JMDS troupe in colour-block mod dresses and yellow headbands posing around a dancer in a sequinned blue jacket

The team.

Over 40 years of teaching Cairns to dance.

Julia Macalpine, principal of JMDS, smiling in a JMDS team jacket

Principal & Director

Julia Macalpine

Associate Diploma ISTD (Imperial Modern & Tap) · Fully Registered Teacher, RAD

Julia has owned her own dance school for over 40 years, leading a team of committed, experienced staff in a fun yet professional environment. She has trained numerous students who have gone on to professional careers in the dance industry, and her choreography has earned the studio multiple awards and countless wins at competitions locally, interstate and nationally.

Dedicated to bringing dance and performance to the Cairns community, Julia has choreographed numerous shows for the Cairns Choral Society, including Beauty and the Beast, Cats, Mr. Pinstripe Suit and Miss Saigon, and has served as an examiner at dance competitions. In 2002 she received the Senior Cultural Award for the City of Cairns at the Australia Day celebrations.

Her years of teaching, her competition experience and her love of dance give students the edge to succeed, and make sure they enjoy their training as they grow as dancers.

Shannon Treanor, JMDS teacher and choreographer, smiling in a JMDS team jacket

Teacher & Choreographer

Shannon Treanor

Advanced 2, ISTD (Imperial Modern & Tap)

Shannon began dancing at JMDS at the age of three and graduated in 2017, completing her ISTD Advanced 2 Tap and Modern exams with distinctions. That same year, aged 17 and still at high school, she wrote, directed and choreographed the studio's concert production.

Now an important member of the JMDS team, teaching alongside her mother, Julia, Shannon's credits include the studio's productions Escape to the Circus (2019), Down the Rabbit Hole (2021) and Tale as Old as Time (2024). She has a wonderful talent for choreography and stagecraft, and many of the routines the school uses today are hers.

A lifelong lover of musical theatre, Shannon has appeared in Cairns Choral Society productions since she was young, as well as Cairns State High School musicals, and played the lead in Alice in Wonderland at Edge Hill State School.

Come and dance with us.

New dancers are always welcome.

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