Passionate about sharing her knowledge and love of dance
ARAD, RAD Teachers Certificate, Accredited Practicing Dietitian.
Karina grew up inside the dance studio, trained by her mother: Royal Academy of Dance Examiner Debra Whitten.
Karina won accolades and Eisteddfods and was a finalist in the McDonalds Performing Arts Challenge Junior Classical Scholarship- now Sydney Eisteddfod. At age 14 she moved to Melbourne to train at the Australian Ballet School. At eighteen Karina signed her first ballet contract for Suzhou Ballet Theatre under direction of Stephen Jeffries and Rashna Homji (former directors of Hong Kong Ballet). Karina then accepted a contract with Ballet Ireland in the United Kingdom and performed in their production of Swan Lake as a Big Swan travelling around the United Kingdom. Having fallen in love with New York City she then moved to NYC accepting a contract with Mystic Ballet and performed Principal Roles including the Black Swan Pas de Deux and had choreographers from Germany and Switzerland choreograph new pieces for her to perform.
Karina moved home to Australia to commence a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and fell in love with teaching ballet as well.
She taught at the Debra Whitten School of Dance for over twelve years, introducing the Pearl Classical Coaching Program and choreographing solos for students. Former students are now professional dancers in numerous international ballet companies including English National Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and many professional company associated schools. Her students have described her as attentive to detail and dedicated to getting the best out of each individual student.
