dance sensation reading
Marie Gratton (Beazley) AISTD/ DDI/DDE is the founder and principal of Dance
Sensation School of Performing Arts. Founded in 2005, the school has rapidly
grown with over 200 students currently attending. Specialising in ISTD Ballet,
Modern, Tap, Jazz and Musical Theatre taught by an ISTD qualified teacher. Marie
trained at Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead and then went on to further her
training at Doreen Bird College in London. Marie worked in many professional
shows including Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Piazza dancer at Alton
Towers and danced in the show Spirit of the Dance where she toured Far East Asia
and Europe. She then worked for 3 years on cruise ships with Thomson, P&O and
Festival cruises. Marie has taught for many years at private schools and for
other principals and in 2005, she decided to fulfil her dream and start her own
dance school. Dance Sensation started with 5 children and now we have over 200
students whom attend Dance Sensation. Marie absolutely loves her job and is
incredibly passionate about what she teaches. It’s also very important that
dancing is taught by a fully qualified dance teacher who understands the body
and teaches dance in a safe environment. Marie is a fully qualified Imperial
Ballet, ISTD Modern and Tap teacher and is very proud of her qualifications. We
are an exam based school where the children get to take exams in all 3 genres
and we also perform yearly shows shannon allen dance teacher Shannon Allen
Contemporary and ISTD Teacher Shannon Allen Shannon started dancing at the age
of 8 at Dance Sensation and was trained by Miss Marie, focusing primarily on
ISTD dance examinations and performing in multiple musical and dance shows
throughout the years. She then went on to train professionally at London Studio
Centre for their Theatre Dance degree course in which she graduated in 2018 with
a focus in musical theatre. During her degree course, Shannon performed as Elle
Woods in Legally Blonde, Martha in Spring Awakening and ensemble/dance roles in
The Witches of Eastwick, Little Shop of Horrors and Cabaret. Since graduating,
she performed at various venues within London as a dancer, and modelled for
numerous styled shoots before pursuing a career in teaching. Alongside teaching
dance and musical theatre, Shannon works in a Primary School during the week and
is currently in the process of completing her ISTD DDE Modern Teaching exams.
Shannon is super excited to be joining the Dance Sensation team and we are so
glad to have her back.
