Sharon O’Neill
Sharon O'Neill began her physical and creative journey at the age of three, training in ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary as well as playing the cello and bass, running, athletics and team sports, landing audition roles for ballet performances and Arlington Elementary Schools "Top Sports Person of the Year" Trophy in Year 6, VA USA, before commencing her first professional teaching role with Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Canberra, 1999.
Widely recognised for her achievements in professional dance and for teaching scores of amateur dancers to personal success, she placed 3rd in the 2005 season of the ABC television program Strictly Dancing and is the four-time undefeated ACT Professional On2 Salsa Champion, she created and organised ASDAC - The Outback Crown, a glamorous and welcoming independent Smooth and Rhythm competition, the first of its kind that successfully brought together all kinds of independent and franchised American Style studios from across Australia and New Zealand. Over its first decade the event gained international recognition and provided Australian dancers with direct exposure to some of the world's leading teachers and champions.
Sharon served as Creative Director of Danzon Dance Studio from 2004 to 2021 and in 2017 founded Articulate Dance Training, her personal teaching method and business developed from more than two decades of teaching, mentoring, performing and competitive experience. Her philosophy is captured in her well-known quote:
"Dancing is the magic between the steps." - Sharon O'Neill, 1999
Beyond the ballroom, Sharon's creative background includes qualifications as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Caricaturist. She is also a (16 years) qualified instructor in Zumba Fitness, Zumba Kids, Strong Nation, Zumba Gold, Toning, Gold Toning, Aqua, Step and Zumba + Lift, sharing her enthusiasm for creativity, biomechanics and physics, efficiency of movement, artistic eye, expressive and technical teaching style, mobility, strength and wellbeing across many disciplines. After more than a decade of medically diagnosed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome care of catching a virus in 2009, she is determined to continue improving. Kaizen is her personal ethos. An avid runner still getting faster at 50 years old, winning medals and found at ParkRun every weekend of the year except when a dance comp is calling. And mother of two empathetic, intelligent, fun young adults.
Highly qualified in her field, Sharon holds Associate, Licentiate and Fellowship qualifications in Smooth and Rhythm, as well as Associates in Standard and Theatre Arts with AIDA (formerly USISTD). In 2016 she successfully completed the USISTD/AIDA Examiners Assessment, becoming the first AIDA Examiner outside of the United States. Continuing to contribute to the future of dance education in Australia she is also now a Director on the Board of the Society of Australian Teachers of Dance (SATD), where she leads the newly formed Smooth & Rhythm sub-branch and serves as an Examiner. She has recently started a Community Social Dance in her local area to make partner dancing more affordable and accessible in the hope of getting people to reconnect in these post COVID, social media isolated times where people have taken up sports that don't involve human contact/touch, a big contributor to lonliness.
Through Articulate Dance Training, Sharon works as a personal dance trainer, helping amateur adult students achieve great personal success, first through their understanding, which then translates into physical action, continuing to inspire dancers to discover their own joy on the floor. Every willing student is capable of success if their teacher is dedicated to continually finding the solutions that resonate with each individual.