Testimonials

Chris Tsattalios - Certificate IV in Performing Arts 2010

At the beggining of the year when I first started fulltime, I felt overwhelmed because everyone around me was so talented. The teachers were well respected in the industry for their talent & at times I felt I could not live up to their standards.To be able to get through the year I decided that my goal would be to work hard, take on board criticism and learn everything I could."

The class of 2010 Fulltime was supportive, inspiring and fun. The whole atmosphere made it easier for me to achieve my goals while at the same time enjoying myself. The time, effort, emotional support & friendship of the teachers cannot be underestimated. Their dedication pushed us to be the best we could.

Graduation was the culmination of a fantastic year for me. I have the opportunity to work in different fields of the industry such as fashion shows, film, stage, promotional launches and video clips. I have worked with incredible people such as Kelley Abbey, Ashley Evans & Antony Ginandjar from Sqaured Division, Jason Coleman, Yvette Lee, Lucas J Newland & Sally Clark.

My thanks to Brent Street, in particular Cameron Mitchell, for helping me achieve and live my dream.

Natasha Marconi - I Did the Brent Street Certificate IV in Performing Arts in 2010.

Dancing since the age of 3, I always knew I wanted pursue a career in the entertainment industry as a professional. After finishing school I wanted to complete my Certificate IV in performing arts at Brent Street. There were many choices for fulltime courses around Australia but I found Brent Street to be the place for me as it focused on every aspect of performing arts (singing, acting and dancing), had an amazing array of teachers, a world renowned name and offered the opportunities to be exposed to leading industry professionals.

Spending 2010 at Brent Street was probably the most significant and amazing year of my life to date. The valuable lessons I learnt, the amount of improvement and the experiences and hard work are irreplaceable and have had a massive impact on my performing. For 40 weeks, 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, I studied all styles of dance, (including the history behind styles such as musical theatre), took part in singing and acting classes as well nutrition and boot camp sessions. The teachers were amazing and we were taught by industry recognised professionals such as Matt Lee, Cameron Mitchell, Jason Winters, Marko Panzic, Lucas Newland and Lockhart Brownlie giving us exposure to those whom we dream of working for!

I believe the Brent Street course was exactly what I needed to take a big step into the entertainment industry. It matured me as a dancer and person, gave me new and bigger aspirations especially with the trip to the USA (which is an additional and life changing part of the course), pushed me past my limits everyday and gave me the expert knowledge needed for this industry. It also opened me up to some great opportunities such as performing at corporate events and to work alongside Jason Gilkison, Matt Lee and Jason Coleman for performances on So You Think You Can Dance which resulted from being seen by Matt Lee in class.

Brent Street gave me the greatest opportunity of being able to audition and perform as a featured soloist alongside the great Caroline O’Connor in her ‘Showgirl Within’ performance in February 2011. Since completing Certificate IV in 2010 I have worked solidly including these highlights:

• Lead classical role in Ben Veitch’s production of Blood, Sweat & Dance;
• regular dancer on X factor for Simon Lind;
• ABC’s Dance Academy for Jason Winters;
• featured contemporary dancer on Foxtels Live to Dance commercial for Lucas Newland;
• dance at the AMWAY convention for Jason Coleman;
• perform in film clips for artists such as Zoe Badwii, and Chris Sebastian for choreographers including The Squared Division.

I can’t imagine having not done fulltime at Brent Street I give many thanks to them for everything I have become as a performer!!

Charles Bartley – former student and current teacher.

I graduated from the Brent Street Certificate IV Performing Arts Course in 2008, and since then I’ve gone on to perform on ‘So you think you can Dance’, where I came runner up, as well as touring the nation with ‘So you think you can Dance’ that same year. I was able to land a job with ‘Fame The Musical’, that toured the country, and I’ve also been performing with up and coming group ‘The Next Step’ and ‘A-Live Entertainment’, so I’ve had a good run.

When I came to the Brent Street Performing Arts Course I started with a great base of ballet, jazz and tap, but throughout the year I really got to discover the little knickknacks and details of all those styles. I think that one of the most important things that the course teaches you is about style and performance and as such you grow so significantly as a dancer. I’d definitely recommend the Performing Arts Course to anyone looking to really get into the industry. The teachers there are the best of the best and I enjoyed it 400%. The friends that I met and skills I learnt, and the ability to really perform and grow as an artist is just so vital and I think you get all of that in this course.

I loved the course so much that I really want to take back all the skills and professional experience that I’ve got on the job, and teach that to the current full timers because I think they can really grow and use that just as much as I did when I did the course.

Samantha (Samm Hagen) - former Brent Street Academy student now in the musical Rock of Ages

At Brent Street I learned how to belt out a song and perform while doing triple turns and jumping/dancing all over the place! Cameron would always drill us about singing out during musical theatre classes and it seriously made all the difference. The amazing teachers at Brent Street have taught me so much, and I continued to learn right up until my last day there!

Brent Street was at the top of it's class when it came to both singing and dancing classes, but it wasn't until my Mum actually did some research and saw that they also had acting classes that I knew it was the perfect place. If I wanted to be a true triple threat, Brent Street was the place to go.

Robbie Kmetoni, winner of So You Think You Can Dance Series 3.
Went to Brent Street Academy - now in Burn the Floor

I had heard about Brent Street from friends during high school, and was told about all the incredible things that they give to their students. At that point of my life I needed to be more versatile in my dance styles if I wanted a better chance of succeeding into this industry, so I chose Brent Street. From this day on, I am still extremely happy and proud to say that I have learnt from such an amazing performing arts studio.

When I first started at Brent Street, I loved every minute of it. I wanted to be there more but high school was clashing with most of my classes making it almost impossible to be there all the time. The fact that I wanted to be dancing rather than at school was very obvious to my parents and half a year later I had landed a spot at TDHS.

Going back 2 years ago and to where I am now, I would have never guessed I’d be in a Broadway show, touring the United States, having just won the biggest dance show in Australia at the age of 18. The amount of gratitude and respect I have for Brent Street in supporting my passion and helping me get to where I am now is more than I can show.