Kim Grant-Taylor
Kim is the founder and director of the Australian Company of Performing Arts, which incorporates the Talent Company.
Kim has been dancing since she was 5 years old and has studied most forms of dance including Classical, Theatre, Tap, Jazz as well as the modern styles, funk and groove. She has extensive experience in performing, teaching and choreography as well as an A. D. P.A. (Associate Diploma in Performing Arts) and A. R.A.D. (Advanced Royal Academy of Dance). She is a familiar face on television, having worked on channel 7, and has toured the world in some of the best shows ever created. Kim's passion and love for dance is highly contagious and is readily visible in her students. She has that special eye for each child she teaches, and this is what makes her such an amazing teacher. She makes a fantastic connection with her students and this enables her to get results instantly.
Currently, Kim acts as the director of the company and also works heavily in event management for businesses such as the Port Adelaide Football club and the government of South Australia, providing entertainment for their functions held at the Convention Centre and Entertainment Centre. She is the definition of performing arts in South Australia!
Peppino Rigano
Pep has been dancing since the age of 9 and trained in Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz, Tap, Cheerleading and Commercial Dance.His persistence has seen him through National title's in F.I.S.A.F and School Aerobics competitions for several years. Pep is always a friendly and passionate teacher and has only recently travelled to Los Angeles to compete with Talent Company in the World Hip Hop title's. Not only teaching National Funk teams, Pep also plays a strong part in creating groups in the style of the Pussycat Dolls. Pep was given, as one of five dancers at this years Source Dance workshops in Australia, a scholarship to dance in America with the worlds best choreographers. He has worked with Andre Fuentes (Britney Spears Choreographer) and Tony Czar (American Choreographer). He is currently the choreographer for many major events in Adelaide and also for the female vocal group 'Dezire Dollz'.
Nicole Christopoulos
Nicole has been dancing since the age of 6, in particular aerobics, funk, cheer leading and jazz. Having only recently returned from completing her full time course at Jason Coleman's Ministry of Dance, Nicole has taken position as our receptionist. She is one hard worker thats for sure. But is doesn't end here, she also teachers hip hop, funk, cheer leading and jazz for us. In addition to this, Nicole has one of the best voices you will ever hear. She has a strong interest in Musical Theatre which has led her to teach private and group vocal lessons for ACPA. We are very proud to have her on our team.
Jenna Walasek
Jenna has danced since a very young age. She has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Funk. Having completed her degree with AC Arts, Jenna found her passion in Hip Hop and decided to travel to America for 3 months to train with some of the world's best choreographers. She has worked with well-known choreographers such as Napolean and Tabitha D'Umo, Tony Czar, Andre Fuentes and Tucker Barkely. Jenna's enthusiasm and dedication to her students is evident in the work she creates.
Ebony Baker-Matane
"Fun, energetic and very talented" - these are some of the words that have been used when describing this spark of talent. Ebony has been training in dance since the age of 3; in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Funk and Commercial Dance. After recently being offered a position in our corporate group, the Dezire Dollz, Ebony decided she would undertake training as a personal trainer. With all this knowledge and large amount of passion, Ebony now teaches Hip Hop for our teams.
Erin McNamara
Erin has been training extensively in dance since the age of 3. She has experience in Contemporary, Jazz, Ballet, Funk, Tap, Hip Hop, Cheerleading and Commercial Dance. Erin has been a part of our national hip hop champion team for over 6 years as well as being a member of our Gold Medalist team at the World F.I.S.A.F Championships. Having recently finished school, she has found a love for teaching students dance, in particular Jazz and Funk. Not only does she have an amazing list of performance credits in dance to her name but, Erin is also one of our well respected vocalists.
Vanessa Rugari
Vanessa has been a part of ACPA's national and state champion Funk teams for many years. Her enthusiasm and persistence from such a young age has given her the experience neccessary to develop her students into well-adapted dancers. Vanessa has trained in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, Funk and recently Cheerleading and has seen a career in teaching dance. Her focus and dedication to her classes is evident in the results of the students she teaches.
Sam Pulvirenti
"Enthusiastic and motivated" are only some words to describe Sam. She has been employed as a Master Choreographer in Melbourne on various occasions teaching students from 3 - 17 years in styles such as Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Contemporary, Cheerleading and Acrobatics. She is known to be a very passionate dancer, who loves to pass her wide array of knowledge onto students of all ages. Some of her successful achievements include training a number of students who have been accepted into the Australian Ballet and state and national champion teams.
