The Faculty
Meet our Teachers
Sarah-Jane Bullock - Principal
I have been teaching now for over 30 years and it is a passion and vocation for me. I never stop learning and wanting to develop myself further to give my pupils and students the best possible grounding to go forward with their lives in the worlds they have chosen; be it academia or theatre.
I am passionate beyond anything about quality and not quantity and customer service.
We live in a world where I think these things are sometimes forgotten about. There are so many Dancing schools/ colleges all saying the same things about their schools and what they offer and yet more and more we find that students who come to us late in their training need re-building technically and have absolutely no idea and education in where they're going other than the fact that they want to dance or perform for a career. This horrifies me. As a parent myself when you send your children to a hobby and let's be honest this is how anything starts you hope and trust that the people you are paying money to are qualified to work with your child and have an understanding of the profession they are in, but this is simply not the case. Franchises are also popping up everywhere, giving anyone a license to open a theatre school, these are frightening times!
At The lodge all our Staff are Home grown. These are ex-pupils who have been trained by me and who I know are singing off the same hymn book. We are a small school and we have weekly staff meetings to discuss all classes and their progress and where we see what each child needs in order to develop them further. I as principal can name every child and teach 99% of all the pupils at The Lodge at least once a week giving me a hands on approach at all times.
I care passionately about the standard of our work. I believe that if you are going to do something then you might as well do it well so although some of our children will always just want to dance for a hobby, how wonderful to be able to do this to a high standard and for those that want this as a career then I know we will of done our job to provide these individuals with an all-round training to go into the business. Providing them with the support when the time comes in audition technique etc. along with our many links to the Full time Vocational Colleges.
Most if not all our students leave with the following qualifications as the norm.
Advanced 1 Ballet RAD (passed with Merit or Distinction)
Advanced 2 Modern and Tap RAD (Distinctions)
DDE Modern Theatre (Awarded) this is the only mark available within the result criteria.
This enables our students to go onto the top colleges to no longer worry about still taking exams but to just spend 3 years of their course perfecting their art.
I hope that every child/student that walks through our doors will look back on their time with us and consider it to be one of the best parts of their lives. I want the Lodge to feel like a family a sense of belonging.
If you have read this and looked at our website and would like to come and meet me and view our classes please contact me further.
Lyndsey Taylor
I love working with the children at The Lodge, it is a place where children flourish and are really cared about. Each week Sarah-Jane and I discuss each child and their personal needs and progress. It is a joy to work with such lovely children."
Lyndsey Taylor
Lyndsey has trained with Sarah-Jane Bullock since age 11, when she joined the school (formally known as Beryl Jarvis School of Theatre Dance). Lyndsey has studied in RAD and ISTD Ballet and ISTD Modern. Lyndsey went on to qualify as a teacher under the guidance of Sarah-Jane and following an apprenticeship with the school, Lyndsey has become a member of the teaching staff at The Lodge.
Miss Lyndsey has now been a teacher at The Lodge for over 10 years.
Jane Sherwill
Jane qualified as a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dancing and subsequently spent five years teaching abroad in Spain and Malta. She has been teaching locally for over 30 years, the last 15 of which have been at The Lodge School of Dance.
With a wealth of experience across all levels, Jane teaches everyone from the youngest beginners to advanced senior students. She is passionate about her work at The Lodge and takes great joy in watching her students’ remarkable progress as they develop their skills and confidence.
Eloise Mena-Jones
I studied at Beryl Jarvis (now The Lodge School of Dance) from the age of 12; I was completely supported in my love for theatre and encouraged to push myself in every single class, without fail! The drive for professionalism and hard-work within the school is one of its greatest qualities.
Furthermore, it is the variety of training and discipline given at The Lodge that sets its pupils apart from the competition -which is what really counts in this industry- and the tuition I received with Sarah-Jane enabled me to gain scholarship entry to my desired college for further education; I was able to start my professional career as a performer with confidence.
I'm so grateful for the experiences I had whilst at Beryl Jarvis, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else."Eloise
Eloise has just graduated from Bird College with distinction; she was awarded the Doreen Bird Foundation Award for Further Development and the Acting Award for her year.
Since graduating, she has worked with Simeon Qsyea (JLS, DV8) on the dance film project 'Fallen', which was released over Christmas, and was involved in a workshop for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical; she has also successfully auditioned for Sol Dans Company.
At college she enjoyed playing Maggie Jones in 42nd Street, amongst other roles, and performed in a diverse range of dance routines; she also worked hard as a dance captain.
As a child Eloise was in the Original Cast of Billy Elliot the Musical in London, and also appeared on Strictly Dance Fever as part of the company.
Erin Birtwhistle
Erin Birtwhistle trained at The Lodge School of Theatre Dance up to the age of 17, where she also gained her DDI in Modern Theatre Dance. She then continued her vocational training at The Urdang Academy in London, obtaining a Diploma in Musical Theatre and Dance.
Since graduating, Erin has travelled the world as a Dancer and Ensemble Supervisor with AIDA Cruise Lines. In addition to performing and managing company shows, she has also created and choreographed a variety of productions for stage and events.
Emma Bingham
Emma began her dance training at the age of 8 with The Lodge School of Theatre Dance under the direction of Sarah-Jane Bullock. She then went on to vocational training at Ballet West in Scotland where she received a first class honours in Dance.
After graduating she was privileged to work as soloist dancer with EBB Junior Company in Spain and Kayzer Ballet company in Portugal. Since then she has been based in the UK as a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer. She has worked on productions with several companies including Constella OperaBallet, Dew Dance and The London Ballet Company.
Emma is grateful to be part of the staff team at The Lodge and pass on her passion for dance.
