Meet the Team

Bethany is the proud owner and Artistic Director of Charters Dance. Bethany has been involved with the performing arts since she was five years old, initially attending dance classes at her local dance school and acting out her favourite films or creating shows in the garden, (with the help of her equally eager and un-approving younger brother). After her first taste of the ‘Stage’ way back in the mid nineties she caught the performing bug; and went on to take part in a variety of local amateur dramatics productions alongside her dance studies, before training professionally as a performer and teacher in Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre at Performance Preparation Academy in Guildford. She continued her dance teacher training at Kingston Teacher Training College under the guidance of Dr Margaret Gajewski, before studying for a degree at Royal Holloway University, London. 

 

Over the years Bethany has been fortunate to perform on some of London’s biggest stages; Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and The Royal Albert Hall, as well as a very brief stint at Disneyland Paris as a young performer. She made her professional West End Debut as a Singer in the ‘West End Men in Concert’ which ran at The Vaudeville in 2013. Her time treading the boards was fleeting because her passion for teaching took over. However, she still sings and performs with the ‘City Academy Songbirds’ choir in London. 

 

Bethany entered the world of teaching as an assistant at her childhood dance school and has since racked up over a decade’s worth of experience and worked for various Nurseries, after school clubs, stage schools and dance schools across the South East, including the notable Royal Academy of Dance, London. Bethany is a strong advocate for equal opportunities and believes all children should have access to the arts. One of her proudest achievements was being awarded the ‘Lenny Henry Inclusion and Accessibility Award’ in her final year of University. Bethany was Vice President of the Musical Theatre Society and received the award for her excellence and commitment to providing performing arts events and activities for all types of students on and off campus, regardless of their abilities or needs. 

 

Charters Dance is open to students of all abilities and she strives to ensure activities are fun and accessible to all. Whether students want to dance as a hobby or focus on training for their future, all are welcome.

 

Bethany’s Mum always said that Bethany was born to be the boss… and after fifteen years experience in teaching Bethany thought it was about time that she made that a reality. So, when Rachel approached Bethany about buying the school she knew it was meant to be. Bethany hopes to bring her wealth of knowledge and experience, and share her creativity and passion to continue building Charters Dance into a vibrant school with a friendly community; whilst providing some exciting new events and performance opportunities. She hopes to inspire our young dancers that they can achieve anything if they set their mind to it, and looks forward to watching them flourish!