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At CTA we believe that a training in dance and drama is one of the best investments you can make for your child's future
The CTA Team
Georgina Burns
Principal
Chiswick Theatre Arts is run by Miss Georgina Burns AISTD (Associated Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance), AIDTA (Associate International Dance Teachers Association) and member of the actors union Equity for 30 years! Although she comes from a medical family, it appears that theatre is in the blood as her sister Nica Burns owns five West End Theatres! Georgina has been performing on stage sincethe age of 4 – and has never stopped! Georgina was born in Chiswick and educated at Haberdashers Aske’s School for Girls, Elstree. Miss Georgina trained as a dancer at Joyce Butler School of Dance where she won hundreds of dance and drama competitions. At sixteen she won a scholarship to train professionally for 3 years at the prestigious Birds Performance College where she was the youngest student in the school. Here she gained her dance teaching qualifications with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance in Ballet, National and Modern Theatre. She reached advanced standard in all disciplines, and is proud that she received honours (the highest qualification) for all her advanced exams. When her final year show at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London was reviewed by The Dancing Times (THE dance magazine), she was the only student out of 100 to be picked out for individual praise. She worked professionally as a dancer and choreographer, appearing on TV, theatre and in the West End (original cast of 42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). Miss Georgina then furthered her training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) where she spent three wonderful years at drama school and received her acting diploma. She then worked as a professional actress and presenter. Today, Miss Georgina prefers to take a back seat from performing, (although friends frequently try to twist her arm to try to get her back on stage) and enjoys teaching, directing and choreographing. She is mad about musicals! She directs and choreographs musicals in both the amateur and professional world. With her husband Phil Tucker, a video production teacher, Georgina has two boys who appeared with James Franco, Kate Hudson and Anna Friel in the feature film 'Good People' in 2014.
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Leon Kay
Head of Musical Theatre
Leon trained at The Arts Educational Schools, London. Since graduating Leon has performed in a range of musicals both in the West End & around the World. Some of Leon's theatre credits include - Billy Elliot, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, Jekyll & Hyde, Scrooge, Doctor Dolittle, High Society, Oklahoma, South Pacific, Spongebob Squarepants the Musical, The Fix, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Maggie May, Silence, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty & the Beast and Dance Story.
Leon hung up his jazz shoes in 2019 to concentrate on his work as a Freelance Casting Director. Leons Credits as a Casting Director include - Head of Casting for Belinda King Creative Productions, Princess Cruise Lines, Seabourn Cruise Lines, Copacabana, Papadopoulos, You Forgot the Mince, Hello Again, Paper Hearts, The Barricade Boys, The Adding Machine and Untapped. Leon also worked as a Casting Assistant for Pippa Ailion, credits whilst at Pippa's include - Sweeney Todd, Top Hat, The Rocky Horror Show, The Wiz and Disney Cruise Lines.
We are delighted to welcome Leon as Head of Musical Theatre
Emma Findlay
Ballet & Tap Teacher
Emma trained at the Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow before joining the English National Ballet School. Whilst still at school she danced at Wembley Stadium as part of the ‘Concert For Diana’. Upon graduating Emma joined the English National Ballet touring worldwide, dancing the title roles in both Angelina Ballerina’s Star Performance and Angelina Ballerina’s Big Audition. Emma has also performed in Swan Lake at The Palace of Versailles, The Royal Albert Hall and London Coliseum. Emma made
her musical theatre debut in the Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. During the Olympics she worked on a collaboration between English National Ballet and Seven Sisters Group called ‘Like A Fish Out Of Water’. Other credits include Dancing in Roksanda Ilinicic’s fashion show at the V&A and a featured dancer in Pilgrim Angry’s music video ‘Time For Us’. DVD credits include ‘Concert For Diana’ and ‘Phantom Of The Opera 25th Anniversary Concert’.
Enya Hendriks
Ballet, Tap & Drama Teacher
Enya completed the Full Time Musical Theatre course at CTA Performing Arts London in 2016 and now teaches ballet, tap, drama and musical theatre at CTA. Prior to this she gained experience working in several children’s creative summer camps where she was a team leader and coordinator. Enya also has a Masters Degree in Communication Sciences and a Degree in Psychology from the University of Ku Leuven in Belgium.
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Lindsay Atherton
Modern/Contemporary Teacher
We are delighted to welcome Lindsay back to CTA!
Lindsay trained at Arts Ed London (BA Hons) and the Dance School Of Scotland & Deeside Dance Centre.
Her performance credits include: Dance Captain & Ensemble in Berlin Berlin (German Tour), Vivian in Oklahoma (Chichester Festival Theatre), Young Carlotta in Follies (The National Theatre), Understudy Alex Owens & Ensemble in Flashdance (UK & International Tour), Tammy & Cover Penny in Hairspray (UK & Ireland Tour), Swing & Covers in Starlight Express (Germany), Swing, Cover Rumpleteazer & Jemima in Cats (The London Palladium), Singing In The Rain (Upstairs At The Gatehouse).
Jill Hunter
Singing Teacher & Musical Theatre Teacher
Jill has been singing since she could talk. Hours of watching Judy Garland, Doris Day and Barbra Streisand left her with no choice but to follow her passion onto the stage. Jill trained for 3 years in Musical Theatre at GSA, then trained with Mark Meylan, at the Actor’s Centre, before gaining much experience in theatre in London, touring and Rome. From early in her career she has worked with children and young people in music and performance skills. Jill believes everyone has a voice and everyone can sing. She works in building trust and joy in the voice and loves helping young people discover all their possibilities through performing. Jill now also works as a Child Therapist in schools.
Lizzie Buckingham
Fine Arts Club Course Director
We are delighted to welcome Lizzie as our Fine Arts Club Course Director.
Lizzie graduated from The Urdang Academy with a 1st Class BA Hons in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre, and went on to earn a Distinction in her MA in Musical Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Level 2 CYQ in Exercise to Movement instruction.
Lizzie has taught extensively in a range of dance and theatre disciplines to students from age 2 to adult. She has delivered facilitation in UK schools, as well as internationally, facilitating dance and performing arts in schools and arts centres and preparing students for large scale performances.
As a performer, Lizzie has worked on a wide variety of productions from dance and musical theatre, to actor-musicianship and classical theatre. Roles have included Kelly Kapowski in Bayside (The Other Palace Theatre), Dick Whittington in Dick Whittington (Hitchin Market Theatre), Antigone in Antigone (AOD), Lily in Oscar (Etcetera Theatre), Myrrhine in Lysistrata (UK Tour), Cassandra in Paris Alexandros (AOD), Joanna in Lost Love (Chelsea Theatre), Scout in The Den (Swan Wharf).
Maddie Harper
Ballet, Modern/Jazz, Musical Theatre Teacher
Maddie graduated from Arts Educational Schools London in 2017 and has appeared in a number of top shows since then, most recently 42nd Street in the West End's Drury Lane. Maddie began teaching at CTA while still an undergraduate at Arts Ed and we are delighted to welcome her back.
Karen Freeman
Zumba & Fitness Teacher
Karen was born in West Yorkshire. In 1976 she won a scholarship to attend “The Italia Conti stage school”, her first professional job was in the 1978 musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar”( Sweet Georgia Brown), at the time she was the youngest person aged 18 to have a lead role and solo in the West End, Karen then moved to Italy and spent 4 years working as a presenter dancer and singer on a hugely popular TV show Domenica in as well as recording music for films and television. She returned to England in 1984 was David Merricks tap dancing extravaganza 42nd Street, In the past 30 years Karen’s work has been varied and prolific as a Choreographer for many well-known UK European & USA recording artists including Blue, Atomic Kitten, Jermaine Jackson, Peter Andre, D-ream, Kim Mazel, Barry White, and Bill Withers to name a few, for TV and live performances, and in the year 2000 she had a no 12 in the UK Charts, with Mirror ball, Given up. Karen has participated in many fitness and diet television programmes and also 8 weeks on Channel 4's controversial “When Women Rule The World”. Karen is a popular and dynamic fitness Instructor in West London. She is passionate in helping people to achieve their fitness goals.
Aled Pedrick
Acting Teacher & Musical Theatre Teacher
Aled trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is a professional actor, singer and theatre director. He is a teacher on the BA Acting course at Guildhall, London Southbank University, University of Wales and other institutions across the UK. His most recent work as an actor include S4C’s 35 Awr and Sherman Theatre’s Woof (directed by Gethin Evans), and as director, his production of Saturday Night Forever for the Welsh National Theatre was on National tour in early 2019.
Danny Nattress
Street Dance Teacher
Danny started dancing at the age of 10 and has appeared in many productions, both amateur and professional, including Matthew Bourne’s ‘Lord of the Files’ before training at ArtsEd. Upon graduating from Arts Ed in Musical Theatre, Danny took on the role of ‘Pepper’ in the West End production of ‘Mamma Mia’. Danny is really excited to pass on his knowledge and experience to the students of CTA Performing Arts.
Tiarnan O'Sullivan
Film Teacher
Tiarnan has taught at both the MET Film School in Ealing Studios and the Central Film School in Spitalfields, London across modules including Writing, Directing, cinematography,
working with actors, editing and sound. He has also run the MET Film School's summer camps for the past five years and believes in keeping classes fun, practical and never limiting anyone’s creativity.
Tiarnan has been working as a freelance Writer and Director working in the film and television industries since moving to London in 2011. His wide and varied experiences as both a writer and director includes work on feature films, award-winning short films, music videos, promos and online content.
Tiarnan has worked with many prominent actors and comedians including Sir Ian Mckellan, Ray Winstone, Paul Reiser, Ben Whishaw, Aiden Gillen, Omid Djalili, Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard, and Michael McIntyre amongst others. Most recently, he worked on the new Apple TV / BBC comedy “Trying”, with Imelda Staunton and Rafe Spall.