The Ballet and Dance Academy
The Ballet and Dance Academy opened in August 2022. We offer dance classes to children in Renfrewshire from Pre-School age to Secondary 3. We create a fun and nurturing environment for our students, helping them develop their technical and creative skills while encouraging their love for music and dance. Students will have the option of sitting formal examinations at the end of term and there will also be performance opportunities, events and workshops throughout the year.
Meet the Team
Our team of experienced teachers will encourage and support your child throughout their dancing journey. All our teachers are qualified, fully disclosed and first aid trained.
Suzanne Shanks - Principal Teacher
Suzanne trained at the Dance School of Scotland, the London Studio Centre, and completed her Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She worked as a professional dancer and freelance artist before beginning her teaching career.
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Suzanne has been teaching ballet and jazz technique classes to students from preschool
age to young adults for the last ten years
and has had the privilege to work with many wonderful students and teachers. She's the Juniors Dance Coordinator at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is also part of the team of teachers who work with the Junior Associates at Scottish Ballet.
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Suzanne has a passion for dance and theatre and enjoys helping young people develop their technical skills while encouraging their love for dance.
Hannah Docherty - Assistant Teacher
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Hannah recently graduated from the BA Musical Theatre program at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Hannah teaches and assists with the Short Courses and Juniors programs at RCS and is working towards completing a DDE qualification from ISTD. She is so excited to get started at the Ballet and Dance Academy.
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Katie Ponsonby - Assistant Teacher
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Katie is in her final year of training at Hamilton Theatre Arts. She has an HNC in Musical Theatre and is working towards her Diploma. She most recently performed at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow with a production called Movies to Musicals, she's also performed at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, The Alhambra theatre in Dunfermline, The Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock, The Motherwell Concert Hall and Eastkilbride Village Theatre.
Katie has danced competitively at regional, national and international competitions and competed as a member of team Scotland in two Dance World Cups.
Erin O'Toole - Guest Teacher
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From Glasgow, Erin began her vocational dance training at The Dance School of Scotland then moved to London to study at Central School of Ballet. Since graduating she has performed with Gandini Juggling, Alba Ballet and The National Ballet of Ireland. She has also been involved in short films, music videos and as a fire pointe dancer in the London 2012 Olympics.
Since joining Gandini Juggling in 2014, she has performed in their shows incorporating ballet, contemporary and Cunningham technique with juggling and circus. Shows include 4x4: Ephemeral Architectures, Spring, Meta, Cascade, StacKcats, Smashed 2 and Life. Erin is currently performing with Makeshift Company in their show Insomniac’s Fable at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Georgie Morphet - Guest Teacher
Georgie's dance journey began at a young age in Yorkshire. She then continued her training at Elmhurst Ballet School before moving to Glasgow to attend the BA Modern Ballet course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2022 Georgie persued her love of teaching, began teaching at RCS and guest taught for Scottish Ballet's tour of 'Cinders'. Georgie is so excited to work with the dancers at The Ballet and Dance Academy and looks forward to helping them flourish.
