After identifying a need to particularly provide regional, remote and isolated older people access to dance experiences, the idea of creating a digital library was born. This led to the creation of a website to house high-quality tailored dance video resources that enable older people to participate online from home, community centres or aged care homes. Launched in 2026, this unique website provides resources to benefit both older participants and dance artists/facilitators working with seniors.
Sound Moves 55+ is the creative concept of Julie Chenery, Jessica Conneely and Gail Hewton, all leaders and trainers in the field of dance for older people particularly with a health and wellbeing focus. They’ve worked successfully for many years with a diversity of older adults in community and aged care providing engaging, uplifting and creative dance activities that offer physical, cognitive, social and emotional benefits. Sound Moves 55+ is a legacy project leveraging technology to share their expertise and vast dance repertoire tailored specifically for older adults.
Sound Moves 55+ is committed to providing evidence-based dance programs that are safe and effective using a delivery approach that has been developed over 10+ years in practice working with older cohorts. Research partnerships have been established with a number of universities including University of Sydney, Newcastle University and Monash University to investigate the impact of our work.
Director & Chair
BA Dance, Cert IV Training & Ass. / Dance Teaching & Management
Jessica Conneely is a founding director and experienced arts and wellbeing leader with a strong background in administration, program management and strategic development.
Since establishing Dance4wellbeing in 2017, she has led the design and delivery of creative ageing initiatives, developed professional training pathways for the care and health sectors, and contributed to the establishment of accredited regional training programs in partnership with TAFE NSW and local health districts.
Her governance experience includes Co-Director of Dance for Parkinson’s Australia for the past five years and her broader career across the music, care and promotional industries has strengthened her expertise in stakeholder engagement, digital service innovation and cross-sector collaboration.
Jessica brings a practical, partnership-focused approach to leadership, with a strong commitment to research, accessibility and sustainable program outcomes for older people and the communities that support them.
Director & Secretary
BA Dance, DIP Teaching (Secondary)
Gail Hewton is an arts manager and administrator with almost 50 years of professional experience across government, private, community and arts sectors.
She has held senior leadership roles including General Manager/Director of the Noosa Long Weekend Festival, Program Manager at Brisbane Powerhouse, and Producer for Brisbane Festival and River Festival, overseeing complex multi-stakeholder programs, large budgets and high-profile events attracting audiences of thousands.
Her project management expertise spans contract negotiation, financial administration, risk management, stakeholder engagement and report writing. She has served as Project Officer for Brisbane City Council and Arts Queensland, where she provided strategic advice to senior management, assessed grant applications and developed policy.
Gail brings extensive governance experience through longstanding involvement with Ausdance Queensland, the peak industry body for dance in Australia, where she has served as Board Chair, Vice-Chair and Board Member across multiple periods since 1990 and was awarded Life Membership in 2022.
She has also served on the Sunshine Coast Council Cultural Plan External Reference Committee and RADF assessment panel, and as a board member of Brisbane Fringe Festival. As co-founder and co-director of Gold Moves Australia since 2018 and Sound Moves 55+ since 2024, Gail continues to exercise leadership, advocacy and organisational management at a national level.
Director & Treasurer
B.Sc., Dip. Ed., M. Counselling
Julie Chenery brings over 35 years of leadership across arts administration, organisational management and governance.
She served for a decade as the inaugural Executive Officer of the Australian Dance Council, Ausdance Queensland Inc., where she produced dance festivals and conferences, supported professional artists and companies, and successfully applied for, auspiced and managed a wide range of project and organisational funding.
Her earlier administrative career included roles as D’ Arts Outreach Officer and Statewide Producer at the Queensland Performing Arts Trust (1988–92), where she managed a disability arts workshop program and established an innovative interactive television
initiative connecting live theatre productions to regional and remote audiences via satellite. Julie also held the position of Head of Campus (for a semester) at Albert Park Flexible Learning Community (Edmund Rice Education), demonstrating her capacity for institutional leadership in an educational context. Her governance experience spans board and management committee membership with Arts Law Queensland, Youth Arts Queensland, Ausdance Queensland, and the Queensland Community Arts Network, where she also served as Chair.
As a business partner in Helicon Dance and Gold Moves Australia, she has further demonstrated sustained capacity for strategic partnership and organisational development across the arts and community sectors.
Director
MBA CGMA FCMA
Rebecca Bennett is a seasoned executive across finance, operations, and transformation who partners with organisations to unlock potential through structured thinking, operational discipline, and aligned governance.
With an accounting background, an MBA, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and PROSCI Change Practitioner certification, Rebecca brings a rare blend of commercial insight, process excellence, and people-centred change leadership, enabling measurable outcomes across diverse industries.
Rebecca brings strong capabilities in commercial financial leadership and disciplined decision-making. She has extensive experience in enterprise budgeting, forecasting, and performance management, with a proven ability to translate financial insights into strategy, priorities and effective execution. Rebecca is skilled at aligning executive stakeholders, including boards, CEOs, and operational leaders, while providing oversight of governance, compliance, and risk management across organisations. She is adept at strengthening financial controls, enhancing reporting maturity, and driving process improvements. In addition,
Rebecca has successfully led change initiatives, including finance transformation programs and operating model improvements, delivering sustainable organisational outcomes.
Director
BFA, MBA
Sonya Henderson Edbrooke is a skilled professional with expertise in facilitation, innovation, design-thinking and strategic decision-making, with over 30+ years’ experience in helping individuals and organisations unlock their potential through collaborative problem-solving and creative thinking.
As a facilitator, she has honed her ability to guide groups through complex challenges, ensuring all voices are heard and that ideas are given a fair and thorough evaluation.
She has a solid understanding of the dynamics of group communication and is skilled at helping groups reach consensus and move forward. Her expertise in design-thinking and innovation allows her to approach problems from a unique perspective, using creative and iterative processes to identify new solutions and opportunities. She looks for ways to challenge conventional thinking and push the boundaries of what is possible.
Overall, she is a versatile and skilled professional who can help organisations of all types and sizes to navigate complex challenges and achieve their goals through collaborative problem-solving, innovative thinking and strategic decision-making.
Director
BA Monash, ELP Harvard, AICD, CFA IMF
Amanda Wilson has over 35 years’ experience working in senior management roles and consulting on corporate governance, remuneration, organizational design and workplace relations within Australia, the USA, Turkey, South Korea, and Hong Kong. She was the CEO and Managing Director of Regnan, an Australian corporate governance investor advocacy firm for 7 years.
She has also headed the remuneration and performance function for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and most recently, headed up that function for Citigroup Asia Pacific, managing a team of 110 across 14 countries.
She spent 9 years working for the global consultancy, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, and has run multiple projects for not-for-profits, including the Audubon Society in New York, Taronga Park Zoo, and Amnesty International.
Her extensive work in remuneration and transition to retirement strategies has made her particularly interested in ways of keeping older people engaged, healthy and able to meet the challenges different stages of life pose. Despite valiant attempts, she’s not a great dancer but does keep fit by walking her dogs and clumsy attempts at Pilates.
IT
Vicky Breedyk brings over 30 years’ experience in managing and delivering IT projects, from internal intranets, CRM and invoicing systems to large live online Auction house sites both here in Australia and the UK. Starting out with a degree in Technology majoring in Software Engineering, Vicky has covered many technology issues and has been a great believer of don’t jump in too early – if something is working it might not need fixing. Vicky has a passion for problem solving and will combine the old technology with the new for greatest delivery. Vicky’s motto is “keep it simple”.
Dance Leadership
Julie Englefield has spent more than 30 years in senior arts leadership roles in Sydney, Singapore and Brisbane, currently serving as President of Ausdance National, Australia’s peak body for dance, following five years as Executive Director of Ausdance QLD. She has worked in both the commercial and non-profit sector with a focus on governance and strategic management. She has worked across all arts disciplines, including interdisciplinary; music, theatre, visual arts and dance as well as some years managing the development and fundraising for a national children’s charity. In each of her positions, Julie has achieved significant growth and long-term sustainability for her organisations. She specialises in governance, operational management, development and fundraising.
Healthy Ageing & Aged Care
Dr Jennie Hewitt is a clinician and researcher who has received National and International recognition for the Sunbeam Program that delivered reablement and falls prevention outcomes in residential care. She is widely celebrated for her pioneering work in gerontological physiotherapy and prioritises collaborative projects with partners who share her passion for implementing and testing positive ageing programs to target social, emotional and physical health throughout the ageing journey. Jennie holds a PhD; M Health Sc; Ba App Sc (Physiotherapy)
Dance Consumer
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017 at age 62, Robyn Higgins has transformed her diagnosis into a powerful journey of advocacy, research and community leadership. A retired primary school teacher with a Bachelor of Education and 42 years’ experience, she has participated in a range of Dance for Parkinson’s programs, including sessions initially with WA Ballet and online classes with Erica Rose Jeffrey. Since 2019, Robyn has attended Gail Hewton’s weekly classes in Noosa and values the creativity, music, camaraderie and importantly the falls prevention focus. Participating in seated-to-standing dance sessions twice a week, Robyn credits her ongoing good balance and absence of falls to regular participation, the professional delivery of quality evidence-based content, and best of all enjoys the bonus fun and laughs experienced at every session.
Healthy Ageing & Falls Prevention
Anne Tiedemann is Professor of Physical Activity and Health at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney. Professor Tiedemann has a background in exercise physiology and holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of New South Wales. Professor Tiedemann is an internationally recognised leader in physical activity and fall prevention research evidenced by leadership roles in the WHO 2020 Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines, 2022 World Falls Guidelines and 2026 Australian 24-hour movement guidelines.
Creative Ageing & Development
Kevin Williams has been involved in the cultural and creative industries for over 30 years with senior positions in the management of both cultural institutions and community arts in Sydney and Regional NSW. It is in the latter his focus has shifted to areas of community development and well-being, leading the way in advocating the value of creative ageing programs. He also brings skills from previous roles as both a Planner and a Solicitor.
