About Us

All Abilities Cheer and Dance was founded by Alana who is dedicated to bringing together people with disabilities, to express themselves through the fun and creative world of cheerleading and dance. Alana saw there were no other cheer, dance and online programs in South Australia solely for people of ALL ages with ALL types of disabilities (under one roof) and wanted to provide them with equal access to the cheer and dance world.

All of the AACD coaches have personal and professional experience working with people with disabilities. All coaches have their Working With Children Check (WWCC). Coaches who facilitate our school workshops have their Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RRHAN-EC).

Mrs Alana

Director

Alana has 29 years personal experience with disability; having two younger brothers with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability. She is passionate about equal rights of people with disabilities, collaboration and inclusion, spreading kindness, and is excited about contributing to inclusion support in the cheer and dance world!

Alana has 14 years dance experience and has been involved in competition dance for 11 years. Her performance and competition dance experience include styles in jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, cheerleading and pom. Her dance highlights include performing at Disneyland Resort in California, Disney California Adventure Park and at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2012. As well as competing interstate and performing in the (then) Credit Union Christmas Pageant, and on stage at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre several times. Alana is also an accredited cheerleading coach in Level 1 stunts, tumbling and tosses.

Alana completed her Bachelor of Communication and Media at the University of South Australia in 2017 and her Postgraduate Certificate in Disability Studies at Flinders University in 2019. Alana has completed courses in disability awareness and inclusive coaching from Perform Ability and Special Olympics Australia. She previously worked in marketing and career pathways and is now incredibly grateful to be able to share accessible cheerleading and dancing throughout her community full time.

Miss Rachel

Team Leader,

Senior DanceAbility Coach,

Senior CheerAbility Coach

Rachel has an extensive 25 + years personal experience with disability; having an older brother with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability. She is passionate about spreading disability awareness and acceptance and continuing to create inclusion opportunities for people with disability.

Rachel has always been motivated to pursue a career where she can create a positive and lasting impact within the disability sector. She studied a Bachelor of Disability and Developmental Education at Flinders University and works as a Developmental Educator and Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner. She has also completed courses in disability awareness and inclusive coaching from Special Olympics Australia.

Rachel has over 15 years dance experience and training, both recreationally and competitively, at a state and national level. Her performance and competition dance experience include styles in jazz, theatrical jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, ballet, hip hop, cheerleading and pom. Her dance highlights include performing at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, in the (then) Credit Union Christmas Pageant, and performing on stage at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Rachel has four years prior coaching experience at previous dance schools and Special Olympics Australia, as well as being an OG All Abilities coach since its opening in 2020. Rachel is an accredited cheerleading coach in Level 1 & 2 stunts, tumbling and tosses.

Rachel has recently been chosen as the Head Coach of the first ever Team Australia Adaptive Abilities Unified Hip Hop Team, and will travel to America to compete at the ICU World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida in April 2025.

Rachel’s friendly, outgoing and ‘keeping it real’ disposition enables her to form trusting relationships with all members of the AACD Community. She is loud, proud, and aims to provide an environment in her classes where dancers can have FUN and express themselves through the wonderful and creative world of cheerleading and dance. Inclusion and advocacy, along with cheer and dance, are Rachel's biggest passions and she is so excited to be bringing the two together!

Miss Leticia

Senior CheerAbility Coach,

DanceAbility Coach

Leticia has 12 years of professional experience working with people with disabilities in a wide range of capacities. Leticia first began working with young people with disabilities in 2013, coaching swimming and gymnastics. Leticia currently works as a Support Worker and Speech Therapy Assistant while she completes her Honours in Speech Pathology at University.

Leticia's passion for disability has grown vastly by supporting children and young adults to work towards achieving their goals, building and maintaining friendships, and giving an opportunity for community inclusion.

Leticia has over 12 years of experience in dance and cheer, competing at state and national competitions in level 5, performing in shows and pageants, and participating in fundraisers. Leticia is also an accredited cheerleading coach in Level 2 stunts, tumbling and tosses. Leticia has been lucky enough to be chosen as the Assistant Coach for the first ever Team Australia Adaptive Abilities Unified Level 3 Cheerleading Team, and will be travelling with them to Florida to complete in April 2025!

Leticia is excited to continue to share her experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm with all athletes at All Abilities Cheer and Dance for the 6th year running!!

Miss Jools

Senior DanceAbility Coach,

CheerAbility Coach,

Admin

Julique has been dancing since she was 4 years old and teaching since the age of 12. She has experience in teaching all age groups, as well as all levels of dance abilities. Julique herself dances many styles as well as teaching them. Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Pom, Cheerleading, Musical Theatre, Funk, are some of the styles she has trained in, teaches, and also acts as an assistant teacher.

Julique has grown up with people around her who have a wide range of disabilities. She has been trained in how to look after people with physical and intellectual disabilities, as well as how to assist students in dance class through a range of methods, making sure that each individual is cared for properly. From a young age she has volunteered with the organisation scosa and has learnt a lot from everyone involved.

Julique has trained with national and international choreographers, as well as being mentored by professional dancers. From these experiences she has learnt how to run dance schools, what goes into making dance concerts/performances, successful winning routines for competitions, as well as fun classes and great recreational dances, making sure each individual dancer gets the most out of each class.

Julique has performed at many locations for all kinds of events including the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for Wakakirri and other competitions, and the Festival Theatre for the Festival of Music Northern Troup. She has been involved in many competitions and other performances state and nationwide, she has been very successful over the years and knows what it takes to make a winning performance. She has also been participating in Dance for Sick Kids, raising money for families through dance.

Julique is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Human Movement at University of South Australia, once she has finished the bachelor’s degree, she will then go onto a further 2 years of study for Dance Movement Therapy.

Julique is very excited to bring her experience, excitement and loving energy into class and help each individual dancer get the most out of each class and performance.

Miss Jess

DanceAbility Coach,

CheerAbility Assistant Coach

Jess has 20 years personal experience with disability as she has a younger brother with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has also been working professionally within the disability sector for 8 years. She
has previously been a Disability Advocate for people with Acquired Brain Injuries and worked extensively to support people living with Multiple Sclerosis to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme and receive the supports required to lead a quality life.

Jess has previously worked on several disability specific committees, most recently being a part of the Australian Electoral Committee Disability and Inclusion Plan. Jess is currently a Team Leader, working alongside a team to support people who require 24/7 supports.

Jess is passionate about disability rights and creating inclusive and safe spaces for people living with disability. Jess is currently undertaking a Master’s Degree in Social Work having completed her Bachelor of Psychological Science in 2018. Jess has been dancing since she was 2. Jess has experience in Jazz, Tap,
Classical, Contemporary and Hip-hop. Jess has competed in many competitions and was fortunate to travel to Asia to dance in 2012 which was an amazing experience. Some of the highlights of her dancing includes being involved in Candance for a Cure for 10 years and was a part of the Core Group Ensemble for 5 years. Being able to combine her passion of dance and raising money for Cancer Research has
been inspirational to see the difference the money has made to the ongoing plight of
Cancer research.

Jess taught dance for many years as an assistant dance teacher within her previous dance school, and professionally taught Classical Ballet Exams for 3 years as a Senior Dance Teacher, training children from the ages of 4-16. Jess has been a Dance Coach with All Abilities for 4 years and is excited to continue
sharing her passion for dance with the All Abilities Community!

Miss Emma

DanceAbility Coach

Emma has a long background working in disability through roles in inclusive education, advocacy, support work and personal experiences. Emma currently works as a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner and is continuing to study a Bachelor of Disability and Developmental Education. Emma is driven to continuously learn about different aspects of disabilty and listen to voices with lived experience. Emma is passionate about raising disabilty awareness and acceptenace and always aims to positively advocate for people living with disabilty, support their families and promote equity and inclusion. Emma has completed a certificate of disabilty advocacy and courses in disabilty awareness, Key Word Sign and AUSLAN. Emma works for an Autisim organisation where in collaboration with the department of human services, facilitated consultations with the autistic and austim communities to create our states first Austism Strategy and charter.

From a young age, dance and music have been a huge passion and outlet for Emma training and competing predominantly in hip hop. Emma has taught dance to all ages in schools and designed a successful inclusive dance program for a non for profit autsim orgasnsiaton. Emma aims to foster an environment of equal opportunity where students can enjoy and thrive in dance, experiencing all its benefits.

Miss Caitlin

CheerAbility Assistant Coach

Caitlin has been dedicated to supporting young people and adults with disabilities for 8 years, starting her career in OSHC, where she supported children with disabilities and complex behaviors. Transitioning to individual support work, Caitlin expanded her expertise to clients of all ages.

Caitlin also has almost a decade of coaching experience from her time in club netball, where she was involved in elite pathway and talent identification programs. Additionally, Caitlin has gained valuable experience as a sports trainer at a Division 1 Football Club. She brings this wealth of knowledge to her role at All Abilities Cheer and Dance, where she has been actively involved for a year after initially helping out at competitions in 2023. She is currently pursuing her Level 1 Cheer Coach accreditation after completing her Assistant Cheer Coach training last year.

In addition to her professional endeavors, Caitlin enjoys playing football and is about to complete her Certificate 3 in Horticulture. She is also an avid gardener and loves supporting clients in maintaining their beautiful gardens. Caitlin is excited to continue working alongside the coaches at All Abilities Cheer and Dance, fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for everyone within the community.

Miss Amy

DanceAbility Coach

Amy has 18 years of personal experience with disability with an older brother with Autism Spectrum
Disorder and has grown up alongside people with various intellectual disabilities. She aspires to work
alongside and advocate for young people and adults with disabilities, adding on to the volunteer
work Amy completed for All Abilities in 2020.

Amy has 16 years of dance experience and was involved with competition dance for 7 years. She has
competed in various styles including jazz, tap, hip hop, ballet, lyrical and contemporary; and was also
involved in many amateur musical theatre productions over the years.

Amy had amazing performance experiences such as playing Maria in The Sound of Music and being a back-up dancer in a Lady Gaga tribute show: "Five Foot Gaga." She was also given the opportunity in school to choreograph multiple pieces for school performances, including the yearly Fringe performance at Gluttony.

Miss Shenae

Support Coach

Shenae is an engaging, energetic and understanding individual with a variety of experience. She has had what she feels is the absolute privilege of growing up alongside disabled family members and being raised in an inclusive environment full of loving and passionate individuals celebrating inclusion. While she began calisthenics at 3yrs old she traded her rods and clubs for jazz, aerobics and hip hop at 13 up until 17.

She has over 10 years' experience working in a variety of roles supporting people of all abilities to have fun, opportunity, accessibility and growth. This has been in school support roles, personal support roles, area co-ordination for children’s charity, directing camps for kids with a variety of needs, team leading children’s respite and volunteering in the community.

She is passionate in enhancing quality of life and enjoys empowering others. Currently studying a Bachelor of Primary Education, she plans on becoming fluent in Auslan and completing her Play Therapy training to implement a focus on inclusion and developmental education among early years.

She is excited to be joining our team for her first year at All Abilities, a community that has already won her heart and a face many of you may recognise from cheering us on from the stands. She is now ready to take to the floor and get into formation with All Abilities Cheer and Dance!

Miss Ella

DanceAbility Coach

Ella is a passionate dance teacher with a gentle and supportive approach. With extensive training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, tap, hip hop, musical theatre, aerobics, and acrobatics, she is committed to fostering resilience and self-expression through dance.

Opportunities to compete at state, national, and international levels were fundamental to Ella’s growth as a versatile performer. Ella consistently achieved distinctions/high distinctions in dance examinations across multiple genres and has experience in various syllabi, including ATOD, IDT, CSTD, AICD, ACB, Leap 'n Learn, and Acrobatic Arts.

Beyond formal training, Ella expanded her knowledge through workshops and masterclasses with leading industry professionals in Australia and internationally. She has performed at Disneyland (Paris & Hong Kong), Disney World (Orlando), Universal Studios (Orlando), and Saddler’s Wells (London), as well as in local musicals, pageants, community, corporate and sporting events. Ella successfully auditioned for the Australian Ballet Interstate Training Program, traveling between Melbourne and Adelaide to train under the mentorship of Australian Ballet School faculty. Throughout her teaching career, Ella has obtained a Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Management and Acrobatic Arts Level 1 Certification, as well as Working with Children and First Aid clearances.

Ella is currently completing a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at the University of South Australia, with plans to pursue a Masters in Clinical Psychology to further support individuals experiencing mental health challenges. Ella believes in creating an environment that celebrates individual strengths and ensures that all dancers, regardless of ability or background, can experience the joy and empowerment found through dance.

Miss Hannah (Gig)

Relief Teacher

Gig has 4 years of professional experience with disability is in her 5th year working with All Abilities Cheer and Dance! Gig has 2 years' experience as a disability support worker and is currently working as an SSO supporting students with disabilities and trauma to positively access mainstream schooling. Gig is passionate about supporting individuals, especially youth, to develop independence, social skills, communication skills and have positive, fun experiences inside and outside of schooling. Gig is in her final year of a Bachelor of Primary Education and hopes to combine this with the knowledge she is developing in disability support to become a teacher that focuses on the inclusion of students with disabilities within schooling communities.