Strictly Ballroom’s John ‘Cha Cha’ O’Connell lists his quirky Bondi Beach bolthole for $1.1 million

Strictly Ballroom choreographer John ‘Cha Cha’ O’Connell has listed his Bondi Beach apartment for $1.1 million. 

According to The Daily Telegraph this week, the home is just a stone throw away from the famous beach on Campbell Parade. 

The one-bedroom flat features its own top floor, sun-drenched alfresco area in the interwar Art Deco style building. 

The quirky offering has 34sqm of internal space coupled with a 20sqm terrace in a security building sitting at the locale’s premier address. 

Sitting in a block of 16 apartments, the building is pet friendly with sales in the building going above $1 million over the past eight years.

The new owner will be able to literally walk across the road to the country’s most famous stretch of beach. 

O’Connell is known for his choreography work on 1992 film Strictly Ballroom, which was directed by his longtime collaborator and friend Baz Luhrmann. 

He also received the American Choreography Award for his work on Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rogue! starring Nicole Kidman. 

In an interview with The National Film and Television Achieve, O’Connell spoke about his first meeting with Luhrmann in Sydney’s King’s Cross. 

O’Connell said he likened his first meeting with Luhrmann to a blind date. 

Baz needed a choreographer for a low-budget music clip he was directing with the budget just $2,000. 

‘I remember going to see him at his place in Kings Cross. I thought he looked a bit mad and he thought I was a bit mad too,’ O’Connell said. 

‘His flat had no furniture, so we just sat on the floor and talked about the video clip as if the budget was two million dollars, instead of two thousand.’