direction of Barbara Lynch. Her professional career began at 11 years of age with the Australian Ballet performing in The Nutcracker.  Since then she has worked extensively throughout Australia and Asia. Some of her credits include the Australian tour of Happy Days, Reef Casino Cairns, Hidden Palace at Conrad Jupiters Casino, Dragon Fly theatre Restaurant, AFL footy show, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Talk to the Animals & Powerpuff tour  of Malaysia just to name a few. Her television credits also include Aqua marine, Mortified, Bianca, Carols by candlelight, Toasted TV, Hot source, Good Friday appeal and Journey to the centre of the earth. Kate was recently a resident choreographer for Warner Village Movie World theme park on the Gold Coast.  Kate has performed and choreographed extensively on the Gold Coast and internationally for the past 8 years and her cutting edge choreography & unique style make every production of Aerial Angels a stand out.

Dance Instructors

Soraya Furlong 
Having trained and performed in Australia Soraya moved to London 3 years ago to further her dance career.  Since living and recently moving back to Australia she performed on & in various UK television programs and live events including: Royal Variety Show (for the Queen), X Factor, Brit Awards and MTV for artists such as: Seal, Leona Lewis, Gloria Estefan and Tony Bennett.  Soraya was also the lead dancer for the Adidas 2007 winter campaign and has modelled and launched shows for Puma, L’Oreal, Goldwell, GHD, and Mercedes.  Her latest accomplishment was a UK arena Tour Viv La Diva with the Royal Ballets Prima Ballerina Darcy Bussel.

Anita Mammarella
Anita Mammarella is currently working at Warner Bros Movie World as a dancer and actor and is a long standing member of the Aerial Angels team.  One of our most sought after corporate dancers, Anita has had extensive training & experience.  Anita danced in such Conrad Jupiters stage spectaculars as, 'Midnight Magic', 'Storm' and 'The Rat Packs Back'. Before successfully auditioning for the casino stage shows, she was performing for Carnival Cruise Lines in America and did so for nine months. Other credits include touring Malaysia and Singapore for Carlsberg International and performing in various film clips for Australian Artists. Anita completed the D.L.D.C. Full Time course successfully choreographing routines for all age groups ranging from full-time students to tiny tots

Kelly Manning
Kelly has studied various styles of dance including jazz, tap, hip hop, ballet, musical theatre and contemporary,
having many opportunities to perform these styles as a student. She has also received her Diploma in Dance
whilst at the Qld Dance School of Excellence. Kelly followed on her studies at Dance World 301 in Melbourne and
has also done intensive training at some of the best studios in Los Angeles including Millennium dance complex.

Kelly has toured the Caribbean and Alaska on two separate occasions working on cruise ships as a production
show dancer and also landing the role on both contracts as lead adagio. She has also travelled through Malaysia
for the World and Euro Cup Soccer as a dancer and choreographer for Sigma Productions.  Kelly has performed live on stage with Shakaya, Ricki-Lee, Slinky minx, Inaya Day, Tina Cousins, Vandalism and
Naughty by Nature.

Leigh-Anne Vizer
Leigh-anne has finally come home after an exciting and varied career in Germany.  She most recently completed a contract in the German production of “Dirty Dancing”, Hamburg.
Born in Brisbane she began training as an Artistic Gymnast at the age of four, and soon after started ballet lessons at the local dance school. She completed all exams in Ballet,
Jazz and Tap through the A.T.O.D syllabus, parallel to her R.A.D Examinations with Mary Heath, achieving Advanced Level.  Her first professional engagement was with the
Queensland Ballet Company, at the age of 11. In the following year she earned her Level 9 in Gymnastics, however her passion for dancing took over and so she turned her focus purely
to Dance. As a freelance performer she has worked on Television, in Fashion Shows, Night Clubs, and Casino Productions throughout Australia and Asia. 7 years ago she left for Europe
 and developed a Solo Static Trapeze Act and more recently, an Aerial Silk Act. From Variety Theatre to Modern Companies, Gala Events to Musical Theatre, her career extends. 
 Finally she’s back on Australian shores and looking forward to utilizing her expertise and skills here at home.

Jasmine Meakin
Jasmine began dancing at the age of 3 and studied tap, jazz & ballet.  As the years went on, Jasmine expanded her repertoire to include hip hop & funk which she is now renowned for.  Jasmine has been performing, choreographing & teaching intensive workshops throughout Queensland since 1998.  She is also a Director of the well known Mega Jam Team.  Industry credits include dancing & co-choreographing Mega Jam instructional DVD’s, RAQ Fashion Awards, Dancer & choreographer for QLD Reds & Brisbane Broncos Dance teams & seven years as a dancer & character performer at Warner Brothers Movie World.  In addition to this, she has appeared in various video clips for singers such as Vanessa Amorosi & Jade Macrae.  She has also toured throughout Asia.  Recently, Jasmine honed her skills even more and spent time training in LA with some of the USA’s leading choreographers.  Jasmine brings a wealth of knowledge & experience and is thrilled to be our resident Hip Hop teacher at the Aerial Angels Academy.

Circus Arts Teachers

Leah Jacobs
Leah started dancing and acrobatics at the age of 3 and progressed to the highest level in Sports Acrobatics, achieving National Champion status by the age of 12. She continued performing locally and interstate before finally hitting the big time as a featured performer in the Conrad Jupiters production “Inneuvre”. Leah then travelled the globe working as a dancer and acrobat on the Mediterranean and Caribbean cruise ships, only to eventually make her way back to the Gold Coast to continue her entertainment career with Conrad Jupiters through Aerial Angels Productions as a roving performer. It was at this time Leah had the opportunity to take her skills to the air and began training as an aerialist. Since then, Leah has added trapeze, silk and lyra to her portfolio and has just returned from a national tour of “Circus Quirkus” where she performed a double lyra and silk act working alongside some of Australia’s top circus acts.

Bracken Cunningham
Bracken has been heavily involved in both instructing and performing circus arts for the last eight years. His focus was primarily flying trapeze for the first five years, working with companies like Club Med, Quasar Flying Trapeze and Flying Trapeze Australia. In the last few years he has been training other acts, including corde lisse, double trapeze and a ground based adagio duo. He has performed at multiple events including festivals, corporate events and product launches and has also appeared in television and print advertisements. In addition, Bracken is a qualified rigger.

Melanie Peyton-Smith
Melanie Peyton-Smith has had over 10 years experience in performing a variety of skills.
She began with dance and acrobatics, which provided a solid background to move onto other skills such as the aerial ring, silks, trapeze, stilt walking and even stunts.
Her talent has been utilized in many live shows including 'Inneurve' and 'Hidden Palace' at Conrad Jupiter’s Casino, numerous dance and illusion shows in Indonesia, while also accumulating such film credits as acrobatic stunts double for Carrie-Anne Moss in 'The Matrix 2 and 3'.
She now divides her time between stunts and aerial acts proving what a great asset her versatility as a performer really is.