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 Mackenzie
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!
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.
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.
Niamh Simpson
Teacher
Niamh is a professional dancer, teacher and qualified Acro coach. She grew up training in both dance and gymnastics and at the age of 16, began her professional dance training at Shockout Arts in Manchester, developing her skills across a wide range of dance styles.
Throughout her career , Niamh has worked in the commercial dance industry, gaining credits with internationally recognised brands including Under Armour, Nike and JD Sports. She later moved to New York City to complete the prestigious professional Semester Program at Broadway Dance Centre, where she was mentored and trained by leading Broadway Professionals and Commercial industry pioneers. During her time in New York, she was also invited to perform at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre and Steps on Broadway.
Teaching is one of Niamh's greatest passions. She is dedicated to creating a positive, inclusive and supportive environment where every child can build confidence explore their creativity, reach their full potential, and develop a lifelong love of dance and Acro.
Lauren Shuttleworth
Teacher
Lauren is a professional Dancer and teacher in different styles such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Contemporary.
Lauren has been performing professionally for the last 3 years onboard cruise ships. She first started onboard Royal Caribbean before moving over to Holland America Line. Lauren loved her time at sea and it helped her expand her knowledge and gave her valuable industry insight. She also recently featured on channel 4's cruise ship documentary 'Super cruising life at sea' where she got to show the life of a dancer onboard a cruise ship.
Lauren's other greatest passion in life is teaching, she enjoys teaching all styles of dance but especially Jazz, Lyrical, Acro, and Musical Theatre. She also loves to get creative and anything from solo's, duets and trios to group pieces. She has taught in various different places, from all over Greater Manchester to Australia and loves to share her knowledge and everything she has learnt with her students.
Lauren has also been a gymnastics teacher for the last 9 years and loves all things acro, gymnastics and strength training.
Lauren wants to help every child grow and develop into not only a technically strong dancer but also a happy child. She is excited to get started and can't wait to share her passion for teaching and choreographing with everyone.
Clare Kennedy-Tonge
Teacher
Clare studied at The Urdang Academy in London graduating with a diploma in musical theatre and jazz dance.
She performed professionally however always had a passion for teaching.
She has taught all genres of dance at The Sue Nieto Theatre School, London, The America School in London, Highgate Theatre School and after relocating to the North she taught at KDA and The Dawson Academy. Her past pupils have gained places at all the major collages and have gone on to perform in both the West End, tours and the commercial world.
She also worked for PHA productions and choreographed pantomime in both London and Leeds for many years, (even performing for a couple of seasons). She also teaches body balance and fitness classes.
Clare had a break from teaching to start and raise a family and she is very excited to be joining KDA again.