Amanda Walsh - Principal and ACF Founder

I originally started dancing at the age of 3 attending the Janice Hughes School of dance. Whilst here I passed various NATD examinations in ballet, tap and modern before progressing to the well known North Cheshire Theatre School. During my time at North Cheshire I was tutored by prestigious industry professionals such as David Johnson and David Needham culminating in a number of ISTD qualifications and a great deal of experience. I graduated from North Cheshire at 18 and decided to go on to further training and possibly my biggest achievement to date, I was awarded a Scholarship at the prestigious Doreen Bird theatre college London.
During my fantastic time at Bird College I attained my ISTD advanced II, My modern associate and my Higher Diploma in Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre. Following my time at Bird College I firstly toured with the Bird theatre company which involved a number of appearances on the West end. I then continued my career when I got a part in the Copacabana European tour. Since the copa tour finished I have toured the uk with many companies and shows including the Rocky Horror Show, starred in adverts in Europe and acted in various short films and plays. Most recently I have worked with Ashton Operatics taking on the role of Phyllis in 42nd Street. In 2007 I appeared on Sky Television as a judge and presenter on Desi Dancers a live Dance competition. I continue to stay working in the industry keeping me and my team up to date on the latest musicals, plays, dance drama and singing techniques. I also continue to develop myself by continuing in TV roles. I feel it is these constantly rolling goals that make us the best choice you can make as we are well trained, passionate, up to date, inspiring and constantly involved in the industry.  Put simply in truth we have all the ingredients to make your children the stars of the future!

TEACHING BACKGROUND

I first began teaching 5 years ago as a stop gap between performance schedules. My first teaching jobs were all in prestigious theatre and dance schools and were mainly choreography roles helping towards various musicals and shows. It was during these sessions that I realised my potential as a teacher and also how passionate I was about passing on my experiences and industry knowledge to other students. I continued teaching as a contractor for around 18 months before getting a full time teaching position at Manor Road High School for Girls in Droylsden. Following this period of teaching I decided I was going to setup my own company providing educational services such as PPA cover and in school workshop at realistic prices. I adopted this same philosophy for the ACF Dance Academy aiming to provide children with unique expert tuition at realistic non prohibitive prices. My lessons are always based around fun, creative expression and a friendly approachable environment. We have now grown to such an extent that it was no longer feasible for just me to continue teaching so we began an employment campaign to find teachers whom possessed the same qualities and enthusiasm as myself and following my more recent experiences I have moved into a stronger management role and passed on my techniques and skills to my staff and i’m delighted to say that they are loved by schools all over the uk. I have trained 100’s of teachers and at congress courses and I continue to attend training session of the highest standard as you can NEVER EVER stop learning!!