Justine McLucas – Dinali Center’s artistic manager
Justine started dancing at the age of 3, training in ballet, jazz, contemporary and singing throughout her childhood. With Honours in her RAD Advanced Ballet training, and a quarter finalist in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition at the age of 15, she was soon accepted to the Hamburg Ballet School where she completed her professional ballet training and performed with the school and company on stages around Germany. After an injury left her unable to dance en pointe, Justine went home to Australia and began working in finance. A keen interest in studies and a passion for South East Asian culture, she completed a Bachelors Degree in Arts (Asian Studies), with a triple major of Asian Studies, Anthropology and Thai language. Financial services however led her to trading and collateral management in leading investment banks in London in a successful career spanning almost a decade.
But her true love has always been dance, and fate would have it that a gym in central London in early 2007, tempted Justine to try their Pole Dancing classes – and she was captivated by the strength, beautiful lines, and uniqueness of the art, motivating her to train and start performing again, this time in the world of cabaret and acrobatic pole dancing, where she has already established herself firmly amongst the elite polers of Britain, building a solid reputation as a respected performer, choreographer and instructor. She is a judge and guest performer at the UK’s biggest Amateur Pole Dance Competition, UKAPP, represents X-Pole as one of their feature models and exhibitors at shows, on Fitness TV and at events such as the Clothes Show and Leisure Industry Week. She has also been invited to judge Battle of the Pole in Sweden, Jan 2012, and was recently commissioned to be Artistic Director and create the syllabus for Pole Dancing Studio in Gavle, Sweden The Dinali Centre.
Justine has competed in the UK and internationally. In entering Miss Pole Dance UK for the first time in 2009, she made it straight through to the finals and was awarded Best Costume, in 2010 won the London Pole Divas Professional heat, and went on to place 2nd in the Grand Final in Manchester. She again competed in Miss Pole Dance UK in June 2011 in Brighton, tying for the 1st Place on points, and was finally awarded 2nd Place after the tie breaker… and also awarded Best Entertainer. She was a semi-finalist representing the UK at the 2011 World Pole Sport & Fitness Championships in Budpest, and has also been invited to compete in the UK Professional Pole Championships ELITE category this Dec.
Her brilliant shows, with their stylish and classy choreography, her elegant, graceful movements, jaw dropping tricks and flexibility, and her incredible versatility as a dancer of any style, makes Justine an all round highly entertaining performer and has landed her parts as a feature dancer/ pole dancer in music videos for Bryan Ferry, RnB sensation Femii, rock band The Violet May, AWOLNATION and in the Cyclops Vision film, Babes of Baghdad. She has appeared on the Alan Titchmarsh show and Fitgear on FITNESS TV, at London Erotica, with the Fuel Girls, and at the Wam Bam Club cabaret show at Café de Paris, London, performing on the pole, the Can Can and Vegas Showgirl numbers.
Some of her biggest achievements include being invited to perform in the ‘Showcase of the Stars’ and teach workshops at the 2011 Pole Convention in Florida, and also to be part of the debut showcase as a soloist in X-Pole’s ‘Pole Reflections’ Sydney, Australia Jul 2011, sharing the stage with the likes of Marlo Fisken, Alesia Vazmitsel, Remi Martin, Jamilla Deville, Zoraya Judd & Laurence Hilsum. She is also the face of POLE MOTION, a new Pole Fitness DVD.
With her own school, Justine wants to impart her passion for the art of Pole Dancing to others as a means to both improving fitness and expressing one’s artistry through movement. Her skills and knowledge from a career as a professional ballerina and qualified Fitness and Pilates Instructor make her the ideal person to trust with your pole dancing tuition..
