Shae Mowen (nee Johnstone)
Registered Teacher & Life Member
Shae Mowen School of Dance, Weatherill Park, NSW
What drew you into a career as a dance teacher? Tell us a little about your journey.
I was born in Papua New Guinea and was lucky enough to have a RAD teacher in our tiny town. My teacher was Dawn O’Hara (nee Foley) who was trained by Mavis Sykes in Mosman, NSW.
When I progressed to my “Majors” I had to travel to Australia to take exams and attend workshops with Miss Sykes in Sydney and Ann Roberts in Townsville.
My sister Megan & I were the first students born in PNG to take RAD exams so it has been a long and wonderful journey.
My teaching career commenced under Dawn’s tutelage at the Moresby Ballet School when I was in my early teens and by the time of migrating to Australia in 1974, I was the Head Teacher and also helping to run the whole Studio.
Ballet was my focus, even though my first experience with a “live ballet “was when the Australian Ballet toured and performed in PNG on a stage placed on top of 44 gallon drums set up on the local Rugby League field.
During my time with Dawn we performed at various charity events, concerts and were featured at the South Pacific Games dancing a lovely ballet based on Papua New Guinea legend and folklore.
In the early 1980’s we moved interstate and set up our Dance Studio in Fairfield situated in the western suburbs of Sydney. My focus in opening a Dance Studio was to try and introduce as many children as possible to the wonders of dance and in particular ballet while also making affordable for the children to “learn to dance”. However, in relocating to Sydney, it was wonderful to be able to attend seminars, meet with other RAD teachers and share ideas.
Over the years I have met some wonderfully supportive RAD teachers and staff who like me share a great passion for Ballet.
Why did you choose the RAD?
The RAD syllabus is what I grew up with and have now been involved with the RAD organisation for over 65 years.
Tell us about a teaching career highlight to date.
As a teacher it has been a joy to watch the students progress through the grades and numerous young people have attributed their workplace success to the discipline and values learned in a Dance Studio.
My dance teaching career is not yet over yet and I currently teach RAD ballet at my own studio in Fairfield as well as PAC in Seven Hills and IDance studio in Castle hill.
With COVID lockdown these classes are being conducted via Zoom to prepare students for the upcoming RAD exams. While this dancing method has been challenging, at the same time it is extremely rewarding for the students as they are able to progress with their learning. Hopefully, it will be onward and upward from here!
