About Us
Teaching Staff
All staff hold current First Aid certificates – Level II and Working with Children Checks
Skye Wanless – Artistic Director
Dip. Business Management, Cert III Business Administration
Skye began her training at the age of 3 years with majority of her study completed at the Maureen Ward School of Ballet. Here she performed in concerts, competitions, and completed Cecchetti ballet examinations up to Advanced 1. In 2006, Skye transitioned from a student teacher to a staff member at the Maureen Ward school of Ballet and successfully prepared students of all ages and abilities for concerts, competitions and tap exams.
During this time Skye continued on to work as free lance dancer. In 2007 she was employed as choreographer and lead dancer for A & C Hogg Productions, performing in a number of traveling theater shows in various venues across Melbourne. It was here that Skye developed her own unique choreographic style and decided that her future in dance would be to teach others. Skye is skilled across styles such as Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet and enjoys passing on her years of training to young and aspiring dancers.
In 2012, Skye purchased the Maureen Ward School of Ballet and is working hard to build a new studio with new styles on offer to its students. In December 2013, we became In Motion Studios.
Maureen Ward – Classical, National and Song & Dance
C.B.A(Licentiate). C.I.C.B (Cecchetti), Cert IV (Training & Assessment), Dip. Teaching (Primary)
Maureen opened and ran the Maureen Ward School of Ballet from 1969 to 2012 and has been teaching children the beauty of dance for more than 40 years. Holding a Licentiate with Cecchetti Australia, Maureen has developed young talent and has always received excellent exam results, she is also a well-respected adjudicator and examiner. Her skills also include training debutante sets and choreographing many school productions both primary and secondary.
Many students taught by Maureen have successfully auditioned for many companies, such as the Australian Ballet as well as overseas companies. Maureen says that one of the most rewarding aspects is keeping in touch with many students who have followed their dreams and returned to say that the time at the ballet school played a large part in guiding them to their chosen field.
Melanie Naismith – Classical, Jazz, Contemporary, Stretching & Conditioning
B. Arts, Dip Ed (Secondary)
Melanie began dancing at the age of 4 at the Maureen Ward School of Ballet. Here, she successfully completed her Cecchetti ballet exams to Intermediate level and enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the Cecchetti Scholars program. Having received a Premier’s Award for VCE Dance, she studied a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Dance, during which time she performed in several contemporary dance shows and danced on secondment with Perth contemporary dance company 2 Dance Plus.
Melanie continued in her studies to complete a Diploma of Education (Secondary). In her work as a secondary teacher, she has been responsible for introducing and implementing Dance as a subject, as well as running extra-curricular dance and aerobics programs for her students.
Melanie has taught at various dance schools around Melbourne and has been a guest teacher at several dance and secondary schools. She has choreographed works for eisteddfods, concerts, the ‘Microneers’ Junior Contemporary Dance Group, school musicals/productions, aerobics teams and various school ceremonies. She particularly enjoys teaching at the Maureen Ward School of Ballet, where she has taught for over 17 years, and loves the opportunity to share the joy of dancing with her students.
