Philippa McMeechan—Principal
Philippa trained at the Central School of Ballet in London and toured nationally with Ballet Central, performing a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets. As a scholarship student of the Cecchetti Society, Philippa was trained by the most prominent teachers in the country and danced alongside many renowned dancers including Darcey Bussell.
Having established The Buntingford Dancing School in 2002, Philippa’s aim is to combine the roots of her early training with other dance forms and theatrical experiences to inspire her young pupils. In 2003, Philippa was invited by the Head of St Edmunds College to join the prep school, St Hugh’s, as Dance Teacher. Following this in 2004, Philippa joined the staff at Duncombe School where she currently leads the dance programme. Philippa is continuing her studies to be awarded the ISTD Certificate in Dance Education and is also an Associate Member of the IDTA
Jemma Wadsworth
Jemma is a fully qualified member of the ISTD and IDTA, holding Associate status qualifications with both societies. She has taught for North Herts College and The Stripes Dance Academy and, in July 2008, she graduated from Middlesex University, Trent Park with a BA Hons degree in Dance and Choreography with Performing Arts.
Jemma divides her time between teaching and her other passion - performing. Her performance credits include professional productions such as, Cinderella with Bradley Walsh, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Toyah Wilcox, and Aladdin with Lucy Benjamin, including understudying leading roles.
Other performances include Copacabana, Crazy for You, Titanic – A new Musical, 42nd Street, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast and many more. In her early career, Jemma performed at the Edinburgh Festival and with The English and National Youth Ballet companies, and was chosen to compete at the Marjorie Davies tap awards.
We are delighted that Jemma is now passing on her skill, knowledge and love of the performing arts to pupils at The Buntingford Dancing School.
Julie McPartland
Julie is an experienced modern/jazz and tap dancer having performed in numerous local shows and dance festivals. She has competed at the All England Dance Festival Competitions on many occasions and has performed with Wayne Sleep in CATS at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Islington.
Julie has attended various dance workshops at the Pineapple Dance Studios, Covent Garden as part of her dance training with The Barrett Smith School of Dance. Julie holds all the vocational graded ISTD Tap qualifications and IDTA Modern/Jazz examinations and is continuing her teacher training with the IDTA.
Julie also teaches Dance at Duncombe School.
Irene Gibson
Irene Gibson trained for 8 years in Highland Dancing winning numerous awards locally and nationally. Consequently she brings another area of expertise to the school. Irene assists with ballet classes on a Saturday morning and provides invaluable administrative support to the school.
Felicity Sandell
Our pianist Felicity has a wealth of knowledge and experience. She was a junior exhibitionist at the Royal College of Music and went on to gain a BMus. from Nottingham University. Following this she took her LRAM teachers Diploma and has successfully guided many pupils through their piano examinations. We are very lucky to have her accompanying and inspiring our classes.