Meet Alice!

Hi, my name is Alice and I am currently in my second year of studying at Laine Theatre Arts, Epsom.

Having attended dance lessons from the age of 3, it has always been a huge part of my life. I did ballet and tap at a small local dance school before moving to a bigger one, formally known as Deana Morgan Academy, at the age of 7. Initially I only did street dance (or free style disco as it was known back then) and just did it for fun. At the age of 9, after much persuading from my mum, I started ballet, tap and jazz lessons too and soon fell in love with these, particularly ballet. I joined the associate ballet programme at my dance school and this sparked something in me, making me realise that this was what I wanted to do in the future.

When I think about my childhood, the first thing I think about is my time at DMA, as it helped me grow so much as person and taught me invaluable lessons that they don’t teach at school. During my time there, I was lucky enough to perform at some incredible venues, including St George’s Hall, The Alhambra (Bradford), The London Palladium, The Royal Albert Hall and even Disneyland Paris, and feel I owe so much to Deana who’s passion and dedication led us to some amazing opportunities and memories that I will treasure forever.

At 14, alongside training at DMA, I joined the Senior Associate Programme at the Northern Ballet Academy in Leeds, which took my training to the next level and refined my technique in ballet and contemporary. At 16, I was set on going to ballet or straight dance schools but upon auditioning, I soon learned that I was not built for the world of ballet and that I had strengths elsewhere that would be a shame to waste. This led me to wait until I was 18 to re-audition for more musical theatre and drama schools, as a pose to straight dance ones. I knew A-Levels were not something I wanted to do so I studied a Level 3 BTEC in Performing Arts (Dance) at Old School Danceworks in Halifax.

I also competed in many local and regional dance competitions and championships throughout my teens, with some of my biggest achievements being winning the South of England Senior Ballet Championship in 2018 and qualifying for the Miss Dance of Great Britain Final in 2019.

Through all of this, I also performed in productions with local Amateur Dramatic groups, which led me into the world of musical theatre. One of the groups was the Bingley Amateur Operatic Society, where I was in several pantomimes as both ensemble and principle roles, as well as their annual musicals including ensemble in Flashdance and Victoria in Cats. The other group I was part of was the Ilkley Upstagers where I played the role of Patty in Grease. I very much enjoyed my time at these places, meeting some of my closest friends and growing in confidence as a triple threat, improving in my singing and acting as well as dance.

At 18, I then auditioned for musical theatre/drama schools and was lucky enough to be offered a funded place at Laine Theatre Arts, somewhere that I knew I wanted to attend as soon as I walked through the door. Since then, my passion and love for musical theatre has only grown and being surrounded by so much talent and some of the best teachers, it has shaped me into the person I am today.