Courtney

Free-spirited, fun and down-to-earth, the bubbly explosion of blonde curls who is Courtney Jane Walter has packed more experience into her 23 years than most of us will have in a lifetime!

The St Kilda local describes herself as an even mix of her dad – calm, hard-working, intelligent and grounded – and her mum, a sassy city girl who grew up singing on TV's 'Stars of the Future'.

Business-savvy Mum ran her own performing arts school, where Courtney was able to hone her dancing skills from the tender age of four. She consequently began performing when she was 11 years old.

After high school, the ambitious Courtney dipped her toe in acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts but quickly realized her heart was waiting for her on the dance floor. This intrepid performer then began working around Perth, in everything from corporate gigs to club nights.

She then packed her bags and jetted off to Asia, dancing and choreographing for Ministry of Sound, which lead her to Spain to do the same! After these adventures, she was back on a plane to Melbourne to study dance full-time.

She currently teaches Commercial Jazz and Hip Hop at the Melbourne Music Academy (her fave styles to perform) and also still performs around town (keep an eye out for her when the NBL South Dragons hot the field!). But for all this experience in the biz, Courtney maintains she's still a bit of a hippy at heart who loves nothing more than a long day at the beach with her boyfriend.

As we saw in the auditions, Courtney fears her lack of technique training could work against her in this competition, but is determined not to let her weaknesses overshadow her considerable strengths.

Key quote: "Dance is about expressing yourself, and as long as you're doing that, it's ALL good."