Faculty

All teachers are fully DBS checked and have relevant knowledge in health & safety, first aid, child protection and syllabus. All teachers regularly attend seminars, courses, and workshops to keep up to date with today's teaching practices.

Please read all about our brilliant team below!

PRINCIPAL: MISS SARAH-LOUISE ASHWORTH

Fellow and Examiner of the IDTA. FIDTA, AISTD, RAD registered, ID-DANCE, ACRO ARTS & PBT Certified

Sarah-Louise Ashworth started dancing at the age of three at Kirkham Henry Performing Arts. She took part in many shows, pantomimes and festivals including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat UK tour. In addition to this, Sarah also attended classes at the Louise Browne Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre in York.

At sixteen, she went on to train at Laine Theatre Arts on the Dance and Musical Theatre course. Whilst at Laine, she performed in numerous professional shows and productions and was also chosen as a finalist for Laine Prelim.

In 2000, she gained her ISTD Ballet Associate Teaching Certificate with Honours. Sarah-Louise is also a qualified dance teacher with the IDTA, holding five Associate/Diplomas with Distinction, five Licentiates with Distinction and four Fellowships with Distinction. She is also a registered teacher with the RAD, an Acrobatic Arts Certified Teacher, ID Dance (Contemporary) and Alixa Flexibility Certified.

In 2025, Sarah-Louise was honoured to be appointed as an examiner with the International Dance Teachers' Association (IDTA) — a prestigious milestone in her career. As a proud ambassador for the IDTA, she is committed to upholding the highest standards of dance assessment and teacher training across the country. In the same year, she was also honoured to receive the IDTA John Knight Award for Tap 2025, a recognition she is incredibly proud to have achieved.

Before her teaching career, Sarah-Louise worked extensively as both a dancer and singer in theatre and television. Her career highlights include Indian Ocean Cruise Line, Page Moy Cruises, An Evening with James Bond, and The Hit Parade Broadway. More recently, she has adjudicated for Festival 4 Stars and now continues to adjudicate at festivals across the UK. She is also incredibly proud to have cruised the world as Dance Captain on the world-famous QE2 and performed for the Queen Mother's 100th Birthday Celebrations in London.

Sarah-Louise continues to attend regular courses and workshops with the RAD, IDTA, ID Dance and the Royal Ballet School. In 2015, she became one of the first certified Acrobatic Arts teachers in North Yorkshire.

Sarah-Louise has a genuine passion for dance and a desire to help people grow and develop as dancers and artists.

DANCE TEACHER

Rebecca Neacsu

ACRO ARTS Certified

Rebecca began her training at Kirkam Henry Performing Arts at the age of 3 and took part in many shows, pantomimes, festivals and also attended weekly classes at the Louise Browne Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre in York.

At the age of 16 Rebecca gained a 3 year scholarship to Northern Ballet School, taking exams in ISTD and RAD gaining her Advanced II. She was specially chosen to demonstrate at the NATD, BBO and The Molly Lake awards and the Jimmy Carr Live Tour. Rebecca graduated in 2005 as Head Girl.

Her extensive cruise ship career began with Costa Cruise Lines and continued for the next 9 years working with Costa and MSC cruise companies as a Production Dancer soon becoming Lead Adagio and later Dance Captain and Production Manager with choreographic responsibilities.

Rebecca is a certified teacher of Acro Arts and Alexia Flexibility.
Rebecca is thrilled to be back in Yorkshire fulfilling a love and passion for teaching dance.

DANCE TEACHER

Ashton Armstrong

ARAD, ID DANCE & ACRO ARTS Certified

Ashton attended Kirkham Henry Performing Arts from an early age. She successfully auditioned for a place on the Royal Ballet Junior Associate Program and also gained a Scholarship at the Louise Browne Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre where she attended for 9 years.
Ashton has gained distinctions in her examinations with the I.D.T.A. and R.A.D. She then achieved A.R.A.D. on successfully passing her Royal Academy of Dance Advanced 2 Vocational Examination.
At the age of 18, Ashton gained a full scholarship at Bird College in London where she trained in Musical Theatre and discovered a lot about herself and her place within the industry. Her graduate job was as a character performer and dancer in Disneyland Paris followed by a contract performing on the Disney Dream Cruise Liner in the Bahamas from which she has recently returned.
Ashton has been fortunate to combine her work with travel, allowing her to meet new people and create some unforgettable memories. Ashton’s passion for teaching began at a young age when she assisted in classes at Kirkham
Henry Performing Arts. She has since taught her own classes at Pickering Everyone Active Gym. Ashton is a certified teacher with Acro arts and Alixa Flexibility and has most recently qualified as an ID DANCE contemporary
teacher.

DANCE TEACHER

Leah Nichols

IDTA level 4 Ballet teaching certificate, IDTA level 3 Ballet certificate & ACRO ARTS certified.

Leah attended the Sarah-Louise Ashworth School of Dance from an early age.
She successfully took part in Showcases and pantomimes, and was a valued member of the festival team.
Leah studied all genres and has gained distinctions in her examinations with the I.D.T.A. and R.A.D. Including her IDTA Intermediate Ballet.

Following her GCSEs, Leah was awarded a place at York College where she completed a level 3 in Dance and Musical Theatre.
In 2023, Leah gained a Distinction in her IDTA Level 3 teaching certificate. In 2025 Leah certified with Acro Arts in addition to successfully passing her IDTA Level 4 Ballet teaching certificate with Distinction.

COVER DANCE TEACHER

Sophie Roger

Sophie began her training at Kirkham Henry and alongside trained at York Dance Scholars. After gaining places at vocational schools such as Bird College and The Urdang, she accepted her offer at The Royal Academy of Dance and graduated in 2018 with a 2:1 BA (Hons) Ballet Education.

She is a Licentiate of the RAD (LRAD), has Registered Teacher Status (RTS) and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD). The RAD provided her with many opportunities such as: dancing to the BBC theme tune on The One Show; dancing in the Parade and Finale alongside Darcey Bussel in The Patron’s Lunch celebrating the Queen’s 90th Birthday; dancing in a Taylor Swift flash mob on BBC1 Let’s Sing and Dance for Comic Relief.

Alongside her studies she taught and assisted at various dance schools across London including English National Ballet juniors in Chelsea.
Sophie enjoyed her three years in London but was pleased to be back up North teaching for the past four years in Kirkbymoorside, York, Scarborough and Malton. She has also been a company member of York Dance Company
since 2019 and has performed at various events. She is now ready to embark on a new field and exchange her dance teaching work with a new job at Ryedale District Council with hopefully the odd cover session at SLA Dance.

SINGING TEACHER

Andrew Moxon

Andrew Moxon started his musical career at a young age when he became a chorister at Westminster Abbey. During his time here he sang in many high profile events including the wedding of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson.
He continued his education as a music scholar at St. Peter’s School, York, studying flute, piano and singing. He gained both a BA in music and an MA in musicology from the University of Nottingham, and also performed in a wide
variety of choirs and sung many solo recitals. He also started his choral conducting career with the University Choir and Viva Voce.
After gaining a PGCE from Homerton College, Cambridge, where he also conducted the college choir, Andrew began teaching music at secondary schools in 1998.

Andrew has run various choirs such as the Orpheus Choir of North Hertfordshire and more locally as choirmaster at St Gregory’s Minster, Kirkdale.
Andrew has been Head of Performing Arts at Ryedale School since 2004 where he runs Cantarla girls choir and Ryedale Straynotes big band, and has led the production of a number of musicals, including Grease, Guys and Dolls and, in 2017, The Sound of Music.