About Brisbane Dance Theatre
Sally is a successful dance studio owner, single mum, and former professional dancer who understands first-hand how valuable time is, both in business and in life. As the owner of Brisbane Dance Theatre, Sally uses Class Manager to reclaim hours of her time each week, allowing her to spend more time with her daughter.
Sally’s journey to owning her own dance studio started early…
Despite being told as a young dancer that she had the “wrong body type” to succeed, she continued studying ballet and a range of other dance styles to prove everyone wrong. Her determination paid off, leading to a professional dance career performing on cruise ships and working as a backup dancer for Snoop Dogg and Kylie Minogue, as well as working as a backing dancer for Australian Idol performances.
After stepping away from professional dancing, Sally took an unexpected turn into the events industry, working at Australia Zoo. However, dance was never far from her life, and she soon found herself teaching at the very dance school where she had grown up.
Twelve years ago, Sally was presented with an opportunity she couldn’t refuse — the purchase of an established studio, Brisbane Dance Theatre. Since then, she has continued to grow the studio with no plans of slowing down.
For Sally, dance is about more than technique. “You do it for the love. The kids make it.”
She recalls one particularly meaningful moment:
“We have a student who’s been with us since she was two — she’s now ten and has cystic fibrosis. The day she started skipping was the best day ever.”
Standing Out in a Competitive Area
Brisbane Dance Theatre is one of nine dance schools in the local area, making competition strong. Sally attributes her continued success to her commitment to delivering high-quality training.
She is currently the only studio in the area (and further afield) offering the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum (ABT® NTC). Since introducing the programme, Sally has seen a significant improvement in her students’ technical ability and progression.
“The difference in six-year-olds now compared to six-year-olds four years ago is incredible.”
Sally also teaches on a nationally accredited theatre course at university level, using the same training methods. She has seen consistent, rapid improvement in students across both settings, highlighting the strength and versatility of the programme, and has no plans on going back to the previous courses she used.
Classes, Opportunities, and Community Involvement
Brisbane Dance Theatre offers a wide range of classes and opportunities for her studnets, including:
Tiptoes Dance (18 months–4 years)
Classical ballet and pointe
Lyrical and contemporary
Jazz, hip hop, tap, and acrobatics
Musical theatre
Private coaching
While competitions are not Sally’s primary focus, students are given opportunities to compete in the main genres, in groups, solos, duets, and trios.
However, the main performance opportunities come from the studio being deeply rooted and involved in the local community, performing at care homes, local fetes, schools, and events. Sally also MCs at the Royal Brisbane Show each year, and the studio does a number of performances.
Challenges Before Class Manager
Before switching to Class Manager, Sally had tried several other dance studio software platforms. While they offered some functionality, they were slow, outdated, and clunky, with essential features locked behind tiered pricing structures.
This made everyday tasks frustrating and time-consuming. Many processes were still handled manually, which was eating into the time that she could spend marketing her businesses, teaching her private classes, or spending time with her daughter.
Why Class Manager and the Impact It’s Had
With Class Manager, Sally found a system that was simple, intuitive, and powerful without being complicated, and the features weren’t locked behind pay walls!
Key features that have made the biggest difference include:
A clear, easy-to-use dashboard that showed her a snapshot of how her business was doing, quickly and easily.
Automated enrolments and trial management
Notifications and workflows that no longer require manual follow-up
Automated billing, invoicing and payments
Flexible discounts, which Sally describes as a game-changer
Bulk communication with parents and classes
The reduction in admin has had a noticeable impact on Sally’s personal life as well as her business.
“It’s given me more time with my daughter. It’s the little things, like being able to email whole classes instantly instead of spending hours typing addresses.”
Supporting Growth and Accessibility
Brisbane Dance Theatre continues to grow and attract new students. Sally regularly offers introductory programs to make dance accessible to families, including trial programs for different age groups and experience levels.
By using Class Manager, Sally can manage growth efficiently, maintain high standards, and focus on what matters most: her students, her community, and her family.
Follow Brisbane Dance Theatre on Facebook and Instagram. Want to see how Class Manager can help you, just like it has helped Sally? Book a demo with our team.
