Meet the Team

The Kidsdance story...

Kidsdance was founded by Amanda Britton, Claire Dale (formerly Claire Russ) and Sarah Dekker in 2004.  Amanda was a former dancer with Rambert Dance Company and Siobhan Davies Dance, while Claire was a professional choreographer, with her own company, the Claire Russ Ensemble.  Sarah was a dance education specialist.  All three lived in the Twickenham area and wanted their young children to have the opportunity to experience contemporary dance, rather than ballet classes.  There were no contemporary classes for children nearby, so they decided to start their own - with an ideal combination of skills to begin a dance school!

Since then, Kidsdance has grown from one small class of our own kids and a few friends, to several classes a week for different age groups in different venues.  Our own children are now older, but we still maintain our child centred, creative 'small class' feel.  Amanda no longer teaches for Kidsdance, but remains a Partner, while she teaches full time at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, where Kidsdance has held several performances and summer courses.  Claire now co-directs Companies in Motion, providing training in movement and presentation skills to businesses, but still finds time to keep in touch with Kidsdance.  Sarah still does the day to day running (and some of the teaching) at Kidsdance and has founded Totsdance as well.  We are very choosy about who teaches for us and you can read more about some of our wonderful staff below: 

Sarah Dekker, Founder and Director

Sarah studied theatre and dance at Dartington College of Arts and the Laban Centre and has 20 years teaching experience. Previously Head of Education at Rambert Dance Company, she subsequently taught dance to around 5,000 children in Hounslow borough schools. In recent years Sarah has taught, project managed and written educational resources for various organisations, including The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts, Sadler's Wells, English National Ballet, Richard Alston Dance Company and Balletboyz, who commissioned her to write the first on-line dance resource available to all London state schools via The London Grid for Learning. Currently, she is managing a primary schools project in south London boroughs for Siobhan Davies Dance. Sarah devised Totsdance for pre-schoolers, which she teaches in Twickenham, along with administrating and teaching for Kidsdance.

For general enquiries about Kidsdance, or to book classes in Twickenham, contact Sarah.

Katie Graham, Teacher

Katie trained at Elmhurst Ballet School and Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, prior to performing and choreographing for various international contemporary dance companies. For the past seven years she has taught school and community workshops throughout the UK for Rambert Dance Company and Richard Alston Dance Company. Katie led Amazamba, the Kidsdance Summer Course at the Rambert School in 2010 and Stormalong the 2011 Summer Course and is due to return for the 2012 Summer course, 30 July to 3 August.

Joanna Lamaison, Teacher

Joanna trained at the Laban Centre and subsequently took a PGCE in Secondary Dance teaching at Exeter University.  She has been teaching KS3 Dance, as well as BTEC and GCSE Dance at St Marylebone School in central London since 2008 and combines this with freelance dance teaching, for Kidsdance, Stagecoach and Artis, amongst other organisations. Joanna began teaching for Kidsdance in September 2011 and is a great favourite with the children, impressing everyone with her energy and enthusiasm, not to mention her lovely dance technique!

Rob Millett, Composer and Musician

Rob trained at the Royal College of Music and is Principal Percussionist with Rambert Dance Company, for whom he has also composed scores for numerous projects and a premiere at Sadler's Wells. He began accompanying dance classes at the Rambert School when he was 16 and has worked extensively in dance education with London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Rambert Dance Company, amongst others. Rob plays for jazz, classical music and theatre ensembles, recently including West End shows Blood Brothers, The Lion King and Sister Act, The National Theatre, The RSC, The Old Vic and, in summer, London's open air theatres, Shakespeare's Globe and Regent's Park.

Karl Morgan, Teacher

Karl trained in dance and musical theatre at Bird College, following training at the Actors Centre and Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. He has performed in London's West End in Billy Elliott and Cats and in Shakespeare productions at the Old Vic (RSC), as well as a number of productions at the National Theatre, including Guys and Dolls and Skellig. He has taught dance and drama workshops for the education departments of a number of companies, including the National Theatre and National Youth Theatre and is particularly good at communicating with 'hard to reach' groups, such as young offenders and pupil referral units. He has also taught jazz dance classes at vocational schools including Central School of Ballet and Millennium Dance. Karl has taught Kidsdance classes on Wednesdays in Twickenham, our adult dance fitness class, Opendance and is also a fantastic Party Leader.

Lucy Nelson RAD RTS, Teacher

Lucy studied dance from a young age, having the rare opportunity to learn both classical ballet and contemporary dance and working with the dancer and choreographer William Louther. She trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary dance, touring with the school's Moving Visions theatre company before performing in small scale London companies. She then began teaching and gained her Registered Teaching Status with the Royal Academy of Dance and has over 6 years teaching experience. She teaches in many nurseries and dance schools in Brighton and the Sussex area and is very excited about opening the new branch of Kidsdance!

To book classes in Brighton, contact Lucy.

Rachel Newby, Teacher

Rachel has over ten years experience as a performing arts practitioner and performer and has worked with DanceXchange, English National Ballet, Laban and Artis. Her choreography has been seen at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, The Patrick Centre and the Royal Albert Hall. Previously Dance Animateur for Cheshire Dance, and Learning and Participation Officer for English National Ballet, Rachel has taught school and community workshops to people of all ages and abilities. She believes the performing arts should be accessible to everyone, no matter what their age or ability.  Rachel currently combines being a mother with performing and teaching for Theatre Tots, Artis, the Laban Centre and Kidsdance.  

Zoë Rider ARAD, Teacher

Zoë trained at English National Ballet and performed with Northern Ballet Theatre and Deutsche Oper Berlin, retiring from the stage to bring up her two daughters. She now teaches Totsdance in Cobham, Hersham and Weybridge in Surrey. An Associate of the Royal Academy of Dancing and a former childminder, Zoë has the perfect combination of skills for teaching dance to young children! To book Totsdance in Surrey, contact Zoe.

Jenny Whittaker, Assistant Teacher

Jenny is a student at Roehampton Institute and has been assisting with Kidsdance classes since September 2011 on a voluntary basis.