Meet The Team

Principal/Director

Charlotte has been teaching dance in the local area for over 10 years and started Charlotte Reader Dance in 2014 with just 1 adult tap class. The school has now grown to over 20 classes a week for ages 1-100, with a fab team of teachers and assistants!

Charlotte has been dancing since the age of 5 and when she was 18, began her training as a dance teacher at Chichester College, completing her ISTD Diploma in Dance Education in both tap and modern. More recently, in 2022 Charlotte went back to studying and achieved Licentiate status with the ISTD in Tap Dance. (you may have guessed it - her absolute favourite style is tap!!)

Alongside running the school, Charlotte teaches all of our tap classes, Young at Heart, Lil Beatz and lots of our after school clubs 

In her spare time Charlotte is Vice-Chair of the Littlehampton Musical Comedy Society and still loves performing with them when she can.

Dance Teacher

Abbey joined us in September 2023 to teach our Wednesday street dance classes at the Village Hall. She also assists with Musical Theatre on Thursdays and teaches our Adult Street Dance and Adult Jazz classes!

She’s been dancing since the age of 3 in a huge range of styles and completed her ISTD DDE (teaching qualifications) in Ballet, Tap and Modern at Chichester College.
Her favourite style is tap but she loves all the styles from lyrical to jazz and has also performed in many amateur productions alongside dancing over the years.
Always looking for her next challenge, Abbey is currently studying for a Level 5 diploma in Education and Training in PE!

In her spare time (what spare time I hear you ask!?) she enjoys the gym and also loves going to London to watch musicals - there aren’t many she hasn’t seen!

Dance Teacher

Jess has been with us since summer 2022 and is ALWAYS full of energy! She teaches our Musical Theatre club at White Meadows and our Contemporary Jazz Fusion classes at Angmering Village Hall.

She started dancing at the age of 3, training mainly in ballet. As she got older she trained in modern jazz and contemporary and gained a first class degree in Contemporary dance from the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama London Contemporary Dance School.

She now teaches children from 18 months all the way up to adults in a variety of places and has recently started her own classes in Brighton and Hove. Last summer she did her 200 hour yoga teacher training so she now also enjoys teaching yoga on a weekly basis.

Fun fact - Jess is a HUGE Taylor Swift fan... she's not only booked to see her on tour later in the year...she's booked to see the same show 2 nights in a row!!

Dance Teacher 

Abi has been dancing since the age of 2 and has filled her life with all things theatrical since.

Abi loved her weekly dance classes growing up, taking exams, performing in numerous shows, competing at festivals and gaining a scholarship with English Youth Ballet.

Abi trained at Laine Theatre Arts and Bird College, graduating in 2023 with a first class degree in musical theatre and dance and has been perusing a career in that industry.

Abi has DDE qualifications in both Modern and Tap, teaching syllabus and free classes in many genres for over 6 years. Abi’s passion for performing continues through her teaching where she aims to inspire all her students!

Abi will be taking maternity cover on Tuesdays and will be teaching the street dance club at St Philips and Adult Tap at Durrington High School.

Dance Teacher

Ellie danced since she was 4 and mainly studied Ballet, Pointe and Modern. Whilst training she took part in exams, shows and competitions

It was always a childhood dream of Ellie's to teach dance  and whilst she doesn't have just one favourite style, she really enjoys jazz, tap and street and has recently got into a new style of heels.

Ellie works a full time job alongside teaching and its so nice to switch things up and get to enjoy both professions.

In her spare time she loves to spend it with family and friends or spend it on the sea paddleboarding. She has also recently got into running which is a new passion!

Ellie will be taking our Maternity cover for Street Dance at Broadwater.

Dance Teacher

Lauren started ballet when she was 4 and later joined Modern and Tap. When she was 11 she joined a full time dance school where her training intensified. 

At the age of 16 Lauren began her professional training at Bird college where she stayed for 3 years. Once she graduated she did her Teacher training qualifications and has now been teaching for 5 years. 

She is qualified in Ballet, Tap, Modern and Acrobatic Arts but also teaches commercial, contemporary and musical theatre aswell.

Lauren will be doing maternity cover on Mondays and will be teaching our children's tap at St Margaret’s and Adult Tap Beginners and Improvers at The Windmill.

Dance Teacher

Emma started ballet at the age of 8 where she quickly found her love of dancing. She trained locally and gained her Advanced levels in Ballet, Tap and Modern.

At 16 Emma was lucky enough to gain a place at Millennium Performing arts in London to do a 3 year professional course in Musical Theatre.

Since graduating Emma has performed as both a singer & dancer in the UK and Internationally. She has choreographed for cabaret shows and local amateur theatre productions and loves to watch people grow through teaching.

Still working professionally Emma is very excited to be part of the team and taking maternity cover for Young at Heart, Friday Lil Beatz and White Meadows Musical Theatre Club.

Class Assistant

Karen has been dancing since the age of 5 at her local dance school and then went on to train professionally as a dancer at Performers College.

Her favourite style of dancing is tap as it sounds amazing when you get the steps right and it’s a really show stopper on stage! Although she does love all styles of dancing.

Karen has been part of the Charlotte Reader Dance team since 2018 and assists with our street dance classes at Angmering Village Hall every week. Karen has 3 children (a daughter and twin boys) and when she’s not dancing or teaching she loves to bake!

Fun Fact… Karen has performed on stage at the London Palladium! 🤩

Administrative/Social Media Assistant

Hannah trained in ballet, modern, tap and contemporary until the age of 18 and then went on to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance before completing her teaching qualifications.

Alongside her dance teaching and being a mum, in 2022 she also started her own business, offering Administrative Assistance and Social Media Management for Dance Schools across the UK and has been a part of the Charlotte Reader Dance team since March 2023!

Hannah is fab at all things admin and social media and there is no task too big or small that she can't do! We're very lucky to have her helping things to run smoothly behind the scenes