Our teachers...

We pride ourselves on having the highest calibre of teaching at our school. All of our teachers are fully qualified and DBS checked.

TRACY AU R.A.D. - ballet
Tracy began her Ballet training at the Jean M Wong School of Ballet in Hong Kong and was awarded a scholarship to study Ballet at the Zhejiang Vocational Academy of Art. In 2005, Tracy was awarded the ‘Dame Margot Fonteyn Scholarship’ to train at the English National Ballet School, from where she joined the English National Ballet Company and then the Hong Kong Ballet Company. Tracy has achieved the Royal Academy of Dance Solo Seal Award, which is the highest Vocational Ballet examination.

Tracy is an experienced RAD registered teacher and will be joining the Hasland Team to teach Ballet at graded and vocational levels.

PAUL TRACY a.i.s.t.d. - MODERN/STREET/BOYS

Paul trained at the Hasland School before being awarded a scholarship at Performers College where he trained in Musical Theatre and professional dance, also attaining his ISTD Associate teaching qualification.

Paul has travelled all over the world with shows such as Spirit of the Dance, Broadway and Dancing Queen in which he was a member of the original cast in 2006. This led to Paul performing at The Sporting Club, Monte Carlo, Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles, Niagara Falls Casino, Canada, Emirates Palace and Dubai.

As a professional performer Paul has danced for The Opera Babes, Ricky Martin, The Four Tops, Brian Connelly, Shaun Williamson, Kylie Minogue for ITV and featured as a dancer on Children in Need for the BBC.

Paul has worked for Evolution Pantomimes for nine years as a dancer and choreographer at theatres all over the country including The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.

SONYA NICHOLS MSc, bsc diploma from Royal Ballet school, istd associate diploma, istd dde - ballet

Sonya trained at Page Masons Schools before attending The Royal Ballet School where she won the coveted Ursuala Moreton Choreographic Award, The Devalois Solo Award, The National Award & The Theatre Cup. She was also awarded a prize from the then principal Dame Merle Park. During her career Sonya has toured and performed in Russia many times and in 1993 she choreographed a dance for children and the won choreographic award for Moscow Regions. Sonya's passion is creating and choreographing. She has choreographed for Kent Youth Ballet and still directs and choreographs for Surrey Youth Ballet. Sonya has taught at various dance schools and associate programmes over the years and still runs her own school in Surrey. The dancers from her school have been very successful over the years in competitions including All England having reached and placed at the finals and runner up at the All England Young Dancer Finals at The Royal Opera House.

Hannah willcocks f.i.s.t.d. - tap

Hannah trained at The Tivoli School of Performing Arts in Margate from the age of 3 and took her teaching qualifications at the Deborah Capon College in Whitstable.

While teaching Tap and Modern at HDS for 17 years, Hannah achieved her advance teaching qualifications; the internationally recognised Licentiate and Fellowship with the ISTD.

Hannah joined the Tap Faculty at the prestigious Bird College in 2010, becoming a full-time tutor after leaving HDS.

Hannah is now an ISTD lecturer and has joined the creative team for the Intermediate and Grdae 6 Tap Syllabi. Despite her considerable commitments at Bird College and the ISTD, Hannah is delighted to be back at HDS on a Thursday and we are thrilled to welcome back such a talented and experienced teacher to our Tap Faculty.

PAULA FORDYCE - NURSERY/PRE-PRIMARY BALLET, Modern & TAP

Paula teaches our younger students on a Saturday morning in Ballet and Tap. Paula completed her teaching qualifications at The Deborah Capon School of Dance in Whitstable before moving to Surrey and running her own very successful school, where many of her pupils won prestigious competitions such as All England and the ISTD Janet Cram awards. Paula moved back to Herne Bay after having her children and is now a TA at a primary school in Thanet.

CLARE WILDERS r.a.d. r.t.s. - BALLET

Clare has been dancing since she was three, and completed her professional ballet training at the London School of Classical Dance, later known as the West Street School of Dance.

Graduating straight into employment she enjoyed a lengthy and varied career, which included playing the Apache dancer in Joseph and the Amazing Tehcnicolor Dreamcoat UK tour and Chee Chee in the Doctor Dolittle UK tour. Alongside this, she enjoyed a wide variety of genres, including pop videos and movies, and has had the opportunity to work with some amazing choreographers: Luca Tomassini (Gerry Haliwell & Rachael Stevens), Lynne Page (Phantom of the Opera Movie) and Anthony Van Laast (Souls in Motion).

Discovering a love for teaching along the way, Clare chose to re-train and graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Dance on their Professional Dancers’ Teaching Diploma. This brings with it registered RAD teacher status.

JESS pay B.A.(Hons) D.D.I. - tiny toes/acro (acrotrix)

Jessica graduated from the Dance Education Programme (BA, Hons) at Canterbury Christ Church University in 2012, gaining a First Class Honours degree. During her final year as a dance student, Jessica joined the UCF Dance Company, teaching children throughout Kent and running teacher-training workshops. After her degree, Jessica spent time in New York teaching dance and gymnastics at Camp America. Jessica is a well-established Dance Practitioner and was a choreographer and assistant head coach for 5 years. Within this role she gained her qualifications with the UK Cheerleading Association in stunting and tumbling.

In 2016, Jessica completed her DDI qualification in Modern with the Anna Morgan Teacher Training College, achieving 90% in her final exam. Jessica runs Tiny Toes from the studios on a Monday morning. Jess is also part of the Acrotrix teacher training programme, delivering courses to new acro teachers.

KATIE REYNARD - MUSICAL THEATRE

Katie trained at Millennium Performing Arts, graduating in 2017 with a BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre. Miss Katie worked professionally at Disneyland Paris, as a parade dancer, character performer, multiple character "look-a-likes" and was a featured dancer in the original cast of the Princess Promenade for the Festival of Pirates and Princesses. She has also performed as a supporting dancer for Rita Ora during Soccer Aid 2019 and has worked as a supporting artist in several feature films. Most recently, she was a featured dancer in an upcoming "wartime period" film.
Katie has taken courses with The Dang in Musical Theatre and a is a registered teacher and she has recently completed her ISTD DDE in Ballet, Modern & Tap with Anna Morgan.

mia saunders - contemporary

Mia completed her training at Masters Performing Arts gaining a Level 6 Diploma in Musical Theatre and Dance. Mis has a high understanding of multiple dance genres, but a strong passion for contemporary and commercial. Mia is keen to pass on her knowledge from her own training to the next germination of dancers.

HDS is run by a three-way partnership. Anna Morgan, Alison Hunt and Anne-Marie Maple

Management Team ...

Anna Morgan F.I.S.T.D - artistic director

Anna trained at the Deborah Capon College, where she achieved her Diploma in Dance Education in Ballet, Modern and Tap, as well as also training at various dance centres in New York City. After an ankle injury cut Anna's performing career short, she became Principal of the Hasland Dance Studios which she owned for 6 years. Anna went on to achieve her Licentiate and Fellowship qualifications, and she is also a mutually recognised teacher with the RAD and an Approved Tutor for all units of the ISTD's DDE qualifications. Anna worked with Terpsichore Entertainment in New York for a number of years on various projects in theatre and television, and later as a UK talent representative for the company, identifying talented performers suitable for representation in the US. She regularly visits the US to teach workshops to students from various Ballet schools and conservatoires. In 2015, she opened her own Teacher Training College, offering DDE qualifications in Ballet, Modern and Tap. She is now Head of Dance at the Hasland Dance Studios, as well as being a Ballet Tutor at Bird College as well as being the staff representative to the Board of Directors. Anna is an adjudicator the British & International Federation of Festivals and has recently joined the faculty of the Royal Ballet Schoolvto deliver "inspire" teacher training seminars in the UK and internationally.

Alison hunt - ACRO (acrobatic arts)

As a child, Alison was a successful young dancer, passing many graded examinations and competing in local and national competitions. She gained financial experience dealing with new accounts and mortgages at a building society until leaving to start a family. Since having her 3 children, Alison has worked as a volunteer at a local gymnastics and cheerleading club, helping to coach and choreograph students between the ages of 3 and 16. Alison has now gained her Diploma in Dance Instruction for Modern Theatre, passing with 93 %, and is a qualified Acrobatic Arts teacher. In addition to teaching, Alison will be responsible for Finance, Marketing and Business Development, as well as supporting colleagues with the day-to-day running of the School. You will often find Miss Ali on reception and will be the first point of contact for any questions and queries.

Anne-Marie Maple
Anne-Marie comes to us from a broadcasting background, having worked as the Senior Production Manager for BBC Television's International Unit for many years, organising production facilities for overseas television companies at major events including Wimbledon, Open Golf and Formula One. Upon leaving the BBC due to increasing visual impairment, she re-trained as a massage therapist and works from home. Since 2012, she has helped organise our shows so is well known to many parents who help as volunteers at our events.

As a Partner at HDS, Anne-Marie will manage show and festival logistics, parent liaison on behalf of the teaching faculty and day-to-day running of the school alongside Alison, Anna and the Reception team.