Autumn Term 2020

Health Information Questionnaire (Customers and Students)

Please would all parents make sure the health form is filled in EVERY WEEK before your son/daughter attends classes. One form will cover all classes for a week unless your health situation changes. This is a requirement by law in accordance with track and trace.

Please copy and paste the link below to complete the form:

https://form.jotform.com/202462487207051

Summer Term 2020

We have been busy over the last few weeks setting up our Summer term plans ready to deliver online live classes until the school can open again safely. Emails have now been sent with details of the new Summer term and our new timetable. If you have not received this email please get in touch with us. We hope everyone is safe & well!

We had a lovely morning at the studio on the 3rd August learning 'The Dance of the Snowmen' in a workshop taught by Antony Edwards, who dances in The Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company's production of 'The Snowman'

Both the juniors and the seniors had a fantastic time learning the joyful repertoire from the show, and despite it being very hot in the studio the atmosphere was very festive!

Our Summer school ended on a high when guest teacher Cris Penfold awarded our lucky student Anna Keeping a Junior Scholarship for London Studio Centre's Saturday associate programme!

We had a great week at the studio during our summer school 2019. Our pupils had technique classes in ballet & jazz, repertoire classes, MT classes, drama & singing. Taught by guest teachers, many of whom are currently performing or choreographing in the West End or on Broadway and teachers who teach at London Vocational schools and colleges.

Congratulations to senior student Tilly Amesbury who has successfully auditioned for Spirit YPC and has been offered a place on both their Elite Musical Theatre Company and Elite Singing Troupe to start in September.

On the 8th July 26 of our dancers performed at The Troxy Theatre in London in a 'Young Performers' production. It was a really fun day which gave our students the opportunity to rehearse and perform on a London stage. All dancers were a credit to the school and were told by the production company that they were professional, well rehearsed and had fantastic routines! As always, thank you to our wonderful team of teachers for all their hard work and commitment and to our students and their parents for their dedication and support.

Huge congratulations to Amelia Palmer and Libby Oliver who have both successfully auditioned and been offered places as Junior Associates of The Royal Ballet School to start in September 2019. We are proud of you both! Congratulations also to Libby Oliver for successfully auditioning for London Junior Ballet associates. Libby is going to have a very busy weekend!

WEATHER UPDATE

Friday 1st February 2019

Please be aware that for the safety of our students and staff the studio will be closed today due to the snow. We are expecting to open as normal tomorrow (Saturday 2nd February). Updates will be posted on our Facebook page and website.

At the end of last term we were sad to say goodbye to our Musical Theatre teacher Mr David Ashely who will now work with us at the school as a guest teacher.

We are however pleased to introduce our new member of faculty, Roxy Rose. Roxy is a talent coach specialising in Voice & Drama skills for performance. Roxy trained as a performer & educator at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she was awarded the RSC Education prize for her dedication to coaching. We are thrilled to welcome her to the school!

Talluah Brown attended her final associate class at Arts Educational School, London at the beginning of July & was awarded The Outstanding Achievement Award in Acting. What a wonderful achievement!

Congratulations to Carrie Patrick who has been offered a place at National Youth Ballet & will be performing at Sadlers Wells, London in September 2017!

Well done to Amelie Meaden who has been offered a place at London Senior Ballet starting associate classes on Sundays from September 2017.

We were thrilled when former pupil Ellis Linford-Pill visited us last week with some exciting news. Ellis is now in Miami beginning rehearsals for Grease the musical which he will be performing onboard Harmony of the Seas, the worlds largest cruise ship. Ellis will be working for Royal Caribbean as a dancer and vocalist for a 7 month contract in the Caribbean. Congratulations and we hope Ellis has an amazing time!

Many congratulations to Natalia Hoesli who has been offered a place at Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts on their 3 year Musical Theatre course from September 2017. Natalia has been awarded a partial scholarship towards her training. What a great achievement!

Former pupil, Imogen Holthouse who is currently in her 2nd year at Laine Theatre Arts has just secured her first professional pantomime contract. Imogen will be performing in Dick Whittington at The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford from the 8th December 2017 - 7th January 2018. Congratulations Imi!

Well done to all our dancers who were involved in the RAD Awards Day final on Sunday 7th May. Congratulations to Emmeline Bywater who came 3rd in her class!

Congratulations to Ella Frost who has been offered a place at London Studio Centre on their BA (Hons) Theatre Dance Programme.

After 5 years of teaching at our school we were sad to say goodbye to our Musical Theatre teacher Miss Gant at the end of last term. Miss Gant is now pursuing some of the exciting opportunities that have been presented to her since becoming an online sensation at the beginning of the year. We wish her all the best and are very pleased that she will remain as a guest teacher within the school.

We are thrilled to be able to announce that Mr David Ashley will be joining us as our new Musical Theatre teacher this term. Mr Ashley has worked at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Arts Educational Schools, London College of Music, London Studio Centre and Millennium Performing Arts. As an actor Mr Ashley has performed in 11 West End Musicals including Cats, Les Miserables, Blood Brothers, Starlight Express and Me and My Girl. We hope you will all make him very welcome. Anyone wishing to try Musical Theatre this term don't hesitate to get in touch.

We also are offering our new adult dance fitness class this term DDMIX. Classes are held at the studio on a Thursday night 8.30-9.30pm and a 10 week term is being offered at the introductory price of £75. Anyone wishing to try the first class before committing to the term can do so for £7.50 payable at the beginning of the class. No dance experience is necessary the only requirements are pair of clean indoor trainers and a lot of enthusiasm! Please do get in touch if you wish to be added to the class list.

Some of our students have had a particularly successful time this term!

Congratulations to Martha Higgins who has successfully auditioned for a place with Tap Attack on their Junior Associate programme for 2017-2018. What a lovely start to the Easter holidays! Well done Martha!

Theo Greenfield has been offered a place in Year 9 at Elmhurst Ballet School to commence full time vocational training in September 2017 and has also been offered a place as a Mid Associate of The Royal Ballet School, London on their associate Saturday programme! What an incredible achievement for Theo who only begun his dance training a couple of years ago with us!

Congratulations to Carrie Patrick who has been offered another year of associate classes at London Senior Ballet, Ethan Barrett who has been offered another year as a Senior Associate at The Royal Ballet School, London & Emmeline Bywater who will also continue as a Mid Associate at The Royal Ballet School, London.

Huge congratulations to Tallulah Brown who has auditioned at Arts Educational School, London for their Sixth Form and has been offered a place from September 2017!

Many congratulations to Ella Frost who has been offered a place at Millennium Performing Arts on their BA (Hons) Musical Theatre course & who has also been placed on the reserve list for Bird College for a place in September 2017.

Congratulations to Sophie Harlow who has been offered a place at Ballet West and was has also recently auditioned at Central School of Ballet and has been recalled to the final audition for their full time course to start in September 2017.

Congratulations to all our dancers who took part in the Wiltshire Dance Festival in Swindon during half term. This was our second competition, and the overall standard was exceptionally high.

We were thrilled to come away with a total of 10 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals for a selection of solos, duets, trios and group numbers.

Additionally Sophie Harlow was invited by the adjudicator to take part in The Performance Award on the final day and both Ethan Barrett and Emmeline Bywater successfully made it through to the Ballet Championships. During the award ceremony at the end of the week Ethan Barrett received the trophy for The Most Outstanding Boy and Emmeline Bywater was awarded The Most Promising Classical Dancer.

RAD Awards Day January 2017

Congratulations to all our students who took part in the Royal Academy of Dance South East regional heats in Hungerford on Sunday 15th January.

The dancers participated in one out of four levels in a class taken by senior RAD teacher Darren Parish and were dancing for the opportunity to be selected to proceed to the final in May where finalists from seven counties will compete at RAD headquarters in Battersea to find the best young ballerinas in the South East of England.

We were thrilled that the following students were all selected to take part in the final later in the year.

Grace Algar - Grade 1
Darcy Jones - Grade 3
Rosie Burkey - Grade 5
Alice Wilson - Grade 5
Emmeline Bywater - Grade 6
Carrie Patrick - Grade 6
Eva Isherwood-Halliwell - Grade 7

DDMIX Adult Classes coming soon..... please let us know if you are interested in joining this new class.

Over the Christmas break Miss Webb trained with Darcey Bussell and became a qualified instructor in her 'Diverse Dance Mix' a full body aerobic workout based on a wide range of different dance styles. The aim of DDMIX is to get people moving without being intimidated by the word 'dance'or the technicality of the steps, but instead to give a full body dance-based workout that is fun.

Online Phenomenon.....Our very own singing teacher Miss Gant has become an online sensation over the Christmas holidays after her mum secretly filmed her singing one of her own songs in Lincoln Cathedral and posted it on social media.

With 28,000 views in just one day Miss Gant has since appeared in national and local newspapers and on the news and 2017 promises to be a very exciting year for her!

Congratulations to Flossie Amesbury, Ella Frost, Abby Showan, Amelie Meaden, Carrie Patrick & Ella Pemberton who all successfully auditioned for English Youth Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty at The Oxford New Theatre in October 2016. Particular congratulations go to Carrie & Ella who both made it through to the scholarship audition and narrowly missed out on funding.

Congratulations to Sophie Harlow who has successfully auditioned for Laine Theatre Arts. Sophie has been offered a place to commence full time training in September 2017 and is currently being considered for scholarship funding. Congratulations to Ella Frost who has successfully made it through to the recall auditions at London Studio Centre later this year. Further congratulations to Ellie Harlow has also successfully auditioned for Millennium Performing Arts for their BA (Hons) Musical Theatre course & who has also been placed on the reserve list for Bird College for a place in September 2017. Competition at these vocational schools is incredibly fierce and we are very proud of you all, such great achievements.

Congratulations also to Sophie Crow who will be performing in the London Children's Ballet tour of 'The Little Lord Fauntleroy' in February 2017.

Congratulations to Tallulah Brown who has successfully auditioned for one of 15 places on offer to perform in a new play by Tim Etchells. Rehearsals have begun and the play will be performed at The Soho Theatre London in March 2017.

During the October half term break we entered some of our students into a festival in Pershore - the craze of the television show 'Dance Mums' has finally hit The Jill Stew School of Dance! This was a new venture for us and we didn't quite know what to expect but the results were fantastic.....

We entered 21 dances, a mixture of solos, duets, trios, quartets and groups and we won 14 Golds, 3 Silvers, 1 Bronze and 3 Fourths.

6 of our dancers were invited to dance again in the Bursary Award Section where the adjudicator had chosen his 10 favourite junior and senior dances from the entire five days. What a privilege that our school provided 6 of his favourite dances!

8 of our dancers also made it through to the Championships having received 85 marks or above for their solo routines.

At the end of the week we were awarded 13 trophies:

The highest mark of the entire festival (Girls) Molly Mullins
The highest mark of the entire festival (Boys) Ethan Barrett
The Intermediate Ballet Award Emmeline Bywater
The Intermediate Tap Award Isobel Morris
The Senior Ballet Award Sophie Harlow
The Senior Tap Award Tallulah Brown
The Intermediate Cabaret Duet Award Sophie Burkey & Eva Isherwood-Halliwell
The Classical Trio Award Emmeline Bywater, Amelie Meaden & Carrie Patrick
The Classical Group Award 'Unbreak my Heart'
The Cabaret Group Award 'Bugle Boy'
Junior Classical Championship Runner Up Emmeline Bywater
Senior Classical Championship Runner Up Ethan Barrett
Senior Classical Championship Winner Sophie Harlow

We were immensely proud of everyone who took part and were thrilled by the impact our school had on the competition. Well done to you all!

HUGE congratulations to all pupils who were involved in 'The Best of British' show. We were so proud of what you achieved and your dedication and commitment to the production. The standard was fantastic and we have had the most wonderful feedback from those who came to watch. A big thank you also to those involved behind the scenes. We had a great team of volunteers and support from parents, friends and past students. We could not have done it without you all.

Congratulations to Millie Jackson who has been offered a place at London Studio Centre on their BA Hons Theatre Dance programme!

Many congratulations to Sophie Harlow who has been accepted for another year at Central School of Ballet on their Saturday associate programme and will commence on the Pre Senior course from September 2016.

Congratulations to Ethan Barrett who has secured his place for another year to commence in September 2016 as at Senior Associate at The Royal Ballet School in London.

Congratulations to Tallulah Brown who has been chosen to join the Arts Educational Youth Theatre, London, a new company starting in September 2016. A great achievement, well done!

Tickets are now on sale at the studio for our forthcoming school show THE BEST OF BRITISH. Performances are being held at Burford Secondary School on Friday 22nd April - 7pm, Saturday 23rd April - 2pm, Saturday 23rd April - 7pm & Sunday 24th April - 2pm. Please come along and support all of our wonderful pupils involved.

Many congratulations to Emmeline Bywater who has secured her place for another year as an MA on The Royal Ballet Associates programme in London.

Congratulations to Millie Jackson who has been offered places at Performers College on their Professional Diploma in Dance & Musical Theatre, Bird College on their Pre-Professional Foundation Year & Millennium Performing Arts college on their Professional Diploma in Dance or Musical Theatre course!

Many congratulations to Louisa Anderson who has been offered places at Laine Theatre Arts on thier 3 year Diploma Professional Dance or Musical Theatre course, The Urdang Academy on their BA Hons in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre course, Bird College on their BA Hons in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre course & London Studio Centre on their BA Hons Theatre Dance programme!

Huge congratulations to Miss Wiseman and her husband Luke, who have welcomed their twin boys, Arthur Robert & Joshua Douglas into the world on 3rd February 2016. Everyone is doing well!

Huge congratulations to Natalia Hoesli who has successfully auditioned for a place in ZooNation's Youth Company, which is part of ZooNation's Hip Hop Dance Company. Natalia will start training with the Youth Company from February 2016 on Saturday mornings and will continue with her academy classes in the afternoons.

As Miss Wiseman prepares for the arrival of her baby twins in the new year we are pleased to announce that Miss White will be covering Wednesday classes and Miss Henry and Miss Barrett will be covering Friday classes, whilst Miss Wiseman is on maternity leave.

On Sunday 15th November we held a fantastic 'Matilda the Musical' workshop at the studio taught by the wonderful Josh Wyatt. Josh played the role of Micheal Wormwood and ensemble in the West End from 2013-2015 and we were thrilled he brought some of the magic of the show to our school!

Many congratulations to Danielle French who graduated from Ballet West in July 2015 and has been offered a years internship with The London Ballet Company.

We are thrilled to introduce our new member of staff, Miss Amy Mumford who will be joining our teaching faculty on a permanent basis from after the October half term break. Miss Mumford has already been teaching alongside Miss Wiseman on Saturdays and will now take the Modern and Tap classes from November. We look forward to Miss Mumford working with you all and know everyone will welcome her into the school and continue to work very hard!

Congratulations to Louisa Anderson who attended the Bird College Musical Theatre Summer School in August and was awarded a scholarship to go back next year!

Past student Charlotte O'Brien has just been offered a contract onboard P&O's new ship The Britannia to start rehearsals in July 15. Many congratulations!

Ethan Barrett will be performing with Australia's Queensland Ballet company at the London Coliseum from the 4th-8th August. What a wonderful opportunity and we wish him lots of luck.

Huge congratulations to Ellis Linford-Pill who has just been offered his first professional contract working for Mirage Company on Fred Olsen's Balmoral cruise ship. Ellis will graduate from Laine Theatre Arts in June and begins rehearsals for his contract immediately. We wish him all the best!

Congratulations to Sophie Harlow who has been offered a place at Central School of Ballet on their Saturday Associate Programme to start in September 2015 and at London Senior Ballet and begins Sunday classes from after May half term.

Many congratulations to Imogen Holthouse & Caroline O'Brien who have both been offered places at London Studio Centre on their 3 year dance degree programme from September 2015.

Congratulations to Carrie Patrick who has successfully auditioned for London Junior Ballet and starts Sunday classes there in September to enhance her training with us.

Well done to all those students who took part in the RAD Finals Awards Day on Sunday 10th May at headquarters. We were very proud of you all. Huge congratulations to Abigail Showan & Sophie Harlow who were both awarded runner up in their groups!

Congratulations to Sophie Harlow who has been offered a place at London Studio Centre on their Saturday Associate Programme, starting in September 2015.

Many congratulations to Emmeline Bywater who has been accepted for a second year with the Royal Ballet School Associate Programme & will become a Mid-Associate from September 2015. Congratulations also goes to Ethan Barrett who has been accepted for another year as a Mid-Associate. Well done to you both.

Well done to all our students who took part in the RAD Awards Day on Sunday 1st February. Many congratulations to Ethan Barrett, Emmeline Bywater, Roderick Bywater, Sophie Harlow, Amelie Meaden, Abigail Showan, Jessica Showan & Alice Wilson who have all made it through to the final on Sunday 10th May at the RAD Headquarters in Battersea. To have so many students get through to the final is amazing and a great acheievment for the school.

Congratulations to Ella Frost who has successfully auditioned and been offered a place with Tap Attack. Ella will be joining the Senior Associate group in Birmingham.

Many congratulations to Imogen Holthouse who been offered a place at Laine Theatre Arts on a 3 year Dance & Musical Theatre course to start in September 2015. A great achievement, well done!

Congratulations to Imogen Holthouse who has been offered a scholarship to study Musical Theatre at the New York Film Academy! The course begins in September 2015.

Well done to Isobel Morris who has been offered the opportunity to perform with London Childrens Ballet touring company next year. Places are limited so this is a great achievement.

Many congratulations to Miss Webb and her partner who welcomed Freddie Levi Churchill into the world on Sunday 31st August at 6.15am. Freddie weighed a healthy 7lbs 1.5oz. Both Miss Webb and Freddie are doing well!

Many congratulations to Isobel Hyland who has successfully auditioned for a place at the New York Film Academy on their BFA 3 year acting programme. Isobel has been awarded a scholarship and the course commences in September 2015.

Congratulations to Louisa Anderson who has been accepted onto the Saturday Associate Programme at London Studio Centre where she will study Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and Voice Technique/Singing.

We are delighted to introduce our new member of staff, Miss Natasha French who will be covering Miss Webb's maternity leave from Septemeber. Miss French will be teaching on a Monday - Thursday and Miss Catherine White will now take over Modern and Tap classes permanently on a Saturday. We are sure you will warmly welcome Miss French into the school.

Many congratulations to Emmeline Bywater and Carrie Patrick who have both successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet School Associate Programme and have been accepted as Junior Associates in London from September 2014. A fantastic achievement indeed! Congratulations also goes to Ethan Barrett and Sophie Harlow who have both been accepted for another year of Mid-Associates at The Royal Ballet School.

Congratulations to Olivia Holt who has successfully auditioned and been offered a Midland Associate place with 'Tap Attack' and will attend monthly classes with them. Olivia was one of 600 dancers auditioning for 80 places over their entire associate programme which provides regular training sessions and opportunities to perform throughout the year.

Many congratulations to all our pupils who recently auditioned for London Children's Ballet. Sophie Harlow & Amelie Meaden successfully auditioned for their production of 'Nanny McPhee' which will be performed at The Peacock Theatre, London on 24th - 27th April 2014. Kylen Harrison & Carrie Patrick have all been offered places on the LCB tour which takes place throughout 2014. Places are extremely limited so we are thrilled that so many of our pupils will be involved.

At Christmas 2013 we had past students performing in Pantomimes. Jordan Dodd was playing the lead role of Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty at The Broadway Theatre, Catford alongside Richard Blackwood, Tabitha Brown performed in Cinderella at The Theatre Royal, Margate & Ellis Linford-Pill in Snow White at The Palace Theatre, Newark.

In July 2013 we held our third summer school and at the end of the week all pupils performed in a short showcase of work they had learnt. This years faculty included Simon Horrill (Ballet), Matthew Shaw (Singing - Vocal coach 'Rock of Ages', London), Becky Howell (Tap & MT Rep - Associate choreographer of 'Viva Forever'), Cris Penfold (Jazz Tech & Tap), Lee Alexander (Street). The week was highly successful and all pupils had great fun working with an incredible faculty.

Many congratulations to Ethan Barrett who has been accepted as a mid-associate of the Royal Ballet School to attend Saturday classes.

One of our past students Charlotte O'Brien, graduated from her 3 year full time vocational training at London Studio Centre with a 1st class BA (Hons) degree in Theatre Dance in July 2013. At her graduation she was awarded the very prestigious Gillian Lynne Award for Achievement In Jazz Dance over 3 years. Charlotte has also been offered her first professional dance contract with Celebrity Cruises and begins rehearsals in October before embarking on a 6 month contract around the Caribbean. Many congratulations to her!

Elizabeth Hall, who left us in July 2012, has just completed her Foundation year at London Studio Centre and has successfully auditioned for their 3 year full time vocational degree programme which commences in September 2013. We wish her every success for the future.

Many congratulations to Ellie Harlow, Sophie Harlow, Kylen Harrison, Natalia Hoesli, Imogen Holthouse, Isobel Hyland, Niamh Mapp, and Amelie Meaden who all successfully auditioned for the English Youth Ballet's production of Swan Lake to be performed at The Oxford New Theatre on the 20th & 21st September 2013. Particular congratulations go to Imogen Holthouse who was awarded one of the scholarships available.

Many congratulations to Ellie Harlow who has successfully auditioned for 'Surrey Ballet Masters' and will now attend a monthly non-syllabus class to enhance her training.

We would like to congratulate Michaela Guibarra who has just been given her first professional contract. Michaela has successfully auditioned for 'The Phantom of the Opera' World Tour! Michaela attended The Jill Stew School of Dance from the age of 3 years old and at 16 years old she started full time Ballet vocational training at Central School of Ballet, London. Michaela has also gained a 1st class BA (Hons) degree and attended her official graduation in Canterbury in November 2013.

On Sunday 12th May 2013 we held 'Phantom of the Opera' ballet workshops taught by Miss Emma Northmore. Emma danced with English National Ballet as a soloist and performed in the West End for many years.

On Sunday 17th March 2013 we performed in a variety show at The New Theatre, Oxford. All pupils were a credit to the school and we hope that they enjoyed this wonderful opportunity. Thank you to all who came to watch and support us.

Congratulations to all students who took part in the South East England RAD Regional Award Day Heats held at Abingdon on Sunday 17th February. Particular congratulations go to the following dancers who were all selected from exceptionally large classes to go through to the finals on Sunday 19th May at the RAD headquarters in London. Amelie Meaden & Ella Pemberton (Grade 1-3), Ethan Barrett & Abigail Showan (Grade 4-5) Ellie Harlow & Imogen Holthouse (Grade 6-8).

This year a few of our younger pupils performed in the Witney Dramatic Society's 2013 Pantomime, 'Treasure Island' which was held at The Methodist Church, Witney. The girls danced beautifully and we were very proud of them all.

On Sunday 25th November we held our in house choreography competition, at The Wychwood School, Oxford. The competition was judged by Ashley Nottingham, a dancer & choreographer who has worked extensively in the West End. He was most recently casted as Assistant Dance Captain in the new musical 'A Chorus Line' which is going to take up residency at The London Palladium in the new year. Ashley was extremely impressed with all the numbers the pupils choreographed & acknowledged all the hard work & effort that the dancers put in. Many congratulations to all that took part!

On Sunday 18th November we held a Commercial Dance workshop taught by Lee Alexander. Lee is a commercial dancer & choreographer who has performed in the West End in shows including Thriller, choreographed for TV productions such as E4's 'Skins' & is a regular dancer on the X Factor. He has danced with artists such as Rebecca Ferguson, Peter Andre, Girls Aloud, McFly, Leona Lewis & Basement Jaxx. All pupils had a wonderful time & enjoyed the challenge of learning a new style of dance!

On Sunday 21st October a group of our pupils were given the opportunity to dance in a variety performance at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, home to 'The Phantom of the Opera'. They performed a collection of numbers from our successful school show 'Stage & Screen' which was held in April 2012. We would like to congratulate all pupils involved for performing so brilliantly & professionally, they really were such a credit to the school & we were very proud of them all. What a wonderful experience & we were delighted to be involved!

Throughout the academic year we are holding Street Dance classes taught by Tina Piotrowsky. Her performance experience includes dancing with Destiny's Child, Jay Z, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams & Take That. Miss Piotrowsky has choreographed for artists such as Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Charlotte Church, Kelly Rowland & Steps.

Recent website photos taken by Alison Chapman.

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