Our Expertise
From the stages of Europe to the studio of Developing Dancers Melbourne, Kate Reilly brings a distinctive combination of elite ballet performance and allied-health precision to every lesson. With a background as a professional dancer and full registration as a practising Occupational Therapist, she offers one-on-one coaching that’s rare, impactful and fiercely individualised.
Qualifications.
Master of Occupational Therapy Practice
Grad. Cert. Classical Ballet Pedagogy
Grad. Dip. Classical Ballet Teaching
Bachelor of Dance
State-Examined Classical Dancer
Professional dance training
Australia.
Born in Newcastle, Kate took her first ballet class at age six in a church hall and immediately fell in love with classical music and the discipline of dance. After ten years of dedicated study, she was accepted at age sixteen into five major international ballet academies. Under the mentorship of Marie Walton-Mahon, she accepted a place at the world-renowned John Cranko School in Germany.
Germany.
The John Cranko School involved intensive, six-day-per-week Vaganova-based training in a highly selective international cohort. Students underwent a rigorous three-month probationary period before being formally admitted to the program. Kate graduated in 2001 with the professional title of State-Certified Classical Dancer.
Stage career.
Europe.
Following graduation, Kate auditioned widely across Europe, selected from over 200 young dancers to final-round auditions in Dresden, Düsseldorf, Salzburg and Cannes. She accepted a Volunteer Contract with The Stuttgart Ballet before securing professional contracts with:
Ballet Compagnie Deutschland (Berlin)
Malaika Kasumi Ballet Theatre (Frankfurt am Main)
Throughout her European career, she trained and performed under Russian ballet masters, deepening her Vaganova foundation.
Australia.
Returning home after six years abroad brought new opportunities, including work with The Australian Ballet’s education program, Out There – The Australian Ballet in Schools. She also performed with the Vienna State Opera Ballet for André Rieu’s World Stadium Tour, appearing before crowds of over 60,000.
During this time, Kate began informally coaching young dancers, planting the early seeds of what would later become her own school.
Teaching career.
After graduating from a year-long Vaganova ballet teaching diploma, Kate founded the Melbourne School of Classical Dance in 2008. The school grew rapidly in just a few years from two sisters to over 200 students and twelve staff. Kate had the honour of teaching many talented students who gained acceptance into elite international ballet academies around the world, as well as hundreds of adult ballet students dancing for health and enjoyment. She continues to mentor many of her former students today.
After twelve years at MSCD, Kate transitioned during the COVID-19 pandemic to establish Developing Dancers Melbourne - a boutique private-coaching studio dedicated to highly individualised, elite-level training.
Allied-Health Expertise
Alongside her dance career, Kate pursued further study in human movement, biomechanics and motor learning, completing a Master of Occupational Therapy Practice at Monash University.
She is an AHPRA-registered Occupational Therapist, and this rare dual qualification informs many aspects of her coaching:
Safer, anatomically aligned technique
Deep understanding of injury prevention
Evidence-based strength and motor-learning principles
Tailored approaches for different learning styles, neurodiversity and body types
Holistic attention to physical, cognitive and emotional readiness
Kate’s allied-health background enriches her classical teaching, allowing her to guide dancers with precision, care and long-term sustainability.
Teaching method.
The Vaganova Method of ballet training is widely regarded as the best training system in the world.
Our classes are based on this method, yet adapted to Australian students. Kate trained in the Vaganova method from age 16 at the John Cranko-School and later refined her pedagogical understanding at the Victorian College of the Arts.
She studied under influential teachers Nina Osipyan (Classical Ballet) and Alida Segal (International Character Dance). In 2012, she travelled on a ballet study tour to Moscow and St Petersburg, and was awarded a certificate in ballet pedagogy from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She is also qualified to teach the International Character Dance Syllabus and the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet’s syllabus.
Today, at Developing Dancers Melbourne, Kate blends:
Elite classical training
International stage experience
Advanced pedagogical expertise
Allied-health clinical insight
… to offer boutique, high-impact coaching for dancers who thrive with personalised correction, careful progression and genuine mentorship.