A curated guide to dance schools Australia · United States

Brisbane · Queensland

Dance schools in Brisbane

28 verified schools across 25 suburbs, covering 38 disciplines of dance.

Walk into Bayside Dance in central Wynnum on a Saturday morning and you'll see what dance does in this city. Eighty weekly classes across multiple styles, every age in the building, the Moreton Bay coast a five-minute walk away. A short drive west across the river at West End, Rio Rhythmics runs salsa, tango and Brazilian classes it has been running for over thirty years. In Indooroopilly, Moves Dance Studio's RAD-syllabus ballet classes have been running since 1995. Up at Caboolture, KC Dance Academy has been the local multi-style studio for twenty-five years. Out at Springfield, Prestige Dance Centre runs children's programs from twelve months old. None of this reads as a single dance city — it reads as a region of recreational and community-focused dance, spread across the bay, the river and the growth corridors.

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The institutional memory

Brisbane's longest-running named dance institution in this directory is Rio Rhythmics Latin Dance Academy in West End — over thirty years of salsa, tango and Brazilian dance training, with classes for children, teens and adults. The city's deepest RAD ballet pedigree sits at Moves Dance Studio in Indooroopilly, which has been running since 1995 — thirty years of RAD-syllabus ballet alongside jazz, tap, contemporary and musical theatre. KC Dance Academy in Caboolture has served the city's far-northern community for over twenty-five years across ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary. CM Dance in Camp Hill has spent the same twenty-five years building a family-oriented school that teaches Irish dance alongside ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary — one of the few inner-east Brisbane studios carrying the Irish-dance tradition.

Several younger schools have also become neighbourhood anchors. Do Dance Academy in Aspley opened in 2006 with an explicit focus on confidence-building from age three. Northside School of Dance in Clayfield opened in 2007 with an inclusive remit covering all ages and levels. Sharee Skye Dance Centre in Toowong has been the western-suburbs community-focused studio for over fifteen years. Queensland Dance & Performing Arts in Thorneside is the city's circus-arts and performing-arts cross-discipline anchor on the bayside east. The deep memory is not concentrated here as it is in Melbourne or NYC — but it is real, and it is anchored in named schools across every region of the city.

How the city is laid out

The Bayside East Corridor

Wynnum · Tingalpa · Thorneside · Coorparoo · East Brisbane · Camp Hill

The bayside east is Brisbane's only meaningfully clustered dance corridor. Wynnum, on the Moreton Bay coast twenty kilometres east of the CBD, holds three multi-style community studios: Bayside Dance (80+ weekly classes for all ages), Kellehers Dance Academy (central Wynnum, intermediate through adult), and The Dance & Theatre Factory (performing arts, ballet and dance for children and adults). A few suburbs inland sit four more named institutions: Queensland Dance & Performing Arts in Thorneside is the only T1-tier school in Brisbane and the city's circus-arts and performing-arts anchor; Annette Roselli Dance Academy in Tingalpa runs classical ballet and contemporary across all ages; Studio One Brisbane in East Brisbane is recognised as one of the city's leading competitive studios; CM Dance in Camp Hill has spent twenty-five years teaching Irish dance alongside ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary as a family-oriented school; and Shileena's Dance Academy in Coorparoo serves dancers of all abilities from age two and a half through adult.

The Inner Brisbane and West End Cultural Belt

West End · South Brisbane · Brisbane City · Fortitude Valley

The inner-city belt holds the city's cultural-dance specialists and adult open-class scene. Rio Rhythmics Latin Dance Academy in West End has been running for over thirty years — Brisbane's clear Latin specialist, covering salsa, tango and Brazilian styles for children, teens and adults. West End Dance covers ballet, contemporary, jazz and musical theatre in the same neighbourhood. Mad Dance House in the Brisbane CBD runs over fifty weekly adult classes across diverse street and contemporary styles. XPACE Dance Studio in South Brisbane specialises in K-pop, hip hop, jazz and choreography. V-Hub Dance in Fortitude Valley runs contemporary work alongside casual street dance and hip hop. If you're looking for adult open classes, Latin specialty or K-pop training, this belt is where to start.

The Western Suburbs Belt

Toowong · Indooroopilly · Ipswich

The western corridor runs three named anchors out from the inner city. Moves Dance Studio in Indooroopilly has been teaching RAD ballet alongside multiple styles since 1995 — thirty years of consistent training. Sharee Skye Dance Centre in Toowong has been the western-suburbs community-focused studio for over fifteen years. Dance Artistry Academy in Ipswich runs the city's furthest-west outpost on the Comdance Syllabus, with both exam preparation and elite performance teams. This belt is the city's quietest classical-ballet pipeline.

The Northside Community-School Belt

Clayfield · Kedron · Aspley · Virginia · Caboolture

The northside belt is the city's community-school heartland — five named studios running multi-style programs for the suburbs that ring Brisbane to the north. Northside School of Dance in Clayfield opened in 2007 with an explicitly inclusive remit covering all ages and levels. Promenade Dance Studio in Kedron operates from a purpose-built facility running programs from junior school through professional training pathways. Do Dance Academy in Aspley opened in 2006 with a confidence-building focus from age three. Reilly Dance Academy in Virginia covers ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre and contemporary for children and teens. KC Dance Academy in Caboolture has served the far-northern community for over twenty-five years.

The Southern Growth Corridor

Springwood · Park Ridge · Springfield · Berrinba · Mount Gravatt · Holland Park · Sunnybank Hills

Brisbane's southern growth corridor — Logan, Springfield, Mount Gravatt and the southern suburbs — carries its own dance density spread across seven named studios. Universal Dance Company in Springwood teaches ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and acrobatic arts from age two. Logan Dance Academy in Park Ridge runs classical ballet alongside contemporary, jazz, tap and musical theatre. Prestige Dance Centre in Springfield offers programs from twelve months, including acrobatics. Reese Dance in Berrinba covers preschool through junior across Berrinba and Logan Village. Just Ballet School in Mount Gravatt is the corridor's classical-ballet specialist. Radiance Dance Academy Australia in Holland Park focuses on technical training in a positive, inclusive environment. Queensland Dance Centre in Sunnybank Hills covers ballet, creative ballet, jazz and contemporary. The corridor is where Brisbane's growing southern population sends its children to dance.

The cultural-dance heritage

Brisbane's named cultural-dance institutions are concentrated in the inner-city West End belt and a handful of specialty studios further out.

The Latin and Brazilian tradition is anchored by Rio Rhythmics Latin Dance Academy in West End — over thirty years teaching salsa, tango and Brazilian styles. This is the city's clear cultural-dance anchor and one of the longest-running specialty studios on the entire DanceFind directory. Salsa is also taught at Mad Dance House in the Brisbane CBD alongside its broader adult curriculum. The K-pop and Korean urban-dance specialty sits at XPACE Dance Studio in South Brisbane. The Irish-dance tradition is held by CM Dance in Camp Hill — twenty-five years of Irish dance alongside ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary in a family-oriented inner-east school. The city's circus-arts cross-discipline tradition runs through Queensland Dance & Performing Arts in Thorneside.

DanceFind's coverage of Brisbane's other named cultural-dance institutions — Greek, Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Pacific-Islander, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander — is still being built out. Where parents are looking for heritage-specific training, the editor's note is that this is an area still in active research; please use the listing-edit form on a school page if you know of an institution that should be included.

Where the community work is happening

Community work in Brisbane's dance institutions is built into how most of the named schools were founded. The city's school list runs on a recreational and inclusive tilt — fourteen of the twenty-eight active studios sit in the 'both recreational and competitive' category and thirteen are explicitly recreational, with only one labelled as competition-focused. Northside School of Dance in Clayfield was founded in 2007 with an inclusive remit covering all ages and levels. Shileena's Dance Academy in Coorparoo explicitly serves dancers of all abilities. Radiance Dance Academy Australia in Holland Park emphasises technical training within a positive and inclusive learning environment. CM Dance in Camp Hill has built itself around a family-oriented model across twenty-five years. Do Dance Academy's confidence-building focus serves Aspley families from age three. Bayside Dance's 80+ weekly classes serve the entire age range from preschool through adult in Wynnum. Prestige Dance Centre in Springfield serves children from twelve months. The community contribution is in the access model and the explicit refusal of audition-and-cut culture across most of the city's schools.

What a parent should know

For a child of three or four, the question is rarely which discipline — it's which studio is close to home and has the right teacher. Bayside Dance in Wynnum (80+ weekly), Prestige Dance Centre in Springfield (from 12 months), Universal Dance Company in Springwood (from age 2), Do Dance Academy in Aspley (from age 3), Reese Dance in Berrinba (preschool through junior), and Shileena's in Coorparoo (from age 2.5) all run gentle pre-ballet and creative-movement programs at this age. Most offer a trial; take it. The right teacher matters more than the right institution at four years old.

For a child of seven to twelve, two paths open. If the child is aimed at classical ballet, the corridor runs through Moves Dance Studio in Indooroopilly (RAD since 1995), Annette Roselli Dance Academy in Tingalpa (classical ballet), Just Ballet School in Mount Gravatt (specialised ballet training), Logan Dance Academy in Park Ridge (classical alongside other styles), Dance Artistry Academy in Ipswich (Comdance syllabus), and CM Dance's ballet program in Camp Hill. If the child wants multi-style training without an audition-and-cut culture, the Northside community-school belt (Northside School of Dance, Promenade, Do Dance, Reilly, KC Dance) and the Bayside East corridor (Bayside Dance, Kellehers, Dance & Theatre Factory, Shileena's) both run dense weekly schedules that prioritise participation. Studio One Brisbane in East Brisbane is the city's clearest competition-focused studio if a child is aimed at the eisteddfod circuit.

For a teen who is starting to think about dance as a serious craft, Brisbane is honest about being smaller than Sydney or Melbourne. Promenade Dance Studio in Kedron runs programs from junior school through professional training pathways. Queensland Dance & Performing Arts in Thorneside is the city's cross-discipline circus-arts and performing-arts anchor. Mad Dance House in the CBD covers adult-and-teen open classes in street and contemporary styles. For pre-professional ballet or contemporary at the level Sydney and Melbourne offer, families historically also look interstate — DanceFind's coverage of Queensland's vocational pathways is still being built out.

For a child whose family wants to keep a cultural tradition alive, Brisbane has clear options for three traditions: Rio Rhythmics in West End for Latin (thirty years), CM Dance in Camp Hill for Irish (twenty-five years), and XPACE in South Brisbane for K-pop. Coverage of other named cultural-dance institutions across Greek, Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Pacific-Islander, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is still being built out.

For adults — and Brisbane's adult open-class culture is real if smaller — Mad Dance House in the CBD (50+ weekly adult classes), Rio Rhythmics in West End (Latin), V-Hub in Fortitude Valley (street and hip hop), and the western-corridor studios (Moves Dance, Sharee Skye) all cover adult drop-in classes. The Latin scene in particular is anchored by a thirty-year specialist.

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All schools in Brisbane

Wynnum

Bayside Dance

Ages 2+

Dance studio in Wynnum offering 80+ weekly classes across multiple styles for all ages.

  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Contemporary
  • Hip Hop
  • Children's Dance
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Camp Hill

CM Dance

Ages 2–18

Family-oriented dance school offering Irish dance, ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary for over 25 years.

  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Contemporary
  • Cultural & Folk
  • Children's Dance
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Aspley

Do Dance Academy

Ages 3+

Dance academy in Aspley offering classes for ages 3+ with emphasis on confidence building, operating since 2006.

  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Contemporary
  • Hip Hop
  • Children's Dance
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Caboolture

KC Dance Academy

Ages 3–18

Community dance academy in Caboolture with 25+ years of service offering ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary.

  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Contemporary
  • Children's Dance
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Berrinba

Reese Dance

Ages 2–18

Children's dance studio offering preschool through junior classes in Berrinba and Logan Village.

  • Children's Dance
  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Hip Hop
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Virginia

Reilly Dance Academy

Ages 2+

Dance academy in Virginia offering ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, and contemporary for children and teens.

  • Ballet
  • Jazz
  • Contemporary
  • Children's Dance
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