About DAKODAS

Hannah has loved dance since the age of 3, training in RAD ballet and various other dance styles. She teaches dance throughout Ireland and London. Hannah was awarded a first class BA (Hons) in Ballet Education at the Royal Academy of Dance. She has also gained Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance, the highest award the RAD has to offer. Further Hannah has taken her Advanced 2, becoming an Associate of the RAD. Her studies developed in-depth knowledge of RAD syllabi, dance science, performance and choreography.

She has also completed the Karsavina Heritage Award, a syllabus of archived ballet pedagogy, training stylistic qualities of Russian, French, Italian and other ballet styles. Hannah was also very fortunate to receive the Winifred Cullis Memorial Award in her second year of study. Hannah has been selected to work various events hosted by the RAD in London, gaining experience as the lead chaperone at the Fonteyn International Ballet competition, RAD HQ open day and RAD Bedells Bursary, working events with renowned dancers such as Darcy Bussell and Anna-Rose O’Sullivan.

Emma started dancing at an early age, following the RAD ballet syllabus up to Advanced 2 level, whilst also studying modern, tap and musical theatre. She took part in many shows and competitions with the Susan Robinson School of Ballet, winning several awards at National level including the Molly Lake Musicality Award for Ballet at the All England Dance National Finals and the Dame Antoinette Sibley Scholarship at the RAD Dance Challenge. Pursuing her passion for ballet, Emma then trained at English National Ballet School, where she studied, performed and choreographed ballet and other dance genres at a very high standard. She performed on stages such as Sadler’s Wells Theatre and The London Coliseum, and was involved in reaching out to the wider community through various projects. In her final year she danced with English National Ballet in Swan Lake as a member of the corps de ballet. Since graduating from English National Ballet School with a Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance, Emma has been working as a freelance ballet teacher, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to share her knowledge and nurture students to achieve their best.

Laura started her adventure with performing arts in her motherland- Poland, at the Youth Musical Academy that inspired her to reach the highest peaks and move into a different country. She has recently graduated from Millennium Performing Arts College. Filled with passion for the craft and love for the people, she is ready to step into her first, professional job. 

Ciara grew up in Knockbridge, Ireland and danced before she learned how to walk. At the age of four, she was enrolled in a stage school where she took dance, drama and singing lessons. She began her ballet training at the age of eight and instantly fell in love. At this stage, she performed in competitions. When she was eleven she decided to attend Coastal Ballet School in Drogheda to further her training. Here she took graded and vocational examinations under the RAD syllabi and also partook in modern exams (graded and vocational) under the ISTD syllabi. In 2015 Ciara joined Dublin Youth Dance Company (a youth contemporary company) and with the company has performed in the Irish Youth Dance Festival (2016, 2017), Dublin Dance Festival (2017) and at Castle Malatesta in Rimini, Italy (2017). She has been awarded distinctions in all of her speech and drama exams under the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Leinster School of Music and Drama. She has also gained distinctions in her singing exams (Royal Irish Academy of Music) and was a member of her school choirs in both primary and secondary school. in 2017 she moved to London and enrolled on the Royal Academy of Dance’s BA (HONS) Ballet Education Course and also the Licenticiate of the Royal Acdemy of Dance programme.She currently teaches a range of styles of dance as well as being a qualified pilates instructor 

Kate graduated from New York University in 2023, where she majored in Vocal Performance and specialized in Musical Theatre. At NYU Kate performed in productions like Ordinary Days, Nine, Applause and Die Fledermaus. After graduating she performed at the Fireside Theatre in Scrooge the Musical and began teaching dance to children in New York. Prior to studying at NYU, Kate grew up in Sydney and was trained in singing, dance and acting before performing with the children’s chorus of Opera Australia in four of their productions. 🎭

After his family moved from London at the early age of 9 months old, Eli grew up and lived in rural southern France for the majority of his life. He started taking an interest in dance at a very early age and started taking ballroom and latin dance classes at 8 years old, as it was the only dance style offered to him locally. Over the next four years, he trained hard in all areas of Ballroom and Latin, competing all around southern France and in 2016, came 2nd in his Règion. A few years later, he started taking an interest to different types of dance, he began doing ballet, jazz, contemporary, all while keeping up his passion for ballroom and latin. It was only in 2018, when he was enrolled into a Musical Theatre summer camp that he took a big interest to Singing and Acting as well as dance. He became obsessed with the idea of being in Musical Theatre onstage, and it very quickly became his ambition to attend drama school in the U.K. Over the last few years, he has been perfecting his technique and branching out on all types of dance from all over the world. And in 2023, he was offered a place at the world renowned Laine Theatre Arts after auditioning for schools all over and around London. He is now in his first years at Laine and is thrilled to have joined the team here at D.D.A.

Matt started dancing at the age of 5, going on to train and graduate
from London Studio Centre. Since then he has danced on The Brits,
X-Factor, The National Television Awards, Sing-On!, and 75 Years of
D-Day. He has also appeared in adverts for Adidas, Footlocker and Old
Navy. Matt teaches our Street Dance and Breakdance classes!

Abbi started her performing arts journey at an early age, training at MB Academy & Elite Theatre Arts in Doncaster. Her training also included associate programs with the Northern Ballet School, Stagebox and British Youth Music Theatre. She has performed in numerous dance shows, plays, short films and musicals during her training years and was an IDTA championship dancer achieving a number of song & dance titles, CYD dancer of the year nominee and was a TDCI World Performer Finalist.

She taught singing and acting for a number of years at her family’s theatre school and was the resident choreographer, whilst completing her level 3 diploma and A-Levels at specialist performing arts college CAPA. Whilst studying she completed her BATD Jazz teaching qualification. Following this Abbi began her training at Urdang Academy where she is currently studying Musical Theatre and Dance. She is so excited to be joining DDA and enjoys teaching a range of styles and genres.

Laure (she/her) is a versatile independent French dance artist. She moved to the UK to pursue her dance training and obtained her BA in contemporary dance from Trinity Laban in 2020 with First Class Honours. Recently, she graduated from the MA Dance Performance at London Contemporary Dance School where she collaborated with renowned artists like Tom English, Hannes Langolf, Theo Clinkard and Benjamin Jonsson. She now works as a freelance performer in London and uses movement and voice as tools to reveal meaning. She steps into the role of choreographer as the founding member of the RAW Collective, an all-female trio of artists creating and performing both in Europe and the UK. She is also a certified dance teacher and shares her passion for dance with students of all ages and backgrounds, specialising in ballet and contemporary dance.

Miss Katie Ballet began at the age of five, after her father noticed she was constantly walking on her tiptoes around the house. From that moment, a lifelong passion for dance was born. She completed her Ballet examinations up to Advanced 1, while also developing a strong interest in contemporary dance and musical theatre—performing in curtain raisers and shows across the Midlands.

She went on to study Dance at the University of Roehampton, graduating with First Class Honours, and later completed her final year at the Royal Academy of Dance in Battersea, earning a PGCE with QTS. Following her studies, she spent four years working full-time at a Performing Arts school, teaching GCSE and BTEC Dance to students aged 11–18, and choreographing large-scale productions for public audiences.

In addition to her dance training, she recently completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training qualification, which has deepened her understanding of body awareness—something she thoughtfully integrates into her dance classes to support both physical and mental well-being.

Teaching remains her greatest passion, and she continues to expand her expertise across a wide range of styles.