Meet Our Team
About Global Dance Collective
Meet our talented team of passionate instructors at Global Dance Collective in Townsville, where we bring our unique experience and passion to every class. Each member of our team is dedicated to helping students, from beginners to advanced dancers, embrace the joy of dance in a welcoming and supportive environment.
With expertise across styles like belly dance, salsa, tango and more, our instructors share a commitment to making dance accessible, fun and inspiring for everyone. Get to know the faces behind the music and movement and discover how our diverse backgrounds and shared love for dance create a vibrant, uplifting community.
Ready to join us? Call 0409 700 037 to connect with our team and begin your dance journey!
Cara Griffin
Cara Griffin is a belly dance and Cuban dance artist, choreographer and instructress. Since 1998 Cara has delved deeply into the studies of dances from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Brazil, Cuba and Spain.
Cara is a celebrated soloist, with her performances being praised as passionate, engaging, dynamic and unique. She has performed both overseas and right around Australia, particularly noted for her classical, sword dance and flamenco fusion performances.
Cara is one of only a handful of full-time professional dancers in Queensland. With over 20 years of teaching experience and a teaching style that is warm and inclusive focusing on technique, strength and flexibility while learning to remain in the moment.
Her classes are grounded in Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and Cuban salsa; however, she is fluent in a range of traditional and modern styles. She enjoys mentoring new teachers and performers to find their own way forward to work professionally in the dance industry.
Cara’s dances are both traditional and contemporary in nature. Honouring the roots of each dance while not being afraid to push the boundaries to create works of art in the true spirit of fusion. She has trained and performed alongside prominent dance and music artists throughout Australia, having choreographed for both stage and screen in various projects. Each choreography she creates is lush, delves deeply into the connection in one's self and with other dancers and has a spiritual essence behind the movements.
Cara is the director and creator of the Global Dance Collective. She is also known for her work as the Director of the fringe festival show 'Salon La La'. She is a committee member for the Afrekete Afro-Cuban Festival, director for the Day of the Dead Festival Townsville and the creator of the smash hit, GDC Silent Disco Tours.
Her passion is teaching. To share the absolute joy and transformational opportunity that dance can bring. She believes it has the power to help people feel good in their own body, to find community and to provide opportunities to grow. Whether it’s teaching at a large festival or a private class for a complete beginner, she knows this is exactly what she was put on this earth to do. Get people back into their bodies and into the rhythm.
Ann Harkins and Alistair Zahn
This dynamic duo teach our Argentinian Tango Classes. Ann comes to our GDC team with an amazing knowledge of Tango having taken out the Western Australian Tango Championship and then having gone on to win the National Tango Championship with her former dance partner back in 2005. This experience has given her an incredible understanding of the art of Tango and its now something she imparts to her students here in Townsville. We are also so happy to have Alistair on our Tango team as well. Having studied Tango both within Queensland and interstate with master instructors he is quickly becoming a strong foundation within our local Tango community. He was also recently named the Australian Rueda de Casino amateur champion as a part of our team in Sydney cementing him as a multi disciplinary artist. We are so excited to have Ann and Alistair teaching Tango at the Global Dance Collective.
Roderick Budd
Rod’s fun, fresh teaching style has quickly made him a favourite among dance teachers in Townsville. His passion is Salsa dance and he has trained, studied and completed tuition under some of the best dancers in the country. He holds the 2022 title of Australian Amatuer Rueda de Casino Champion. He also led his team to place third in the 2024 Australian Amatuer Rueda de Casino Championships. He recently collaborated with Vincent Jarden Scott on the much loved 'Vinrigo' duo and had a warm reception to their debut at the Australian Cuban Dance Championships. He feels that imparting not only the dance technique but strong foundations in musicality and cultural knowledge is the strongest way to build good dancers and community development.
Amelia Fisher
Teaches Bachata
Amelia quickly fell into our dance family after relocating to Townsville from Brisbane. Having danced since the age of three she has studied classical and commercial dance styles including Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Street and more. She studied Ballet for over fifteen years culminating in a completion of grade 12 part time with Queensland Ballet. She has had various solo and principal roles with the Ballet Theatre of Queensland from 2012 – 2015. She performed with Queensland Ballet during their 2015 season of the Nutcracker at QPAC. She also had the pleasure of performing with the Victorian State Ballet during their 2016 season travelling throughout Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. After recovering from a major injury she turned her sights onto the Latin dance scene where she studied with Planet Ballroom in Brisbane. Since relocating to Townsville she has fallen in love with street Latin. In particular Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and Zouk. She feels that her time with Movimiento has been transformational not just in her dancing but her life. She is so happy to be on the teaching team for the Global Dance Collective and can’t wait to share all of her dance knowledge with her students.
May Marisco
Teaches: Bachata and Kizomba
May has extensive experience in Bachata, Kizomba and Cuban Dance. She has developed new programs for her Bachata students to develop and perform at a variety of events around Townsville. She is excited to introduce Kizomba to the students of the Global Dance Collective in 2025. As well as offer some amazing opportunities to learn from some of the best in the business who will come to Townsville to develop our Kizomba community. May has also been an award winning costume designer, having created the costumes for the Global Dance Collective teams who have gone on to win national titles. May loves to teach her students gorgeous choreographies and help adorn them in costumes to make them feel sensational!
Jordan Galliott
Teaches: Belly Dance/Raqs Sharqi, Trans National Fusion
Jordan is a Belly Dance artist based in Townsville, North Queensland. She has studied Raqs Sharqi, Transnational Fusion, group improvisation Belly Dance formats as well as commencing a degree in contemporary dance at Central Queensland University. Her teachers being Rachel Brice, Ashley Lopez, Cara Griffin and the incredible Dancenorth. As well as many a workshop and class with formidably vibrant and exciting teachers.
Jordan has had the privilege of performing and studying both interstate and abroad. She has had the pleasure of collaborating on projects and performances with the Belly Dance Collective, The Blades Edge, Alex Salvador, Circus Alabanza, Kallidad, Masha’s Legacy and Bengras. She currently works for the Global Dance Collective and Dancenorth Australia’s Community Experience team. As a performer she likes to find a sense of warmth and ease in movement to help bring an audience along for the ride that is entertaining, fun and somewhat relaxing. As a teacher she wants to see everybody on this planet and wiggling their perfect bums.
