Meet our team

Sophie Court
PRINCIPLE

Sophie started dancing at the age of 3 years old for a short time as a ballet tot. Then at a later age of 9 years old, discovered a passion for dance that is now her career. Sophie trained full-time at ‘The Centre Performing Arts College’ in London on a Teaching and Performance course graduating after three years with a Diploma in Theatre Performance and Associates in ISTD Tap & Modern.

Since teaching, she has also become a member of the I.D.T.A in Ballet, Tap & Modern. After teaching for over 10 years for various local Dance, Theatre, Primary, and Secondary schools, Sophie had the opportunity to start Tippy Toes the pre-school Ballet Classes.

One year on Sophie saw a great opportunity to start the sister part of the school Reactive Dance based in Faversham focusing on older children’s classes in Ballet, Tap, Modern & Street. Sophie has experience in Performing in a number of professional events including Millennium Dome, Best Parties Ever, JCB Launch, London Broncos Cheerleader, ITV – The Mint, Café de Paris, Vagina Monologues.

Naomi Ash
MINI MUSICAL THEATRE, WORKSHOPS & COVER

Naomi graduated from Guildford School of Acting’s Musical Theatre degree course in August 2013. Before and during training Naomi had the opportunity to perform in many different styles of show, including playing lead roles in productions for Phoenix Performing Arts (Canterbury). These included Ariel in ‘Footloose’, Maria in ‘West Side Story’, and Carmen in ‘Fame’. Since graduating, Naomi has danced in ‘The Get Happy Show’ in Margate and played Christine in a night of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ in Guildford, as well as organising and performing in a number of charity concerts.

Naomi qualified as a dance teacher under the IDTA in March 2010 at age 19 but has been teaching regularly since the age of 16 for many different dance and stage schools. After graduating from GSA, Naomi decided to focus on teaching and performing locally, whilst also looking after her son and daughter. She has been teaching singing for 15 years and now has her own singing school called Naomi Ash Voice Studios. She also runs Faversham Musical Theatre Choir. Naomi has been teaching for MSDA since 2014, starting the Musical Theatre classes as well as teaching most of the Tippy Toes classes at various times too.

Emily Hale
ACRO, STREET, PBT, & ADULT TAP

Emily trained as a professional dancer at Performers College in Essex. She has a Trinity diploma in dance theatre and is a qualified ISTD dance teacher in DDE Ballet, Tap and Modern, and qualified in Acrobatic Arts Module 1, Ariel silks, hoop, trapeze and rope, pre-school Acro, Progressive Ballet Technique, and children’s yoga. Emily has taught many styles of dance ranging from Irish, contemporary, lyrical, and musical theatre to all ages of children.  

Emily loves interacting with children, and dancing and party games are what she loves doing, so she becomes one of them, enjoying the fun as much as the children do. Emily is known as “Emily Cheese” by the children she has met because she is always happy and smiling.

She loves being on stage performing and entertaining. She has worked at Haven Holiday Park as a Fun Star dancer, been on tour with Ben – Michael Jackson Tribute around the UK and abroad, and been in the film Cuban Fury.

Alice Brown
PRESCHOOL TIPP TOES, BALLET, TAP, MUSICAL THEATRE, NURSERY & WORKSHOPS

Alice’s love for dance and theatre began at the age of three and continued throughout her childhood. She attended a wide range of classes, completed examinations, and performed regularly. At 18, Alice began full-time training at The Centre Performing Arts College, studying musical theatre and teaching, while also teaching dance classes on Saturdays.

Upon gaining her full teaching qualifications with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and certification in Acrobatic Arts, Alice went on to teach a variety of genres, including ballet, tap, modern, jazz, street, contemporary, acro, musical theatre, pre-school dance, and Irish dance. She also has a passion for singing and works as an associate teacher at Naomi Ash Voice Studios.

In addition to her teaching experience, Alice has worked as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) in an early years setting. She has undertaken training in autism awareness, inclusive practice, and childhood ACEs, and also holds a Mental Health First Aid certificate.

Courtney Jones
PRESCHOOL TIPP TOES, NURSERY, WORKSHOPS & COVER

Courtney’s passion for dance came at the age of five. She has worked in many styles, taking a host of exams, and competing in England winning many titles.

At 18, Courtney auditioned for a production, where she found her love for the stage and gained a plethora of experience in acting, singing, and musical theatre. After a year of performing, she was asked to choreograph a production where she was spotted as having quite a talent for it.

Courtney is Principal of Techniques Dance & Performing Arts, Herne Bay, freelances at Stagecoach, and covers when needed at LA Dance. She also has a Sports Science Degree and has owned her own Personal Training business for ten years. 

Courtney is delighted to be welcomed as part of the Team and can’t wait to share her passion with the MSDA Family! 

Luicia Dillow

HERNE CLASSES, AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS, BALLET, TAP, STREET, COMPETITION CLASSES, WORKSHOPS & COVER

Luicia started dancing at the age of 7 at Reactive Dance (now MSDA) originally taking Street classes but quickly joining Tap and then Ballet too. She continued to develop with each new style that became available as the school expanded, and took many exams in all genres. Following her Street exam in 2022 she was nominated to compete at the annual IDTA Street Scholarship event and reached the final 15 out of 6000 pupils. 

At the age of 11, Luicia was given the chance to assist Miss Sophie and this is where her passion for teaching began and developed. This led her to commence her studies on a BA (Hons) Dance Education degree at Canterbury Christchurch University in 2023, which she is enjoying and is set to graduate in 2026. Alongside this Luicia studied for her Level 4 Diploma in Dance Teaching, which she passed in March 2024, gaining distinctions in all units. She then gained her First Aid Qualification in April of 2024. Recently, Luicia completed her Complete SEND Diploma with New Skills Academy.

Luicia currently teaches at both our Herne and Faversham sites, including our 4 competition teams. Outside of MSDA Luicia has danced in productions by Nova Grace Productions, The Arden Theatre, Claire Snoad Productions, Lara Hogbin, and recently a music video for Roleplay Music.