FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
BE INSPIRED TO MOVE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
BE INSPIRED TO MOVE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
BE INSPIRED TO MOVE
OUR STAFF
BE INSPIRED TO MOVE
THE PRINCIPAL
Emma Christina Fenghour
BA Hons PDTD RAD RTS PBT STOTT Pilates
Emma was born and raised in Sutton Coldfield and trained as a young dancer under the guidance of Avril Gorman and Audrey Roper in the local area. At the age of 16, Emma achieved a scholarship to train dance vocationally at The Hammond School, enjoying a diverse dance education in Classical Ballet, Contemporary dance, Jazz, Tap and Spanish dance. She went on to train at Trinity Laban, graduating in 2012 with a BA Hons Degree in Dance Theatre. Emma then worked as a professional dancer for 6 years.
Teaching dance has always been her passion and in 2017 Emma graduated with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Dance after studying towards the Professional Dancers’ Teaching Diploma. Since then, she has worked as an Associate Lecturer in Ballet and Contemporary Dance for the University of Surrey and most recently held the position of Head of Contemporary Dance and Choreography at The School of Ballet Theatre UK. She has also worked as a ballet tutor at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts on their degree and diploma in dance programmes in London and as a regular contemporary and creative tutor for the Royal Academy of Dance and The DanceXchange Birmingham.
It has been a dream come true to launch her own dance school in her hometown of Sutton Coldfield and she cannot wait to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of young dancers.
ASSOCIATE TEACHER
Emily Watkins
RAD CBTS STUDENT
Emily currently teaches a range of RAD classes on Saturdays at the Dance Collective and will be covering Emma’s maternity leave during the Summer Term 2023. She was RAD trained by Avril Gorman at The Tudor School of Dance from the age of 3-18, where she passed all of her graded examinations and gained extensive knowledge of the RAD syllabus. Emily became a teaching assistant for Avril at the age of 11 and pursued co-teaching until she left to study Arts and Festivals Management BA at University (2018).
To gain performance experience at an early age, Emily successfully auditioned to be part of the MTB cast from 2011-2013 performing in a full length ballet productions of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham. Emily also took part in the RAD associate classes at Elmhurst Ballet School each month whilst studying for her RAD vocational intermediate examination at The Judith Florey School of Dance. She also attended modern and lyrical classes and competed in dance festivals in the midlands, to gain experience in different dance genres.
Before heading to university, Emily studied BTEC Dance (2016-2018). She was elected to be the De Montfort University Dance Society Ballet teacher for the academic year 2019/2020 and taught non syllabus choreography each week to beginner and advanced young adults. With different capabilities and large class sizes, this was an excellent opportunity to differentiate her teaching and build on choreography skills. Emily’s choreography placed 1st in a university dance competition in Leicester, which was a massive achievement and she was very proud of her students.
Emily still dances at the Dance Collective and has been learning the RAD Discovering Repertoire syllabus taught by Miss Emma! She achieved a High Distinction for her latest ballet exam!
After many years of assisting and teaching her own classes, she decided to study with the Royal Academy of Dance to gain her Registered Teacher Status. With Emma currently mentoring her throughout her placement, Emily will conclude her studies and qualify with the RAD in October 2023.