
Meet The Team
Linda McKay

Linda has trained in all dance styles including Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Character, Lyrical and Musical Theatre. She acquired her formal training in Classical Ballet at the Alkins School of Dance and attained her Teaching Diploma with the Royal Academy of Dance. In 1996, Linda graduated from The Australian Ballet School Teacher Training, achieving the Advanced Diploma of Dance Teaching with Distinction.
Linda has performed with The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet in a variety of character roles for The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. In 2001 Linda opened the doors to Essentially Dance. The school’s successes include students that have been accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, The Australian Ballet School, Melbourne Youth City Ballet and The Victorian State Ballet Pre-Professional program.
Linda is passionate about recognising the individual needs of each student and therefore the studio offers a nurturing environment for both those who dance for pleasure and those who strive for excellence.
Director

Mikayla Wisneske
Ballet, Lyrical, Tap & Jazz
Mikayla Wisneske has been dancing since the young age of 6 in her hometown of Mildura. She then moved to Melbourne at age 16 to complete a Diploma of Dance at Kelly Aykers Full Time Dance. Since graduating in 2021, Mikayla has continued to train and work with Stella Youth Dance Company and Lionheart Dance Company.
Some of her credits include, Stella Youth Dance Company - FIVE, Romaeo EP Launch and Music Video - "How To Be Honest", Lionheart Dance Company - Underlight & Enduring and Sparks Youth Dance Company - Satellite.
Mikayla loves to challenge and inspire students to be unique and individual while being in a supportive and safe environment!

Yena Yoon
Ballet & Lyrical
Yena started her training at Herena Ballet Academy in Chatswood, Sydney, at age 7. She later moved to Alegria Dance Studios, where she continued in the RAD syllabus and at 16, commenced full-time training, further expanding her training with contemporary, jazz, and Spanish dancing. At 18, Yena moved to Madrid, Spain, to further her training with the Víctor Ullate Escuela. After finishing her training, she returned home to Australia to join the Victorian State Ballet for the 2022 Season.

Katie Little-Hales
Ballet & Lyrical
Katie began ballet at the age of 11 with Ringwood Ballet Group under Rosemary Frost completing RAD Advanced 2 and had opportunities to perform roles such as the Lilac Fairy in her final year.
She continued her studies at the Melbourne Conservatoire of Ballet (dir. John Sandurski). In 2019 she performed Nymphs and Aurora's friends with the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet in Christine Walsh's production of Sleeping Beauty at the Play House theatre. In 2021 she graduated the conservatoire, gaining an Advanced Diploma of Dance.
Following covid Katie returned to full time ballet first with the National Theatre Ballet School and then joining Victorian State Ballet Pre Professional Year program in July of 2022.
In 2026 Katie is now a company artist with the company.

Connor Bevis
Ballet, Lyrical & Jazz
Connor has danced in ballet, tap, jazz, acro and contemporary from age 7. With a strong focus on ballet he successfully auditioned for the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) in 2022.
Connor is a Royal Academy of Dance member where he received a high distinction in both his Advanced 1 and 2 exams. During his time in the RAD syllabus, Connor competed in the Kathleen Gorham memorial awards where he won the Martin Rubenstien most potential award.
He has also competed in the Ballet Teachers Workshop, where in 2025 received the Artistry award and the 3rd place prize. In 2025, he successfully danced the role of the Prince in the Sleeping Beauty, and also successfully auditioned and performed the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Connor has also been invited to dance at Palucca Holschule for Dans Dresden, Germany for a number of weeks as a guest student.
Recently in late 2025, Connor joined the Victorian State Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member for the 25/26 season.

Max Davis
Acro-Dance
Max trained in all dance styles from age 8, with Niche dance. He trained at Victorian College of the Arts from years 7-12 in intense classical and contemporary technical training Max discovered a love for circus and acrobatics training at The National Institute of Circus Arts, mastering skills in acrobatic performing. Max has since appeared in multiple performances as Marvels' Australian Spiderman at events including the Australian tennis open, football games in Victoria and interstate Max now focuses on teaching the multiple styles he has learned to help further his students to their goals in all things dance.

Jocelyn Wee
Ballet & Lyrical
Jocelyn began dancing at the age of 4 at Essentially Dance. With her love for dance particularly in ballet, she was accepted into the Victorian College of The Arts Secondary School (VCASS) for Year 7. Since then, she has been training and performing in various dance styles including ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, tap, character and commercial.
Jocelyn is a member of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and achieved a High Distinction in her Advanced 1 and 2 examinations. She was also 2023/2024/2025 Mabel Pryde finalist in the Ballet Teacher’s Workshop competition. In 2023 she auditioned and performed in the dance ensemble for the Performing Artists Company (PAC), where she performed ‘A Chorus Line’. In 2024 she auditioned for her schools major performance ‘Romeo and Juliet’ where she successfully performed as Juliet. In 2025 she also auditioned for ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ where she performed as a lead fairy and Hermia.
She has also recently been invited to work with Singapore Ballet for 2 weeks, participating in class and observing rehearsals.

Stephanie Little-Hales
Ballet & Pointe
Stephanie began ballet at age 11 at Ringwood Ballet Group under Rosemary Frost. During this time she completed the Royal Academy of Dance Advanced 2, and competed in numerous competitions winning the SFD championship. She also had the opportunity to perform a number of major roles such as Clara in 'The Nutcracker', Raymonda in 'Raymonda' and Aurora in 'The sleeping beauty'.
She continued into full-time training at the Melbourne Conservatoire of Ballet (dir. John Sandurski) graduating with an Advanced Diploma of Dance. In 2019 she performed with the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet in Christine Walsh's production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Play House theatre.
In her third year at MCB she completed her senior level exam with the ballet conservatoire syllabus, examined by Christine Walsh. In 2022 Stephanie joined the Victorian State ballet in the pre-professional program and is currently a company artist. She is excited to grow and expand her repertoire with the company and share her love of ballet with the greater community.

Kirralee Oliver
Hip Hop
Kirralee comes from a small town in Riverina NSW. She has been dancing since she was 9 years old training predominantly in Hip Hop, Contemporary and Jazz. she has been teaching for 6 years and for 3 of those years ran her own studio. Kirralee holds a Cert IV in Dance Teaching & Management completed through Transit Dance and holds a Certification in Acrobatic Arts. She is currently studying her Diploma of Dance at Kelly Aykers Full Time Dance. Kirralee has a strong passion for creating confident and passionate dancers and ensuring all students have the best time in class!
