Meet the Team

Holly Jeanne

Creative Director, Senior Practitioner, Head of Productions & safeguarding officer.

Holly studied musical theatre at the Mountview Academy of Performing arts in London alongside west end royalty such as Laura Pick, Bronte Barbe, Emma Kingston and Scott Paige.

Holly’s has performed professionally for over fifteen years and has supported the likes of Katherine Jenkins and sang alongside stars such as John Owen Jones and Jenna Russel.

Some of Holly’s performance credits include ‘Sarah Brown’ Guys And Dolls, ‘Jane’ Girlfriends, ‘Juliet’ Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Women, ‘Ophelia’ William Shakespeare’s King Lear, ‘Brigitta’ The Sound of Music, ‘Fantine’ Les Miserables, ‘Sarah’ How not to disappear completely FILM - Beyond Mirrors productions, ‘Pixie’ Welcome to the Vox Box, Vox Productions, ‘Wall’ and ‘Cobweb’ A Midsummer nights dream, AXIS Arts productions, ‘Girl’ Heretic FILM, Photon Pictures,

As well as productions Holly is also an experienced event singer having performed in Jazz clubs and bars, at weddings and festivals and as a support artist.

A selection of Holly’s production credits include VAULT festival London, the Brick Lane theatre festival and Pride London as well as various other events and attractions.

Holly has been teaching for over ten years and specialises in voice and singing as well as advanced acting and musical theatre performance.
Her students have a 100% pass rate with merit or distinction in ABRSM, Trinity and PAA exam grades.

“I’m passionate about bringing creative arts opportunities to my home county and I am excited to deliver our ambitions for Phoenix and our community of students and creatives - the future is now!”

Joe Edwards

Digital Arts Director, Senior Practitioner (Film & Digital Arts) & Media Productions coordinator.

Based in Wales and with 15 years' experience, Joey has a long history of creating digital content for a wide range of people, companies and services as well as teaching actively in schools and facilities around the country. Joey has experience developing projects for high profile clients including the BBC , Chester Zoo and The National Lottery. Through his collaborations with poet Evrah Rose, creating dramatic spoken word pieces for the BBC, as well as the BBC’s Children in Need his work has been viewed by over 14 million people and still counting!

In December 2020 Joey was announced as one of the top 35 young business and professional men in Wales for the rapid development of his Videography business. Joe has had a lifetime passion for documentary and cinema and over recent years has had the chance to combine these skills through the BBC Sesh platform with his productions gathering over 350,000 views.

Through his career, Joe has developed a wide range of skills covering audio, special effects, cinematography, virtual and augmented reality and drone piloting and he is very passionate and excited to bring these skills to the next generation of performers and film makers.

Kyli Ferguson

Senior Practitioner (Technical Acting), Student Wellbeing Coordinator, deputy head of safeguarding & finance officer.

With a specialism in naturalism and screen acting Kyli trained professionally under the world renowned acting coach ‘Brian Timoney’ as well as this Kyli is a qualified life coach as well as a personal and professional development coach helping individuals reach their full potential.

Kyli has been a part of the performing arts circuit in the Midlands since a young age and her musical theatre credits include ‘Cosette’ in Les Miserables, ‘Bebe’ in A Chorus Line and ‘Narrator’ in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat as well as ensemble in Guys and Dolls, The Wizard of Oz and The Secret Garden. She has also performed at local County music festivals and charity events.

After taking some time out to start a family Kyli found her way back to performing three years ago when she began teaching applied theatre and acting as a subject leader. During this time she has written and directed short scripts for public performances, poems and monologues to develop and perform with students aged 6 to 18. She has also assisted with the development of choreography and movement for musical theatre and looks to expand her knowledge of the subject. Her passion for the arts is not limited to the stage and classroom, she is also a keen sketch artist and writer in her spare time, having written multiple short stories and is even a published poet!

Laura Penlington

Senior Dance Practitioner - Choreographer

Dance and working with young people have played a big part in Laura’s life which means she has a fantastic range of experience which she brings to the academy. She specialises in ballet, tap, modern, pointe, jazz and contemporary. Laura has a BA Hons in Dance from the Bath Spa University where she trained in choreography, contemporary technique, performance, improvisation, and digital skills.

Laura believes all children should have access to performing arts and works hard to instil her enthusiasm for dance in all the young people she teaches. Laura has experience working for diddi dance (ages 18 months – 4 years old) and as an outdoor activity instructor for PGL after graduating from university. This has led Laura to studying a PGCE in Secondary Dance more recently and taking up a position within a middle school as a humanities teacher. She has been working with other members of staff to implement more performing arts within the school.

Dance has such a powerful impact on a person’s mental, physical, and emotional health. Therefore, it is particularly important to Laura that all children should have the opportunity to experience dance and performing arts.

joel Smith

Improvisation, Characterisation and storytelling.

Joel leads our Immersive Arts module and brings the chaos, the creativity and the unexpected to the acting elements of academy.
Immersive arts encompasses improvisation, story telling, problem solving and world building with a dash of magic and a peppering of nerd.

Joel's routes are in Dungeons & Dragons and immersive gameplay and began his journey with the medium at university "back in the olden days"...
As a published author and regular writer for 'GeekOut South-West', workshop facilitator, events coordinator and professional host and streamer Joel brings his multi-skillset to the table quite literally and works closely with students to develop these skills over the course of our termly projects.

Joel is passionate about bringing diverse and creative thinking to the forefront of his sessions and enjoys working with students to push their boundaries, their imaginations and their preconceptions as to where the creative arts can take them both personally and professionally.

Joel is excited to be sharing skills honed over a long life in the hobby turned profession to young, aspiring creatives.

Zara Bowden

Academy Fitness & Licensed Zumba Dance instructor

With over 25 years experience in the dance industry, Zara brings a wide range of skills and knowledge into the studio. Having worked for some of the world's largest dance festivals and clubs Zara trained alongside some of the most uniquely skilled contemporary dance artists of their time.

After taking some time away to start a family, she took these skills and repurposed them, training in exercise to music, aqua aerobics, and strength based exercise programs.

Zara now holds specialist licenses in Zumba, Zumba Kids, FitSteps, The Jungle Body, Blockfit, and have worked alongside Master Trainers including Chico, Ian Waite, Natalie Lowe, Mark Foster, and the amazing Mr Motivator to name a few.

Zara prides herself on taking all this knowledge and pairing it with the positive mental attitude and body confidence promoted by all the licensed programs as well as adding her own style and flava to classes and sessions. All techniques and classes can be adapted and made suitable for all ages and abilities and work perfectly for students in both Main School and Phoenix Pro.