“Pourest thy full heart. In profuse strains
of unpremeditated art .“‘Ode to a Skylark’, Percy Shelley
OurHistory & BackgroundFrom the Ground UpEST. 2016
‘Skylark School of Dance’ was founded by Anna Zhavoronkova in 2016, from humble beginnings; initially run as a once weekly class with a handful of students at the Bromley Civic Centre, taught while Anna juggled her hectic teaching roles at two other schools and looking after a toddler.
Things moved on surprisingly quickly and the school grew at a dramatic pace to become a full-time venture. Within a few months of opening, Skylark School of Dance was established enough to join the Churchill Theatre’s Creative Learning department (offering fantastic development opportunities to students) and has now expanded to nine classes per week, across two sites, with a dedicated support team and growing every day.
These achievements wouldn’t be possible, were it not for our wonderful students, “the skylarks”, their supportive parents and our advocates in the community. We’re honoured that you place your faith in us and want to ensure that faith is rewarded by helping dancers achieve their potential.
ourVision
Our vision is to bring Ballet Education to Bromley, by introducing a new approach to teaching the art form. We fuse the rigour of the renowned Russian Vaganova system with the inclusive methods of the British Ballet Organisation. Offering classes from Primary through to Advanced level, our school seeks to bring the very best out of all its students, while enjoying their learning journey.
We believe that these high-expectations can only be met by having high teaching standards. Our principal Miss Anna, is a ballet master and former professional dancer, who has over 20 years of dance experience with extensive pedagogic training.
All of our teaching staff share a professional dance background, many have performed in the most demanding principal roles ballet has to offer. Our teachers all espouse the ethos of matching high technical standards with a modern educational approach… while still having fun of course! Skylark School of Dance staff are first-aid trained, insured and DBS cleared.
ourPrincipal
Anna Zhavoronkova
RT B.B.O, Affiliate A.R.B.T.A
Anna was born in Moscow and grew up in Vladimir, Russia. As far back as she could remember, little Annoushka was smitten with dance; known locally as the “precocious choreographer”, whose hobby was to rally together friends and family for impromptu dance routines and stage performances.
She started from an early age, commencing her dance training at Vladimir Choreography School, under Honoured Artist of Russian Federation – Sergei Baldin, learning classical dance, character dance and music. During her studies she performed as a soloist in numerous ballet performances in theatres across Russia.
OurTeam
Soonja Lee
RT B.B.O
Born in Korea and raised in Japan, Soonja started taking ballet classes from the age of 4. She moved to London when she was 16 and studied at the London Studio Centre.
Upon graduation Soonja joined Ballet Ireland’s Sleeping Beauty tour. Her acclaim grew quickly and she was snapped up by the Royal Scottish Ballet, where she was resident for 7 years.
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Sophie Boatwright
BA (Hons) Theatre Dance
Londoner Sophie Rose started dancing at a young age, gaining her RAD & ISTD dance credentials in Bromley. She continued to pursue her passion for dance by gaining a place at the prestigious London Studio Centre, where she successfully graduated with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Dance. She has performed in many London theatres, including The Peacock and New Wimbledon, credits included: ‘Unexpected Tales’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Her talents also extend to modelling and television work, highlights include ‘Black Label Campaign’ (Burberry); ‘Beats – by Beats by Dre’ (Apple) and ‘Schwarzkopf – Indola’ (UK tour).
Nobue Nagai Assistant Teacher
Born in Japan, Nobue trained at one of her homeland’s finest ballet schools – the Tani Momoko Ballet Studio. At 21, she moved to London to continue her dance education with the world-famous Rambert Ballet School, refining her expertise across ballet and contemporary dance…
Valentina SutoAssistant Teacher
Valentina was born in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. She started dancing at 4 years old at the ‘Prestige Sports and Dance Academy’, specialising in Ballroom and Latin American dance. In 2014 she graduated, with esteemed qualifications, from the ‘World Dance Sport Federation’.
She has participated in competitions worldwide, including: Austria, Italy, Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and her native Ukraine – gaining numerous prizes and awards.
Tatiana ZhiltsovaSchool Manager
Tatiana was born in Moscow, Russia and has lived in London for over 15 years. She holds a degree in Finance and a CPA qualification. Tatiana had a successful career in finance, but stopped working full-time after the birth of her second child.
Her true passion was always in the arts and, since joining the Skylark team as School Manager,