Eleanor Haddon – Principal
Eleanor lives in Hartshill with her partner Faye and 3 children Luke, Liv and Poppy. As a person Eleanor has always had a strong connection with her local community and has always believed in living within the community she serves. When asked she said ‘It’s important for me personally to understand the community I work with, I know the schools the students go to, I understand the values of the children we support and I’m passionate about their growth and development.
Whilst Eleanor trained in all areas of performing arts including singing, core dance styles, acting and acting through song, she is an acting specialist with a designated area of expertise in Physical and Abstract Theatre. She holds an impressive 8 diplomas in various areas of performing arts as well as a BA in music and theatre combined, an MA in Theatre Practitioners in the 21st C.
Sarah Wood – SENCO
Sarah is our on-site SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) as well as pastoral lead for our organisation.Sarah has a level 5 teaching diploma in SEN as well as a variety of awareness courses.She is also a trained DSL. Sarah has been providing SENCO services for our organisation for nearly 8 years and prides herself on creating a safe and welcoming environment for all our students.She meets regularly with SEN parents as well as coordinating our parent coffee mornings.She is also restraint reduction and de-escalation trained.More recently she has completed several courses on mental health and mental health awareness to ensure we are versatile in the support we provide to students in our care.Part of Sarah’s role is to facilitate access to our program as well as coordinate visiting therapists if needed.
Emily Hobbs – Head of Dance
Emily completed her training at the prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) where she was awarded a first class degree. Whilst she was in Liverpool she joined many different dance related organisations and is a proud member of a Vogue house taking part in Vogue Balls she also works as a dancer for Revolution de Cuba and can be found wearing the ornate feather headdresses synonyms with this elite style of dance . Emily brings years of experience as well as a visible passion for dance that the students find contagious.
Kyla Burton – Head of Vocal
After gaining her degree in Musical Theatre Kyla went on to complete additional training and is a qualified teacher of the Estill method as well as having training in Vocal First Aid. Kyla regularly teaches all over Warwickshire and is highly sought after both as a teacher and a singer. In addition Kyla is also a qualified drama coach offering graded exams with LAMDA and specialist audition preparation coaching for both professional roles as well as university auditions.
Specialist Partners
Vivian Gayle – Jazz/MT
Trained at Urdang Academy, Vivien’s diverse portfolio of work includes theatre, fashion, music videos, film and television appearances as well as being a regular festival adjudicator. Vivien’s long list of credits include Thriller Live, Dirty Dancing, MOBO Awards, X Factor, Brit Awards Stormzy, Ellie Goulding and Jennifer Hudson to name just a few!
Beth John – Industry expert
As an Addict graduate Beth is trained in multiple styles however loves commercial and If you’ve watched Areana Grande in Wicked you’ve actually already met Beth. Beth worked as Areana’s dance double in the hit feature film and brings a fresh perspective on the industry as a whole as well as what working on a modern day film set is like. Our students love their Q&A sessions with her as she is always honest and open about the industry as well as giving tips on audition processes. We’re so lucky to have her as one of our specialist partners.
Tom Newton – Tap
Tom is an Addict graduate who always had a passion for all things tap and commercial. Whilst being our specialist partner Tom also works on various projects from Cruise Ship work as an artist with Tap Factory to a 6 week contract dancing for Warner Brothers park in Abu Dhabi. Tom has been travelling the world whilst gaining some incredible performance experiences.
Lex Hope – Drag Artist
Lex Hope (They / Them) otherwise known as Lola Thorne studied at Addict Dance Academy in Leicester where they completed their degree before moving to Birmingham to embark on their journey to drag stardom. Since then Lola has been performing up and down the country and currently holds residencies at Nightingale and Albert Schloss.
Bo Liston – Commercial
Bo started dancing at the age of 2 where she spent many years taking IDTA exams. At 11 she was scouted to dance alongside a professional dance company where she spent many years competing and representing the UK all over the world. She competed on Britain’s Got Talent and made it all the way to the finals after receiving the golden buzzer from Alishia Dixon with Entity Allstars. She has also competed and currently holds many titles including world, UK and European titles.
Riley Dixon – Casting agent
Following earning his degree at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts Riley went on to set up his own casting agency as well as creating a creatives platform where he brings together specialists from every aspect of performing arts to create and deliver unique and bespoke performance projects. Riley is also a commercial specialist with breakdancing as a particular specialism. In addition he works as a producer for dedicated projects and as a casting agent he seeks out fresh new faces and talent from across the country taking his work all over Europe.
Jai BBOY MAGIC Hickling – Breakdancing
Jai has had an incredibly successful career as a break dancer and has many professional credits to his name. He regularly competes all over the world and currently holds 3rd place in the Red Bull Championships. His performer credits include dancer for Rita Ora, Ella Handerson, Calin Harris as well working alongside partners such as Netflix and Brits Awards.
Gabriella Di – Ballet
Gabriella was a junior associate at Birmingham Royal Ballet and then completed her training at the Rambert School of Ballet. Throughout her training and was the east midlands champion in junior ballet as well as being an All England runner up. After graduation Gabriella worked with the costa cruise line, Belinda King Productions, Wayne Sleep ‘precious little sleep’ Edingbourough Fringe Festival and many more.
After her performance career Gabriella gained her teaching qualifications with the Royal Academy of Dance, International Dance Teachers Association and Progressing Ballet Technique, Originally she taught at many dance schools in London before returning to the Midlands.