Miss Cath is the founder of Cathy Makin Dance Academy.

I began dancing at the age of 4. My mum's intentions were for me to make friends as we had just moved from Sydney. I started ballet, tap and jazz, in my local teachers garage at Gorokan and 'boy' I was hooked!

At the age of 9 I changed ballet schools, as my mum had learned a bit by then and realized that if I ever wanted to do anything with my dance, I would need to study R.A.D ballet.

Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D.) is the highest standard of ballet and recognised throughout the world. If you hold your R.A.D. teaching certificate, you can basically get a job teaching dance anywhere as it is very highly regarded. So I continued on with all styles of Dance until I was 15. Then at 15 I completed 2 years of full time study gaining my R.A.D. Advanced certificate with Honours.

After this I decided to open my own school and completed my R.A.D. Teaching Certificate. The school is now in its 18th year. We started out at local halls and have now progressed to a fully equipped studio in Toukley on the Central Coast.

I am very proud of the school and what it achieves. I am also very lucky to be able to form wonderful friendships with the students and watch them grow. Many senior students still dance well into their 20's and a few have even started bringing their own children along.

Dancing has contributed so much to my life. Simple things like posture and grooming I learnt very young, and they stick. My best friends I met at dancing as we were similar and had the same interest. That hasn't changed. Many of them also have careers in dance.

I enjoy seeing the students grown and learn, its nice to be part of their lives.