Our Team
Hannah Tweddle:
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Hannah is a principal teacher at Muddles Dance. She is qualified to Membership level with BATD in Ballet, Modern and Tap. She is also accredited to teach GCSE and A Level Dance. Hannah teaches all ages in Ballet, Modern and Tap.
Hannah has a wide range of experience which she has acquired over 21 years. She has taught GCSE Dance at Northallerton College and Barlby High School. She has choreographed pieces for productions at local schools and drama groups. She has also worked for local stage coach companies passing on her dance experience as well as helping with the technical side at their performances.
Where we are today is largely down to Hannah’s drive and determination to make her dream a reality. Starting out teaching across the district in halls and schools 21 years ago alongside her sister, Rachel, she has gone from strength to strength. Hannah now owns the purpose built studio in Thirsk where she offers classes in Performing Arts through Butterflies and dance classes through Muddles.
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Lauren Musgrove:
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Lauren started dancing with Butterfly School of Dance in 1999 as one of the first dancers and has never left. Now, 21 years later she is in partnership with Hannah running Muddles.
She is qualified to Associate level with BATD in Ballet, Tap and Stage. She is also a qualified Physiotherapist and continues to practise within neuro rehabilitation. Her knowledge of how the body works is invaluable for ensuring pupils work to their strengths.
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Rebekah Amiri:
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Rebekah started dancing at Butterflies from the age of 11. She then went onto study at SLP in Leeds qualifying with a National Diploma in Performing Arts. She then went onto work in the dance performing arts industry in Leeds and London. Rebekah has since returned to us to pass on her knowledge in teaching.
She is qualified to Membership level in Ballet with BATD and Associate in Jazz and Modern. In addition, has trained up to Advanced level with RAD for Ballet.
Rebekah also teaches the Commercial, Street, Acro and Adult Ballet Core classes. Her choreography is slick and creative.
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Amy Spence:
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Amy joined the team in 2017. She has a passion for dance, particularly Contemporary, and has danced from an early age. She has a BA Hons degree in Dance and choreography. Amy has taken charge of the contemporary classes and the students love her fun approach and inventive choreography.
She has also has a background in Musical Theatre, having taught and choreographed Musical Theatre for other local companies, helping to create excellent performances. Amy also teaches Musical Theatre, and singing lessons for Butterflies Performing Arts.
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Rachel Mackay:
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Rachel started Butterfly School of Dance in 1999 alongside Hannah. She then left the company to pursue a career in Primary School teaching and is now a Special Educational Needs Coordinator for a local school. Her wealth of knowledge in Early Years Education is invaluable and she provides advice on the development on the Early Stages in the school.
Rachel has never been able to completely hang up her dancing shoes and continues to teach regular Adult Tap classes on a Wednesday evening.
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Andrea Smith:
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Andrea teaches the early years classes on a Saturday morning for Muddles and has done this for many years. She ensures our pupils have a fun start to their dancing journey whilst ensuring they learn key elements which will stay with them throughout their time with us and beyond.
Andrea is mainly trained in Tap dance but she also has qualifications in health and fitness. You will probably recognise her from the local swimming pool.
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Evie Collinson:
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Evie started dancing with Butterflies from the age of 4. From here she left in 2015 and went onto train at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in disciplines including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary and Commercial. She now teaches on a Wednesday evening alongside her full time job. She teaches the younger students for Acro, Street as well as Lyrical Ballet, she does this as well as Musical Theatre for Butterflies on a Thursday evening.
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Student Teachers:
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We wouldn’t be anywhere without our friendly student teaching team. They have all been trained through BATD by ourselves and now are key to supporting our younger students. They are key to helping new starters settle in, demonstrating steps, helping with shows and exams and being a familiar face on a Saturday morning. Our current students teachers are Grace and Rose with Anya our senior student teacher. Anya takes some of our early years classes under the supervision of our Senior teaching team.