About our school

A professionally run dance school where we nurture and inspire every pupil to become the best version of themselves they can be.

 Our team of caring and dedicated teachers ensure that all students receive the best possible tuition whether they dance for fun once a week or aspire to a career in the performing arts.

​We offer over 60 classes a week in RAD Ballet, ISTD Tap, ISTD Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Acro and Stretch

We also offer 1-1 tuition in Speech & Drama and Singing.

 Established in 1985, the school has been run since 1998 by Miss Sarah Jones LRAD AISTD Dip DDE and has over 300 pupils attending classes each week.  

 The school is based at our own Studio in The Tanyard, Street with additional class venues in Street and Wells.

Choosing the right dance school

Meet the Team

All our staff have Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and are first aid trained. We do regular CPD on safeguarding plus other training to ensure we are up to date in all areas of teaching and keeping your children safe.


  • PRINCIPAL

    Head of Ballet, Modern & Tap

    Sarah trained full time at the Royal Academy of Dance from 1992-1995, having secured one of only 14 places on their world class teacher training course. She graduated with the College Teaching Diploma and was also awarded a Licentiateship of the Royal Academy of Dance.

    Sarah took over The South West School of Dance in 1998 and the school has grown and thrived under her leadership to become one of the foremost dance schools in the South West of England.

    Alongside her teaching as Principal of the South West School of Dance, Sarah has produced and directed 12 whole school dance shows at Strode Theatre and has produced 3 full scale award-winning musicals.

    Sarah is a fully registered and qualified teacher of the RAD, ISTD and iD Dance Company and is a qualified aerobics teacher. In 2017 she became a certified teacher in Progressing Ballet Technique. She invests lots of time on CPD, and is currently studying a Dance Medicine course as well as training to become a BalletBeFit instructor.


  • ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

    Head of Contemporary & Festival Choreography

    Sarah has been teaching at The South West School of Dance since 2009 and is a fully registered and qualified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and iD Dance Company.

    After gaining a first class honours degree in Dance at Bath Spa University, Sarah was commissioned to write the dance curriculum for Bristol Lower Grammar School which is still being implemented today. She also lectured and taught at several settings within the South West.

    Sarah has worked professionally with Precarious Physical Theatre and Multimedia Company and Vex Dance Theatre on their national tours as well as with New Pantomime Productions.

    Sarah has choreographed and directed many local musicals and pantomimes, including Cats (Best Director, 2015), Barnum and Seussical the Musical (Best Youth Production, 2009). She has also choreographed for the BBC for a televised Children in Need Project.


  • Head of Musical Theatre, Acro & Jazz

    Harriet has been teaching at The South West School of Dance since 2012. She is a registered teacher with the ISTD (Ballet, Tap and Modern) and the IDTA (Musical Theatre) as well as being a certified Acrobatics Arts teacher. She has also recently completed her Alixa Flexibility Instructor training.

    Harriet studied at the Bristol College of Dancing with top ISTD examiners and teachers who trained at the Royal Ballet School.

    She has a wide background of performing, having taken part in many productions in the South West. She has a great deal of experience in choreographing musicals both for The South West School of Dance and other local societies and has been a key member of the creative teams for our award winning productions of Cats and Barnum.

 


  • Speech and Drama

    Nicky has a degree in Drama & Theatre Studies and worked in the television industry in London for five years.

    She has been teaching Speech & Drama at Wells Cathedral School since 2008 and started teaching at The South West School of Dance in 2015.

    Nicky works with students individually to prepare them for Trinity exams in Speech & Drama and any auditions they may have in the pipeline.


  • Singing

    Teresa is a professional musician and teacher who also co-founded and runs a professional theatre production company.

    Since 2015 she has produced 25 shows all over the UK for which she has created the sound design and music composition.

    Teresa has worked as a musician on the West End such as The King & I and Fame. Her Musical Director credits include: A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest on national tours and professional pantomimes for New Pantomime Productions.

    Teresa has worked extensively in TV for the BBC and Sky Drama and she works regularly with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, as an arranger and pianist for their 'Voices' choir.

 

Find out what we can offer you

 Alumni

Many of our pupils have gone on to bigger and better things, and pursue their careers in performing arts. Here are just a few.