Information About Jess - Bloomsbury teacher -

(20 reviews)

Personal Description:

Best Actress (nomination) - The Stage Debut Awards 2017
MA Musical Theatre - Royal Academy of Music 2016
Diploma of Musical Theatre - RAM 2016
LRAM (Licentiate of RAM to teach) - RAM 2019
BA / MACantab Japanese - University of Cambridge 2014

I am a professional actor on stage and screen (Royal Lyceum Theatre, CBBC). I trained at the Royal Academy of Music (MA Musical Theatre, Distinction, DipRAM Diploma) after completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge (BA / MACantab Japanese, Double First Class). In September 2017, I was nominated for Best Actress at The Stage Debut Awards for my role as Alice in Anthony Neilson's Alice in Wonderland (2016).

I offer individual and group drama and self-confidence training for a variety of students: from LAMDA exams to public speaking and presentation skills for business and interviews, drama school entrance training and self-confidence, and English-through-drama workshops. I now offer exclusively online teaching, having developed a strong, engaging lesson style over the past few unusual years. Remote drama training has proved to be just as effective and engaging as in-person sessions. My LAMDA students have taken Zoom and in-person exams, and all have received a distinction grade.

I hold an LRAM Teaching Qualification (specialist subjects: Theatre / Musical Theatre / Singing) from the Royal Academy of Music. I have 10 years of experience working as a private tutor and nearly two decades' experience working with young children in childcare and academic settings.

Teaching Experience:

I have 10 years' experience working as an academic tutor, 19 years' experience working with young children, and 8 years' experience working as a drama coach and self-confidence course leader. I have worked with individuals and large groups in the UK, Japan and France with children and adults aged 2-50s. I have always been an active performer, and the confidence and communication skills that this has afforded me heavily influence my approach to tutoring.

I grew up in a house that doubled as a childcare centre, playing with, caring for and providing homework support for children aged just a few months-12 years old. I began tutoring professionally during my year abroad in Japan, working through several agencies as well as taking on private students. During my final year at the University of Cambridge, I led a drama tour of Japan, both performing in a Shakespeare production and leading English-and-Self-Confidence-Through-Drama workshops for Japanese students.

After I graduated from my BA, I began taking on more private students in the UK, starting with Japanese and EFL and moving onto drama and Musical Theatre after training at the Royal Academy of Music. As part of my MA degree, I studied for an LRAM teaching qualification, specialising in Theatre, Singing and Vocal Production. I am trained to use an Estill style of singing and voice work, relying on the science of vocal production to inform my lessons.

Other elements of my MA covered accent work and physical theatre. For part of my final project, I developed a teachable guide to self-confidence through non-verbal communication methods. This now deeply informs the way I tutor, and provides part of the basis of the self-confidence workshops I lead for groups and individuals.

I am resident drama coach for the Keio-Downing Japanese summer school that runs each year at Downing College, Cambridge, providing self-confidence and drama courses for the students. I also have experience leading drama courses for early years students from Spain, Japan and the UK.

I offer singing, Musical Theatre, elocution, presentation skills / public speaking and LAMDA lessons for students of all ages and backgrounds.

Teaching Approach:

My sessions are now exclusively online. I offer training for LAMDA exams (Acting / Speaking Verse and Prose), as well as less structured drama and voice classes for students looking to have fun and improve their general self-confidence and presentation skills. I also provide targeted elocution and presentation skills sessions.

It has become more important than ever for younger and older learners to engage confidently with the world around them, both remotely and in-person. The past few years have pushed me, as a tutor, to develop a strong set of engaging, effective lesson materials that work online. I am pleased to say that the past years have been highly successful for my students, and each individual has continued to thrive and grow using online platforms to learn.

I am here to help my students unlock their unique skills and performance style. In both language learning and Drama, I believe that confidence is key. I hope to help my students never hold back in fear of making a mistake - taking part and offering up an opinion is always a valuable response, whatever form that takes.

I am naturally talkative and confident, but having worked with a wide variety of students, I know that some students feel intimidated by a tutor who pushes them to overly express themselves. My LRAM training emphasised the importance of letting students take the lead - through listening carefully to their motivations, ideas and goals, I can shape sessions that feel fulfilling to them, rather than sticking to a one-size-fits-all syllabus.