Roanne
Roanne joined AFROTONIC in 2010 and now leads the dance troupe and tuition, teaching in North Fremantle and North Perth. Born in London from musician parents but raised in France amongst a mainly North and West African community, Roanne was introduced to African music and dance from a young age. She dabbled into tap dance, hip hop, flamenco and salsa in her teens, and even traditional 'breton' folk dancing! She followed her career dream of becoming a veterinarian in WA and since her arrival has been dancing and performing African dance with most of the teachers and drummers in Perth - from Village vibes, Djaa Boys, Bolo, Akwaaba, African Oz drum and dance all the way through to Imagine dance and now AFROTONIC.
Roanne developed her skills as a choreographer and performer in African Dance and now runs and manages AFROTONIC. She continues to attend workshops in Australia and overseas with master dancers from Senegal, Ghana, South Africa and Guinea. Roanne believes that everyone is a dancer, as long as you let your enthusiasm and energy shine through! She sees African dance as a fun, active experience to be shared by people of all backgrounds and ages. Having two kiddos in two years and juggling home, vet work and dance has barely slowed her down! Nothing makes her happier than getting everyone grooving to mesmerising drum beats! <3
Laure-Anne
Laure-Anne is our latest groovy dance recruit. She was born in Vietnam but grew up in Normandie (France). She's travelled the world and luckily for us, settled in Perth!
She's tried many styles of dance but nothing inspires her and frees her like African dance. She feels is helps her shake off the pressures of life and helps her push her boundaries!
Irina
Irina has enjoyed high energy West African dance for the last 6 years in Australia, and when she moved to Perth in 2015, she joined AFROTONIC.
While in France, she danced contemporary, modern jazz and performed traditional Madagascan dance to connect with her roots. Her style reflects her multicultural background and she loves how dance enables peoples' eclectic self-expression! Dance brings her joy, connection to people and discovery of different cultures.
Warren (Wazza)
Wazza is the glue keeping us dancers together. He's a formidable and accomplished percussionist, who has taught and performed locally and internationally for years. Warren is the jack of so many trades and we're honoured to have him as our head AFROTONIC drummer. He's Perth born, bred and trained in Performing arts and classical percussion but his later training and experience is so broad and international, it's impossible to summarise! He's played with Brazilian, cabaret, gypsy/ska/funk and jazz bands, but also along side DJs and with Dillip and the Days and Helen Townshend and the Wayward hearts.
He's also been at the core of every African group/project in WA - like Roanne, from Village vibes, Ngewell Kora, Djaa Boys, Bolo, Akwaaba, African Oz drum and dance all the way through to Imagine dance and AFROTONIC. He's travelled to Senegal to further his Djembe and Dundun technique, and attends any workshop he can in Australia too. He drums for all of Roanne's African dance classes and he leads our AFROTONIC drummers in our performances and workshops. His artistic influence and reliability have kept Roanne and AFROTONIC afloat all these years <3
Michael
Mike O’Shaughnessy discovered the joys of drumming and percussion in 1990, listening to a group of African drummers playing through the night at a campsite in Wales! Since then he has studied drumming, percussion, and marimba music with many teachers in Australia, the UK, and West Africa. He's also studied classical percussion at The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
He has played drums and marimbas in numerous musical groups including Acushla, Village Vibes and WAAPA’s Defying Gravity and also been a member of The Spooky Men of the West choir. He leads community drum circles and has taught drumming and marimbas to adults and children for many years. He believes we are all musical and that music brings joy and expression into our lives!!
Louiz Stefanz
Louiz hails from Europe, he is our latest recruit to the fantabulous team of Afrotonic drummers. He's super shy in person, but get him behind the drums and he just shines!!
Dan
Meeting Roanne and Afrotonic in 2018, Dan is our in-house web host / administrator, plus Dan enjoys the photography and videography aspects of our events. As for getting him up to dance? We're working on that. To get in touch with Dan click here.