Guess the Dancer!
Of course it’s our very own Miss Jo.
We all know in the studio how amazing Miss Jo is but here are some things that maybe you don’t know about her achievements and experience in dance over the years.
Miss Jo started dancing at the age of 2, firstly with the Beryl Gough’s dancers and then at the Barbara Evans School of Dance in Worcester. Besides passing her RAD Ballet and ISTD Tap and modern exams with Honours, she won many medals and trophies at dance festivals, including winning the Three Counties Ballet Championships, and qualifying to perform her Ballet solo at the All England Finals in London with 12 other dancers in her age group from around the country. She was a soloist in Homage to the Region, a performance to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the RAD, and also successfully auditioned for and performed with the Southern Ballet Company and the Three Counties Youth Ballet.
At the age of 16 She was offered a place at the Northern Ballet School, where she trained for three years. During full time training it was discovered that she had a scoliosis so decided to focus her passion on teaching, passing RAD history and anatomy papers, ISTD modern, tap and national associate and ISTD Ballet Associate with distinction.
After graduating, she went on to teach in Italy, performing pas de deux in the Nutcracker and Excelsior in the school shows with Artillio Ruppolo, a dancer from the San Carlo Ballet in Naples.
On returning to England and taking a position working for an RAD examiner she passed her RAD teaching certificate with distinction.
Miss Jo has been teaching at Richardz Dance School for 18 years, her pupils have had 100% exam pass rate for RAD graded, vocational, and repertoire exams. Pupils from Richardz have performed in the Corps de ballet and had soloist roles with English Youth Ballet, Midlands Theatre Ballet and Cinderella Dreams in association with the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Pupils have also been awarded vocational places at the Hammond School, Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham Ormiston Academy and the Royal Academy of Dance in London. Her students have also been accepted onto the Royal Ballet Associate programmes and the Midland Theatre Ballet Associate programme.
Miss Jo has recently become a certified teacher of Progressing Ballet Technique and was delighted to receive her RAD life membership certificate in 2024.
