Huge congratulations to talented young local vocalist who took centre stage for Walking in the Air last evening. 11-year-old pupil Luna Zoeller-Hare performed in a magical festive treat as Carrot Productions brought its acclaimed Christmas concert to York Barbican.
Luna studies Musical theatre, dance , singing, drama, TV and screen acting at KH and is a pupil of Miss Nicky and her Young Crescendos.
Some of you will fondly remember the Zoeller sisters Lara, Carly and Keely as Lara is Luna’s mum, who must be so proud. Miss Nicky went along with Luna’s family to experience the magical event.
Musicians from renowned ensembles including the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Manchester Camerata performed ensuring a world-class musical experience.
Congratulations Luna from all at KH. Photo from Christmas 2023.
Happy New Year- Your KH decorations are down and safely stored for another year.
Thank you to St. Clements festival for inviting us to have our own tree, thanks to everyone for your beautifully designed decorations.
These amazing evergreen trees will now go off to feed local hungry goats. See you all week beginning 5th January.
January 1989 to January 2026 - Join us in celebrating 37 years of Kirkham Henry.
This month, Kirkham Henry proudly celebrates 37 years of outstanding achievement, and what an extraordinary journey it has been.
For nearly four decades, KH has been shaping futures, inspiring confidence, and setting standards across the industry. With hundreds of pupils trained and successfully entering the profession, the impact of Kirkham Henry reaches far beyond the classroom. Even more impressive are the hundreds more thriving in fantastic careers, carrying the KH ethos with them wherever they go.
That ethos — built on excellence, professionalism, creativity, and care — has become a hallmark of Kirkham Henry’s success. It’s not just about skills learned, but about values instilled, confidence built, and opportunities created. Generations of students have benefited from the passion, dedication, and expertise of the KH team.
Reaching 37 years is a remarkable milestone and a true testament to the vision, hard work, and commitment of everyone involved — past and present.
Congratulations to the entire Kirkham Henry family on this incredible achievement. Here’s to celebrating the legacy you’ve built and looking ahead to many more years of success, inspiration, and industry leadership.
Miss Angela here - On my 55 years Dance teaching anniversary, I look back over the years and words still feel inadequate to express the depth of my gratitude. This journey has never been mine alone. It has been shaped, supported, and sustained by the many people who believed in me and walked beside me along the way.
To my colleagues, who trusted me and stood by me—especially when I dared to push boundaries and introduce new ideas to keep KH moving forward—your faith gave me courage when I needed it most.
To my pupils, past and present, you have been my constant inspiration.
You taught me that growth comes from staying open, curious, and willing to evolve. You encouraged me not to dig my heels in, but to keep learning, questioning, and embracing change. Even recently, training to become an Affiliate Teacher of the Royal Ballet School felt like a continuation of that shared journey of growth you inspired in me.
Each of you has enriched my life beyond measure. During the deeply challenging years of 2019 and 2020, your support, kindness, and belief carried me through moments when teaching—and life—felt especially hard. You gave me purpose, strength, and motivation when I needed it most.
Thank you for the trust, the inspiration, and the unwavering support. I truly cannot thank you enough, and I will carry this gratitude with me always.
Here I am with some of my very first pupils.
YES I did used to wear a black nylon leotard to teach in 😱💖
Julie’s journey with KH and Miss Angela is one that spans generations. (originally Kirkham School of Dancing). For over 50 years, she has laced up her tap shoes and stepped into adult classes, week after week, with the same love for rhythm and movement that first brought her through the door.
Still tapping every Monday, Julie is a wonderful reminder that dance has no age limit. Today, her story has come full circle as she now brings along her granddaughter, sharing not just steps and sounds, but a lifelong passion for dance.
From one generation to the next, Julie’s taps echo the heart of KH – community, continuity, and the joy of dancing together. 👯♀️✨
Wishing former pupil Hannah a break a leg as she sails into the international tour of The Last ship opening in Amsterdam tonight.
We last saw Hannah in the role of Mary Magdalene in the 50th Anniversary tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (UK Tour);
2026 WORLD TOUR
AMSTERDAM, PARIS, BRISBANE, NEW YORK.
Acclaimed musical THE LAST SHIP, written, composed and starring international music icon Sting.
Here’s a fabulous update from former Pupil Dom Weatherill. We’re so proud of you Dom.
Hello everyone at Kirkham Henry.
Most recently, I played the Conductor in a musical adaptation of The Polar Express over the Christmas period at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. It was a great job to finish the year on, and a chance to return to musical theatre — something I spent a lot of time doing during my teenage years at Kirkham Henry and haven’t really had the chance to make the most of in my career, until now.
In recent years, I’ve been working across television, film, and theatre. Screen credits include Boat Story (BBC One/Amazon Freevee), Doctors (BBC One), Star Wars: Andor (Disney+), and Meat Raffle, now available to watch on Channel 4. Alongside this, I’ve continued to work on stage in a range of productions, from contemporary theatre to classical roles.
It’s slightly surreal to realise I’ve now been living and working in London for 10 years, since leaving Kirkham Henry to train at Drama Centre London. I’m very grateful for the grounding I received there — and for the lifelong friendships made.
Tickets are now on sale for The Three cornered Hat. -
Bring the whole family along for a fun, lively ballet performed by our talented youth Ballet in collaboration with York Youth Orchestra. The Three-Cornered Hat is full of humour, colourful characters, and energetic dancing that’s perfect for all ages.
Short Synopsis:
In a sunny Spanish village, a clever miller and his wife outsmart a pompous official with a very memorable hat. His plans go hilariously wrong, leading to mix-ups, mischief, and a joyful ending.
A playful, easy-to-enjoy ballet that promises smiles for everyone!
We at KH would like to congratulate Hattie and Bel for their first principal role in MNMT pantomime Aladdin. From first appearing as babes ( junior dancers) and making their way through the ranks, to play the roles of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, it’s so inspirational for our younger pupils to feel they too can do this with hard work and dedication. Well done to all Cast, crew and Creatives. 👏
Now it’s time for everyone to come down to earth after having a fabulous time in MNMT panto. We’d like to say thank you to MNMT for awarding our Junior dancers the rising stars award at the after show presentations.
“ 14 of ourJunior dancers performing in MNMT pantomime, were awarded ‘Young rising star’ trophy. This is usually awarded to an individual but the cast and committee were so impressed and adored watching all their smiley faces that they voted to give the whole team the award. It was so lovely to see how proud they all were of their achievement , as are we. Well done Team Diamonds and Team Emeralds! Fabulous.” Miss Kyla.
Sophie Kemp was awarded The Fred Bower trophy for outstanding service or contribution to the society. Sophie has been Dance Captain for 4 Years supporting Miss Ali and performing so beautifully since a 6 year old junior. Huge congratulations everyone.
After news of our dancers winning awards at the end of MNMT pantomime , we now announce with Pride that Evie-Mae Dale won the Ena Smith trophy for hard work and contribution to panto over the years, it was mentioned Evie-Mae is a pleasure to work with due to her kind and bubbly nature and that she throws herself into any role , always giving 100% and she will be missed in MNMT.
Huge congratulations Evie-Mae for all the years working your way through the ranks, starting off as a little dancer, you have been an inspiration to many. May we take this opportunity to wish you all the very best as you move on to Theatre college to pursue a career in the performing arts.
Yet more awards after MNMT pantomime, this time to Alexander Summers. In Alexander’s words when we asked to double check what the award was for …
“I can’t remember exactly what the award was for, because at the time I was just so surprised that I was actually receiving one. I think it was mainly for my dedication and contribution to the panto. I attended nearly all the rehearsals and helped by reading in for absent cast members.”
Well Alexander, you did remarkably well and being prepared to simply read in for anyone who happened to be absent from rehearsal is an achievement in itself.
From that shy little boy who had no confidence to believe in himself, we applaud you Alexander , well done from all your KH teachers and a little panda !
From Miss Kyla’s spot at the front of the room, there’s nothing better than watching tiny dancers discover tap for the first time.
Their faces light up when they hear their shoes make music, and every shuffle feels like a small celebration.
They laugh through the tricky parts, grow braver with each step, and fill the studio with joy, noise, and pride.
Teaching tap at this age is really about nurturing confidence and delight—one happy tap-tap at a time.
What a power packed update from Hannah ( Miss Nicky’s daughter) on what she’s been up to recently.
Hi!
In the last couple semesters I’ve been super busy - with my course I’ve covered radio production & performance, screen acting, editing, directing and producing and now I’m doing presenting alongside another production module where I get trained on loads of new kit and software.
I’ve also been employed as a dancer and helped on projects as a singer, voice actor, camera-person and sound-person.
Within the university’s theatre society I’ve performed in group numbers and a duet for our summer variety show, been voted onto committee as secretary, managed, presented and performed in our Show in a Week (September) and Winter Showcase (December) and I’m working on the production team of Anything Goes (March) as choreographer whilst performing in it as an Angel.
Outside of university I’ve worked as an extra on BBC’s Black Ops, where you can find me in season 2, episode 5 on BBC iPlayer. I also had a day on the set of Dakota Blue Richard’s new film Each Coming Night starring herself and Evanna Lynch which was super helpful!
Hope you’re all having fun getting ready for showcase,
Hannah
Wow Hannah this is amazing, just how to you fit it all in. Well done from your KH teachers.
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