Established in 2008, the “Cheneler School of Dance” participates in Cecchetti Ballet, Modern Theatre, Jazz, Tap, Street, Contemporary and Musical Theatre from age 18 months to adults.

Pupils take part in ISTD examinations in Cecchetti Ballet, Modern Theatre and Tap, with 100% pass rate, as well as enjoying great success in competitions and impressive performances throughout the area including annual school productions at The Hawth and performances in the West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

We take great pride in teaching our pupils a strong technique through all disciplines of dance as well as focusing on performance and style. We are also proud to offer pupils a safe and professional training, within a friendly atmosphere, welcoming a range of abilities to enjoy dance for either recreation or vocational purposes.

Students from the “Cheneler School of Dance” always make a great impression on the dance circuit, by successfully auditioning for vocational schools such as Northern Ballet and London Studio Centre. Pupils also have become Cecchetti Scholars and Associates as well as vocational school associate programmes; the Royal Ballet School and Central School of Ballet,  including the English National Ballet  Youth Company. Pupils have also enjoyed dancing with the English Youth Ballet in “Giselle” ,“Nutcracker” , “Coppelia” and “Swan Lake”.

Students have demonstrated great success each year in examinations and competitions, such as winning the Mabel Ryan Awards at Saddlers Wells, as well as displaying a high standard of dance when performing throughout the county.

“Cheneler School of Dance” has recently  moved to their own studio in Southgate, Crawley and are associated with “Sandra Powell School of Dancing” with studios in Horsham.

We also run After School Street Dance Clubs in Primary and Infant Schools in the area and are always interested in extending our teaching into the community.

PRINCIPAL: Hayley Cheneler, B.A. A.I.S.T.D.

Miss Hayley, studied with “Sandra Powell School of Dancing”, our sister school,where she now also teaches and went on to achieve her Dance Degree at the “London College of Dance”, (Middlesex University), graduating in 2003.

In 2004 Miss Hayley gained her Asssociate in Cecchetti Ballet with Honours and from then on has taught for Miss Sandra Powell, F.I.S.T.D., and has been a guest teacher in London, for the Cecchetti Associates and at Tring for the Cecchetti Junior Summer School.

Miss Hayley is also a qualified tutor and examiner for the ISTD, DDI and DDE, Lifespan and Development and Health and Safety Teaching Qualifications, lecturing at Performance Colleges within the South East, as well as being a Cecchetti Group Committee member.

Naomi Cobby, A.I.S.T.D.

Miss Naomi,  trained at the Jenny Elsden School of Dance in Lingfield and the Hammond School of Dance, graduating in 2002 with a National Diploma in Professional Dance and her ISTD Associate teaching qualifications in Ballet, Modern and Tap.

Miss Naomi is an experienced teacher, having taught Ballet, Tap. Jazz, Musical Theatre, Singing and Drama in several schools in London and the South East of England and various summer schools across the UK. Naomi has been a guess teacher for the N.A.T.D.

Miss Naomi has an extensive performing career, working with some of the industries top directors and choreographers, including; Hal Prince, Gillian Lynne, Anthony Dowell and Will Tuckett. She has been privileged enough to perform for Ninette De Valois, Yehudi Menuhin, and HRH Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

Miss Naomi was in the original stage production of Frederick Ashton’s Tales of Beatrix Potter, performed in The Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End, has toured the UK and worked abroad with many other dance and musical theatre productions and has been lucky enough to perform in beautiful venues including the Royal Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall. Her choreography credits includes An A-Z of Musical Theatre and the Best of Brian Conley 2009 and 2010 tours.

Miss Naomi is really excited to be part of the Cheneler Team and loves the satisfaction she gets from watching her pupils progress.

Ellis Fitzherbert, DDE.

Miss Ellis, began her training at the age of 3 years in Ballet, Modern, Tap and Jazz.

During this time, alongside studying ISTD and RAD syllabus Miss Ellis appeared in numerous professional productions; UK Tour of Evita, Spiller’s Pantomimes, Paper Moon Company, (Music Hall at Leicester Square Theatre and Trafalgar Square), Kingston International Youth Arts Festival and 100th Anniversary Gala Performance of Wimbledon Theatre.

Miss Ellis completed her ISTD DDI Teaching qualifications at Italia Conti in 2015 and is furthering her qualifications at Dancers Inc.

Miss Ellis is pursuing her dance aspirations by teaching full time and is enjoying being part of the Cheneler Team.

Louisa Haynes, BA Hons, PGCE:DT

Miss Louisa, trained at both the BRIT School and Italia Conti before completing her BA Hons in Dance Performance at Middlesex University and gaining her PGCE at the Royal Academy of Dance in London.

Miss Louisa has been teaching in mainstream Dance Education for over 10 years in Surrey and Sussex, specialising in GCSE and A’level. Miss Louisa is also an examiner for AQA A’Level Dance.

Miss Louisa has a passion for Contemporary Dance and Dance Education and is excited to be part of the teaching staff at Cheneler School of Dance.

Natasha Rose, B.A. DDE

Miss Natasha has danced since the age of three and has grown up living all things dance! Also taking part in various theatre companies Natasha has a great background in performing. Taking her passion further, she trained at The Centre Performing Arts College receiving a performance diploma and completed a degree with ISTD teaching qualifications in Ballet, Modern and Tap. Natasha’s choreography and performances have been performed across local communities driven by her love of musicals and performing. Miss Natasha thrives teaching and supporting others to dance and perform to the best of their ability. Having taught various dance genres at various schools, she even had the opportunity to travel to Barbados for a six month Ballet experience.

Miss Natasha is more than excited to be a part of the CSD team.

Michelle Vorster, Zumba®️

Miss Michelle started dance classes at the age of 4 years old and her passion for dance just kept on growing. She is now a qualified Fitness Professional and Dancer. She studied Performing Arts at GSA and Pineapple Studios and has been teaching fitness and dance since 2001 and in 2011 became a Licensed Zumba®️ Instructor and in 2016 became a licensed Zumba®️ Kids and Zumba®️ Kids Jr Instructor.
During Miss Michelle’s dancing career she was a member of The Lights Sports Dance Troup, performed on many T.V shows, was a backing dancer for many groups and singers, Mis-Teeq and Samantha Mumba to name afew and has also worked for a number of dance agencies and companies in the UK and abroad.
In 2002 Miss Michelle won the Pineapple Dance Award for Best Newcomer.
Miss Michelle is now enjoying teaching Street Dance at Cheneler School of Dance.

Maddie Turpie, DDE

Maddie has been dancing since the age of 3. She started off learning Ballet and then later took on Modern, Jazz, Tap and Street Dance. Maddie has performed in shows in London and locally as well as various street dance competitions including a trip Blackpool! Maddie achieved her Diploma in Dance from The BRIT School and then went on to study for a year   professionally in London to gain some more experience in new styles. She is currently studying to achieve her DDE qualifications in Modern and Ballet.

Emma Clarke, B.A. DDE

Emma trained at Roshe Performing Arts School for 14 years, achieving Advanced 1 in ISTD Ballet and Advanced 2 in ISTD Modern, Tap and Classical Greek and RAD Ballet. Emma achieved her ISTD Diploma in Dance Instruction (DDI) in 2014. Miss Emma went on to study at Bath Spa University and has a degree in Theatre Production BA(Hons). Emma is also a Certified Teacher of Progressing Ballet Technique and is currently working towards her DDE in Modern Theatre and Tap.