Lisa Purchas

Lisa Purchas is a classical ballet dancer, teacher, business person, wife, mother, and grandmother. She is an academic, author, and loves that women today lead such multi dimensional lives. Lisa uses her flourishing dance practice and studio to inspire students of all ages to dance as a beautiful form of exercise, developing body strength, coordination, flexibility and grace. Her Perth studio Dancescene, teaches classical ballet, Jazz, hip hop, and contemporary dance to students of all ages. Lisa has been delighted to see the increasing interest from adults wanting to learn ballet later in life as a means to improve their body strength, posture, and cognitive health.

Lisa’s Teach Me To Dance DVD series were instructional videos to teach children and adults classical ballet, jazz and stretch classes. These popular DVDs sold internationally for many years and are now available on YouTube via the Dancescene channel.  This dedicated YouTube channel ‘Dancescene’ provides video content to adults and children anywhere in the world and google translates into 300+ languages so the reach is universal. This has been an invaluable resource to people living in remote geographical locations, and more recently with lockdowns and restrictions, to be able to dance from home. We know that a flourishing arts community goes hand in hand with a healthy society, and it is through the arts that we have the power to inspire, heal and motivate.

In 2017, as a legacy to her late Mother Joanna who died from Alzheimer’s Disease, Lisa created a unique ballet inspired movement programme for women with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Stage Alzheimer’s Disease to use both sides of their bodies and brains in simple cross lateral sequences to build strength, improve posture and balance while improving cognitive health.  The Ballet 4 You programme can be viewed on YouTube via ‘Ballet 4 Alzheimers’.

Lisa has created the iDanceDaily.com.au platform with her daughter Mikaila as a means for people anywhere in the world to learn to dance or to maintain their dance fitness practice at home or the office at any time of day, any or every day, anywhere in the world.  There has been a progressive increase in the number of people accessing fitness and educational programmes online and Lisa believes that as an intergenerational duo, she and Mikaila offer class content that is fun, effective exercise which is uplifting, beneficial to the body, brain and an improvement to one’s inner sense of well being. Being a Mother Daughter Team, Lisa and Mikaila provide classes that are suitable for the younger student through to mature age students.  We believe that ballet should be accessible to everyone at any age and ability.  iDanceDaily.com.au is testament to that!

Lisa also has an Arts Degree in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in International Business.