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Christine was born in Cairns, North Queensland, of Torres Strait Island descent. She studied at the National Aboriginal And Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) and graduated with an associate diploma of dance in 1992. Since graduating from NAISDA, Christine has performed both in Australia and overseas with Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Aboriginal and Island Dance Theatre. 1995 saw the release of Christine's debut album, Stylin'Up, which remained in the top 100 charts for over a year and included the hits Party, Island Home and Monkey & The Turtle. The album went platinum in Australia. Her version of Island Home won the 1995 Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) award for song of the year for Neil Murray. In 1996 Christine was awarded best female artist at the Australasian Recording Industry Awards (ARIAs) and best female artist at the Deadly Sounds National Aboriginal & Islander Music Awards. She then worked on the track Now Until The Break Of Day with Baz Luhrmann for the album Something For Everybody. This track was released as a single & the video won Best Video at the recent ARIA Awards. 1997 saw Christine starring in the musical Little Shop Of Horrors followed by a year in the hit musical Rent in 1998/99 to outstanding critical acclaim. Her role as Mimi in Rent led to her being invited to perform the role in the Broadway version - an invitation she had to decline due to work being in progress on her next album. |
