Marijke Franken

Marijke fell in love with dance at the age of five.  She has trained extensively in various styles including classical, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, tap, ballroom, character, cheerleading and Zumba®.  Marijke now enjoys passing on her passion others through teaching dance classes and choreographing (The Sentimental Bloke; Babirra, Hello Dolly!; ARC).  During the day, Marijke works in arts administration at a prominent Australian dance institution. Marijke performed as a featured classical dancer in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.  More recently she has extended her dance experience into the music theatre realm, with productions of Kismet (Princess Zubbediya), Grease (ChaCha), Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sweet Charity and Calamity Jane.  Since 2011, Marijke has been a dancer with Melbourne Opera’s productions of The Merry Widow, Faust, Carmen and The Pearlfishes.