TEACHERS

Lisa founded The Performance Academy back in 2008 with just 9 students. She studied her BA (HONS) in Acting & Performing Arts at Hull college and later her MA in Theatre and Live Performance at the Live Academy

Lisa won a full scholarship to study at the New York film academy at only 17 years old. She attended drama & theatre school classes from a young age. She has performed in numerous television and theatre productions travelling across the UK performing including: Taggart, Still Game, How not to live your life, Cinderella & Waiting for Groucho at the Edinburgh Festival.

She has worked in theatre in education and began teaching freelance across the UK at a young age. She holds a Guinness world record for performance. She currently teaches drama, dance & singing and she is also a qualified fitness instructor having taught classes in the UK & USA. Lisa not only teaches children but adult acting & additional support needs classes.

Lisa works with many additional needs groups, mental health groups, charities and businesses and creates unique workshops and plans for each of them. She directs and writes show scripts and has taught and directed many local school shows

Lisa founded TPA back in 2008 in her local area as she noticed there was a shortage of classes and performance opportunities for local children. She was invited to teach an acting workshop in Bathgate theatre back in 2010 and has ran classes there ever since.

Lisa loves drama & the many benefits it has for young people. She is very proud of her staff team and loves her Performance Academy team of children and adults!

Miss Erin first began her training in dance at her local dance community training in areas of jazz, commercial, contemporary and musical theatre. As a young teenager she then went on to train Musical Theatre at UK Theatre School, where she fell in love with performing arts.

Miss Erin has gained her Musical Theatre Bachelors Degree at New College Lanarkshire and since graduating has done a variety of different contracts from various pantomimes, recently playing the principle role of Goldielocks at the New Lanark Theatre, worked overseas on lead vocalist contracts, performing a variety of productions shows and worked around the UK and Ireland in Theatre In Education.

Miss Erin has a great passion and love for teaching and has taught Musical Theatre and Drama over in America and around Scotland from ages 3-18. She loves being part of each individual child’s growth and development as performers, whilst they are learning in a fun and comfortable learning environment. Miss Erin is super proud to be part of the TPA team and loves teaching all the wonderful students.

Scott James Kyle, is a Scottish actor, best known for his roles as Ross in Outlander, Clancy in The Angels’ Share, and Corporal Stu Pearson in the film Kilo Two Bravo. Kyle received the 2010 Stage Awards Best Actor Award for his role in the play Singin’ I’m No A Billy He’s A Tim.

Hi! My name is Jodi Alexander, I started dancing at the age of 2, going to class every week I grew a real love for performing and wanted to do more. Studying ballet, tap, jazz and modern from such a young age gave me a great foundation to grow as a dancer. I then joined local drama and musical theatre group, which is where I fell in love with performing. Singing and acting shortly became my favourite and helped me prepare for leaving high school and my future endeavours. After high school I went on to train at new college Lanarkshire and then the Italia conti academy in London gaining my musical theatre degree after 4 years of training.

A month after graduating I gained my dream job at Disneyland Paris as a parade dancer and character performer, where I spent 2 and a half years working in Paris. Dancing down Main Street every day was beyond magical and “spending time” with my favourite characters making dreams come true was something I’ll never forget. I am also in a very exciting new film coming out next summer and can’t wait to spill the news when it comes to the big screen. I still do love to perform but I’m so glad I found TPA where I can share my love for the arts with the children and encourage them and build their confidence in my classes.

Robyn began dancing at age 2 at various schools including Valda Hunter School of Dance, Elite Studio Centre and The Performance Academy. At age 18, Robyn began her full-time professional training at Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap and commercial. Robyn graduated in 2019 with a 2.1 Bachelor of Arts honours degree in professional dance in conjunction with Northumberland University.

While at PASS, Robyn was given many performance opportunities including shows at the Kings Theatre Edinburgh, PASS theatre and The international Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Robyn was also lucky enough to be chosen to perform at the commencement of New York Cities Tartan Week at the Caledonian Club in Manhattan as well as in the parade itself. In 2018, Robyn travelled to the city again to take on work placement at the world-renowned Martha Graham dance company where she was able to take company class, watch rehearsals and attend the opening evening and gala of their 2018 season. While still a PASS student, Robyn was also able to tour the country performing and teaching workshops to schools and dance colleges.

Robyn originally joined The Performance Academy in 2018 as a dance teacher. Robyn immediately loved working with the students of all ages and couldn’t help but smile when students’ technique, flexibility and confidence grew. When Robyn accepted her first performance contract upon graduating in 2019, it was a bitter sweet moment as she was so excited to travel the world doing what she loves, but it would also mean leaving team TPA for a while. Robyn jetted off to Cyprus in February 2020 to join the dance team at Louis Hotels. She performed 12 shows a week including feather cabarets and musicals. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Robyn returned to the U.K. just 6 weeks later. While Robyn is so excited to return to the performing world, her heart is so full with teaching the wonderful students at The Performance Academy. 

My name is Carrie Hendry and I am a musical theatre teacher here at TPA. I have trained in musical theatre all my life with my first dance class starting as young as 2 and first singing lesson at just 5! I’ve been very lucky to have studied Musical theatre and pursue a career in performing! From being in many professional pantomimes to dancing in Disney and being a show entertainer abroad in Portugal, helps me offer the students a wide variety of knowledge they may need for future careers. As much as I love performing I also have a major passion for teaching and I have over 10 years experience. As well as working at a college as a musical theatre lecturer I have also taught lcm exams and directed and written many plays and musicals. Working with all the talented students this past year has been an absolute pleasure. Seeing them flourish as not only performers but people, growing in confidence and making friends makes it the best job!

Emma McDougall, born and raised in Glasgow, has always had a strong passion for the performing arts. Throughout her school years, Emma took extracurricular classes in Acting and Musical Theatre. It was through this additional training she gained work in Film, TV and Theatre, and she was lucky enough to be involved with projects led by the BBC, Peter Mullan and Bill Kenwright.

Emma then went on to train at Motherwell College where she earned her Higher National Diploma in Musical Theare and BA Hons Degree in Acting and Performance.

After graduating, Emma started her own theatre company ‘Kapow Theatre Scotland’ which produces children’s theatre and pantomimes. Kapow performs sell out shows all over Scotland from East Kilbride to the Isle of Skye.

She was also a cultural co-ordinator for a South Lanarkshire project – Artsnet: a five-week outreach programme of dance and drama. The project promoted the important message that all children have the right to feel safe at all times with a particular focus on internet safety.

Emma now spends her time as a freelance performer, director and performing arts coach; leading workshops and classes for different companies and councils around Scotland. She believes the performing arts play an integral role in helping to combat depression and anxiety in young people as well as helping to improve social skills, confidence and self-esteem; making young people feel more resilient to achieve their dreams.

Aidan is a Glasgow born and bred performer and teacher. He began his training at The Dance School of Scotland (MTC) before graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, BA Musical Theatre course in 2017.

Since graduating, Aidan’s performance career has seen him perform across the UK and Europe in theatre and screen. His theatre credits include:

The Little Mermaid (UK Tour); Raintown (workshop, Dundee Rep); Chess (Edinburgh Festival Theatre); Jack & the Beanstalk (Eden Court); Beauty & the Beast (Eden Court); Snow White (Eden Court); Beauty & the Beast (Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre); McAlister in Wonderland (Scottish Highlands & Islands Tour).

TV/Film credits include:

Carrie & David’s Popshop (BBC Scotland); Pink Apartment (GFT/Queer Theory Fest); Tell it to the Bees (Reliance Entertainment Ltd).

Aidan has also worked Internationally as a Lead Vocalist for Carnival’s AIDA Cruises & TUI.

Talia Stirling is a professional Actor Musician with a natural flair for comedy. Talia graduated with a BA Honours degree in Acting And Performance and has over a decade of experience in Musical Theatre. She is an accomplished guitar / piano player and singer. Talia’s skills have been put to great use in several of Geez A Break’s productions.

She has greatly enjoyed playing multiple roles in touring productions and one woman shows around theatres, schools and care homes throughout Scotland for both old and young alike. Talia has also been able to showcase her song writing skills, writing and performing music for Kapow Theatre Scotland, Car Crash Productions Pride event, the Scottish Mental Health touring production of ‘On Any Given Night’, “ O’er The Tap “ and ‘Mamie’ around Scotland. Talia also Performed in the five-star production of “ Number, please “ at the Edinburgh Fringe and most recently in ‘Rapunzel: The Drive In Panto’ on the Isle of Skye.

During lockdown, Talia has had the opportunity to teach children & adults music , drama and singing at The Performance Academy Of Scotland and has loved every minute of it. She is very proud to be part of such a great team.

MARKETING ASSISTANT

My name is Nicole and I am a marketing assistant at The Performance Academy and The Performers Agency. I studied 3D Computer Animation for 2 years at HNC/HND level before continuing on to study and achieve a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Computer Arts at Abertay University.

I have always had a deep interest in drama and the arts, exploring this through creating my own scripts, directing voice actors, creating films and creating motion comics.

I am beyond excited to work with this amazing team who all hold such passion and enthusiasm, both of which I hope to bring to my work every day!