KDA Teaching Team
Kirsten Swift
Principal
Founder, principal and owner. Kirsten started dancing at the age of 3 and soon realised this was all she ever wanted to do. After finishing school Kirsten studied dance at Shena Simon in Manchester and then carried on her studies at MDDC in Liverpool. Upon finishing her 3rd year Kirsten successfully auditioned for Costa Cruise Lines and travelled the world whist doing what she loved.
At the age of 22 Kirsten opened KDA and hasn't looked back. She has an overwhelming passion for dance and relishes the opportunity to share this with her students.
Amy Mason
Teacher
Amy also studied at MDDC. Amy enjoys teaching a variety of styles and ages and loves to watch all students develop and progress into what may become the stars of the future!
Stacey Maurice
Teacher
Stacey is originally from the North East of England. She is a fully qualified teacher with the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD). Stacey graduated from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) with a first class honours degree in Performing Arts Dance. She was also lucky enough to be awarded the Sir Paul McCartney Award for Dance upon Graduation. Stacey also has a Cert:Ed in further Education.
She is the founder and Artistic Director of Torque Youth Dance Company and also lectures in Tap dance at LIPA. Stacey's role at KDA is delivering tap, ballet and core jazz training to an advanced level and also coordinates and choreographs for the KDA Elite team.
Stacey loves teaching dancers who eat sleep and breath dance and those who are looking to pursue dance as a career.
Kaireen McDonnald
Teacher
Kaireen began dancing, singing and acting at a young age. After becoming involved with the Torque Youth Dance Company at 16 she than trained in dance at the Creative Academy where she obtained a 1st class degree in dance. She now teaches dance across Greater Manchester and loves teaching modern and commercial at KDA
Katherine Farrow
Teacher
Katherine has been performing for nearly 20 years and has a huge passion for dance and musical theatre. She has trained in a variety of styles and achieved D*D*D* studying musical theatre.
Jessica Leah
Teacher
I started dancing at the age of 3 and also trained as a gymnast from 5 years old. I was the Northwest champion in floor and vault before continuing to develop my skills in dance and acro. I was a member of the KDA elite team for 3 years and have studied dance both at school and in further education achieving a D*D* in dance. I have been training and teaching with A.w.M since the age of 14 and I am now a fully qualified acro teacher with AcroTrix.
Adele Taylor
Drama teacher
After training at the Guildford School of Acting, Adele worked as an actress appearing in a number of shows at the Coliseum theatre in Oldham and Manchester’s Royal Exchange and a number of television programmes including Grange Hill and Coronation Street. A qualified dancing teacher, Adele is also a professional choreographer working on a number of shows including 20 pantomimes at Nottingham Playhouse and Oldham Coliseum theatres, Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough, 4 shows for Oldham Childrens Theatre, Forever Young, Private Lives, Arcadia and The Cherry Orchard (Nottingham Playhouse). Choreography for television includes, The Worst Witch, The Village, Wanderlust, Peter Kay’s Car Share (BBC), Last Tango in Halifax, Years and Years, The Five (Red Productions), and Curfew with Billy Zane. Adele is a Licentiate of the London Academy of Dramatic Art and a Member of the National Association of Teachers of Dance.
Clare Kennedy-Tonge
Teacher
Clare studied at the Urdang Academy Covent Garden. She graduated with a diploma in Musical Theatre and Jazz Dance. She has been Teaching all styles of dance for 20 years in both London and Manchester. Clare is also a qualified fitness and body balance instructor and knows how important movement is for both physical and mental health. Her Favourite part about teaching is watching the students fall in love with the arts and have fun whilst doing it.
