Brigee Bundy

Registered Teacher and CBTS Mentor

Geelong Ballet Centre, Geelong, VIC

What drew you into a career as a dance teacher? Tell us a little about your journey.

I commenced ballet lessons in country Victoria at age 3. My first ballet teacher, Michelle McNamara, was brilliantly artistic and fostered a love of the art form and all its stage crafts. She gave me the opportunity to assist in classes at age 10. She was the first person who said I would make a lovely teacher. This confidence and insight followed me into my vocational training. While completing all RAD examinations with distinctions, I was exposed to more assisting and given my own classes to guide. It was here my passion for teaching was affirmed and I enrolled in the CBTS with Daphne Turnbull, RAD Examiner, as my mentor. Attending the ISP in year one and two of the course helped forge bonds with other like-minded individuals. I have always believed that knowledge is for everyone and is meant to be shared. I took great inspiration from my tutor, Julie Fleming, who first explained the meaning of being a freelance teacher to me. Her passion for dance education and children is something I saw in myself and she has influenced my teaching greatly. It was during this time I met Tanya Singh who offered me my first freelance teaching job in Wangaratta, Victoria.

Why did you choose the RAD?

Both dance schools I attended as a child were RAD. From a teaching viewpoint I value the training program and the way the RAD continues to evolve, offering many inclusive pathways to guide and inspire a range of students. I particularly enjoy preparing dancers for examinations and seeing their confidence and skills grow within the syllabus while also allowing individual artists to shine. I love that The RAD offers a range of comprehensive CPD courses, allowing us all to come together and give us the opportunity to evolve our craft and be inspired by like-minded educators as well as great teaching programs that nurture, build and develop aspiring teachers’ skills.

Tell us about a teaching career highlight to date.

One of the most defining moments of my teaching career was the decision to leave my friends and family in Australia at age 24 to travel alone to the UK and embark on a freelance teaching journey in London. Here I was able to attend a range of diverse CPD courses and specialist workshops at the RAD headquarters. One of my memorable courses was training to work with children with learning difficulties and Autism as I found this both challenging and extremely rewarding. On returning to Australia I joined the Victorian & Tasmanian panel where I lead the initiative to host the first-ever rural showcase. Growing up in rural Victoria, it’s always been important to me to try and create equal opportunities for our rural dancers. Seeing many rural RAD studios come together to celebrate dance was incredibly fulfilling. As I touched on earlier, I’ve always been incredibly passionate about educating and sharing knowledge to empower and support all teachers and students. I take my role as a Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS) mentor very seriously and have had the honour of working formally with multiple CBTS students as well as informally mentioning countless students and student teachers. Guiding and inspiring these individuals to achieve their goals and further pursue greatness in their RAD teaching career is something I take great pride in. I thrive on seeing other’s confidence grow as they consolidate and build upon their skillset.

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