STAFF
Founder
ELISA ROBERTS, RADdip AISTD DDE
I started dancing at the age of 3 at my local dance school. At age 9 I successfully passed an intensive audition and was selected to be a member of The Royal Ballet Junior Associate program. Studying with the company for 4 years both at their London headquarters and White Lodge in Richmond Park. At 16 I was awarded a full scholarship at The Stella Mann Theatre School where I completed a 3-year dance and performance diploma. I also completed my teaching diplomas in RAD Ballet, ISTD Ballet, ISTD Tap and ISTD modern gaining distinction in all four. I also received student of the year in 1996. After a couple of years of various professional performance jobs, I decided teaching was my forte. I had 6 years of teaching experience before opening SOEL DANCE ACADEMY with Sophie.
Teaching and helping children is one of my biggest passions and achievements. I absolutely love watching the children improve week to week, building strong teacher/student bonds and watching them grow into teenagers and adults. Many of my students stay in touch and have become friends and I am now starting to teach their children!!!
Teacher
Amber Avianco
Amber first started her dance training at Soel Dance Academy with Sophie and Elisa, later going on to train professionally at Millennium Performing Arts in London receiving a Diploma in dance.
Performing Credits include:
Jack and the Beanstalk Pantomime (The Compass, Ickenham); The Santa Show (The Compass, Ickenham); Haunted Howl’o’ween Live 2019! (CWOA); LegoFriends to the Rescue, (LegoLand Windsor); Gruffalo Summer Party (CWOA); Aladdin Pantomime, (The Compass, Ickenham); Halloween Flash mob, (CWOA); Sleeping Beauty Pantomime, (The Curve, Slough); Penguins of Madagascar Live, (CWOA); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Pantomime, (The Compass, Ickenham); Trick or Treat Wood, (CWOA); Podaa Podi, (Film); Onepiece Jump In, (Internet Advert); LV= Harlequins Cheerleader, (Twickenham Stadium).
Amber has taught at Soel Dance Academy for many years now and absolutely loves all the students there. She is an ISTD Modern qualified teacher and would love to get her other teaching qualifications in the future. She is currently auditioning and working professionally in the industry, which gives her a fresh and current touch on her choreography.
Teacher
Verity Holt
Both Elisa and Sophie taught Verity from a young age, when SoEl started in 2005 she was eager to start and help as an assistant teacher.
In 2010 Verity was accepted at the University of Chichester where her love for contemporary dance and choreography began. Graduating in 2013 with a 2.1 class BA Hons degree in dance.
After graduating she returned to SoEl as a teacher taking on the ISTD classes in both Modern and Tap.
In 2014 Verity successfully auditioned for the Balletboyz Dancers Course, where she worked along side the dancers of The Balletboyz Company furthering her contemporary training.
In 2015 she started her teacher training with the ISTD where she gained her DDI diploma in both Modern and Tap.
As well as teaching Verity is developing her career in choreography. Recently choreographing her second professional pantomime and looking forward to future projects.
Verity loves being a part of the SoEl family and teaching all the wonderful students!
Teacher
Maddy Lee
Maddy graduated from Bird Conservatoire in July 2019 with a first class honours degrees in Professional Musical Theatre and Dance. She has predominantly been training in singing and jazz. But has trained for the last 16 years in ballet, tap, commercial, hip hop, contemporary, acro and acting and is thrilled to pursue her passion as her career.
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Her credits include: Serena in Legally Blonde (Bird College Theatre), Tilly in Cre8: Likes and Leads (Bird College Theatre), a Dancer in Somnium: A Dancers Dream (Sadlers Wells), a Dancer in Mamma Mia 2 Promo video and a dancer in Power of Time (music video).
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Along side her professional career as a performer, Maddy has been teaching for the last 5 years. She has recently completed her ISTD DDE teacher training in ballet. Maddy has a strong passion for teaching children and loves to pass on her love of theatre to the younger generation.
Teacher
Sam Golle
Sam is an established dancer and choreographer with experience in theatre & stage performance, television advertisement and music videos. Companies he has collaborated with include: GAP, Toyota, Ikea, Guitar Hero, Premiere Inn, Adidas, ITV, BBC Bitesize, Britains Next Top Model, HSBC, and Schwarzkopf.
Sam's expertise in dance, movement and 'Hip Hop' choreography has also led him to work with artists such as David Guetta, Frank Turner & Pharrell Williams.
Teacher
Sarah Dungworth
Sarah Dungworth trained at the Guildford School of Acting where she gained her BA hons degree in Musical Theatre. She has taught LAMDA in London and Surrey for over 10 years and also runs the 'Surrey Get Vocal' outreach programme across seven primary schools in Surrey and Hampshire. As well as being a singing and drama teacher, Sarah works as an actress, comedian and voice over artist, performing in theatre and television. She has played roles such as Donna is The BBC's army drama "Our Girl" and Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion" at Theatre Royal Windsor. Sarah can be seen on TV adverts and heard as the voice of trailers for CBBC shows such as "Almost Never". Sarah is currently working on a TV pilot for her first project as a writer and producer and continues to perform as a comedian following her successful gig for International Women's Day at The Other Place in London's West End. Sarah loves working with the girls at SoEl, where she danced as a teenager and is very proud to have seen many students from grade one through to grade eight.
Teacher
Lucy Scott
‘My name is Lucy Scott and I recently graduated from Bird College with a degree in Dance and Musical Theatre. I have since spent my time training to be a qualified tap teacher, and working as a free-lance teacher building up my knowledge. I have had a passion for dancing ever since I was a child, especially with tap, and I am looking forward to settling in at SoEl Dance Academy and sharing my passion with the students. I am excited to settle in to such an amazing dance school and begin my journey.’
Teacher
Lucy Freeman
I am a professional dancer, I trained for three years at the prestigious musical theatre school Bird College gaining a first class degree in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre. Since then I have toured across Germany with the Tina Turner Musical as dance captain. I have a huge passion for teaching and have just started my CBTS Royal Academy of Dance teacher training to become a qualified RAD Ballet teacher.
I was a student at SoEl since I was seven so to be a part of the teaching faculty is a great honour and to meet the new generations of SoEl with the same passion for dance as myself is fantastic.