Dancegang - The Geraldine Fox Theatre Arts Academy

In 1996, an enthusiastic three year old – Hannah Rotchell - joined the Geraldine Fox Theatre Arts Academy. From the very start, she showed excellent potential, and excelled in her lessons and exams.

However, it was at our annual show where Hannah's "born to perform" style really shone through. Her dances were always polished and showed the spark of a true future professional.

Hannah's thirst for dance continued as she enrolled for Tap when she was 5 yrs old. When the dance school introduced Freestyle in 2003 and Musical Theatre in 2004, Hannah was always the first to sign up.

In 2005, Hannah auditioned, and successfully gained a

place, on the Laban CAT scheme. In addition to her studies with us, she now began dancing all day on Saturday's at Laban, taking lessons with some of the highest calibre teachers of dance in this country. But, none of this seemed to quench her thirst; she was invited to join a Wednesday evening class at Laban and also began studying Modern Jazz with us.

In July 2010 she took her intermediate Ballet where she gained a very respectable 91%. She was also nominated for an International Award, and in April 2011 went to Manchester to audition for the award with some of the best dancers in the world.

In August this year, Hannah took her final exams with us at the Geraldine Fox Theatre Arts Academy. These included 'Intermediate Modern Jazz', and 'Advanced 1 Ballet'. In both of these she scored results in the 90's, and received two further nominations for the International Awards. She also took her first teachers examination, and has successfully qualified as an Associate of the IDTA in Freestyle. She also gained 86% in her Grade 5 Tap Exam

It is now time for Hannah to leave us. After successfully auditioning for three of the major full time dance colleges she has accepted a place on the B.A. (hons) course at the London Contemporary Dance School, otherwise known as "The Place".

This article tells the tale of a very talented, versatile, hard working and highly ambitious young dancer. However, it is simply not possible to convey in an article how pleasurable it has been to work with Hannah. She is a happy, enthusiastic, dedicated and fun person to teach, and she will be missed in the Academy. We wish her every success for the future and hope she will come back and visit us.

Photo below: taken by Rachel Cherry - Hannah in rehearsal with Laban CAT at Blackheath Halls for a performance of "Shake and Shiver" July 2011 for the Southbank.