The Heights Ballet & Theatre School
About Us
Our Location
Our main classes take place at Hallam Community Hall, Hallam Grange Crescent, Sheffield, S10 4BD.
School pick up is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for those who attend Hallam Primary School.
The Heights Ballet and Theatre School has been established in Sheffield for over twenty years, providing excellent dance tuition in many disciplines – Ballet, Tap, Modern Theatre, Musical Theatre, Contemporary, Commercial, and Acrobatic Dance.
Where it began
Our Studios
Our studios are well equipped with mirrors, ballet barres, stereos, and all kinds of dance equipment and props!
Children's University
The Heights is a validated Learning Destination for the Children's University.
Credits will be awarded for each hour of learning achieved by pupils who have registered with the scheme. This includes lessons, rehearsals, shows and even reviews of performances by pupils who have watched a Heights Showcase and completed a review sheet.
To register your child to earn Children's University hours, please email heights4danceteachers@yahoo.com with a photo of the signed inside page of their Passport to Learning.
Get to know us
Principal
Dance Teacher: Ballet, Modern Theatre and Tap
Certified PBT Teacher
Miss Caroline Ambery AISTD (CB)
Miss Ambery attended The Northern Ballet Lower School in Manchester. Whilst there she performed with The English National Ballet and The Manchester City Ballet Companies. She then began full time training at Kate Simmons Dance Limited on the Classical course. During her training she studied Ballet, Tap, Modern, Flamenco, Jazz, Contemporary and Musical Theatre. Whilst training she toured with the school’s ‘Allegro Dance’ company and performed in the school’s annual productions. After gained all the Advanced 2 examinations and her teaching certificate in Classical Ballet she accepted a teaching post at The Derby Academy, where she taught on the professional performer’s course, alongside freelance teaching. Miss Ambery is a member of the ISTD and became owner of The Heights Ballet & Theatre School in 2002. Miss Ambery also delivers ballet classes at Sheffield High School for Girls. In 2020, Miss Ambery qualified to teach Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and is excited to see the effect this will have in her ballet classes.
Our Team
Miss Michelle Hathway
Dance Teacher: Modern Theatre, Tap, Musical Theatre​ and Commercial
Miss Hathway trained at Staples School of Dance and Drama in Nottinghamshire, until the age of 18 where she worked as a student teacher. She gained a BA(Hons) degree in Dance and Performing Arts at Middlesex University and regularly attended Pineapple Dance Studios in London.
She went on to perform around the UK and Europe in various show teams and productions as a singer, dancer and choreographer for companies including Bourne Leisure, One Stop Entertainment and Jango Entertainment.
Miss Hathway then completed her DDI and DDE teaching qualifications through the ISTD in ballet, tap and modern theatre. She began teaching freelance around Gloucestershire and now enjoys teaching Modern, Tap and Commercial at The Heights Ballet and Theatre School. She teachers classes from tot to adult, looking after our very littlest dancers in Dance With Me and leading our adult Tap group. She also heads the running of HATS, our Musical Theatre class, putting together singing, acting, and dancing arrangements for annual shows.
Miss Joanna Smith
Dance Teacher: Ballet, Tap, Modern Theatre & Contemporary. Certified PBT Teacher
Miss Smith attended The Heights as a pupil from 2002-2016, training in Ballet, Tap, Modern, and Contemporary. From age 11, she began helping out in younger children's lessons which sparked a passion for teaching. She completed her DDE qualifications at Ellite Studios in Modern Theatre and Tap and is continuing her teaching career at The Heights. In Spring 2020 she certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. Miss Smith has a passion for dance medicine CPD and is studying with the Philip Cutts School of Dance & Sports Medicine to become a Dance Medicine specialist allowing her to offer anatomy informed teaching and technique. In 2023 she started a Dance Education degree with the Royal Academy of Dance expanding her knowledge of different teaching pedagogies, dance analysis, and dance history! Miss Smith teaches Modern Theatre, Tap, and Contemporary at The Heights and works behind the scenes too, managing the school's social media, website, and admin.
Miss Kirsty Jeeves
Dance Teacher: Acro
Miss Jeeves trained at Dore School of Performance Arts, studying Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Freestyle and Gymnastic Dance, IDTA syllabus. During her time there, Miss Jeeves had the opportunity to tour with their show team, performing on stages such as Her Majesty’s Theatre in London and the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Miss Jeeves continued her career dancing in The Sheffield City Hall Pantomime with the Manor Operatic Society for three years, also having the chance to dance at the Motorpoint Arena Sheffield.
At the age of 19, Miss Jeeves started auditioning for dance contracts abroad and was recruited to dance in Cyprus, Corfu, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and many more, for companies such as Presumed Innocent Show, Jango Entertainment and Cirque, gaining the ability to develop circus skills including tumbling, hoops, silks, fire dancing and breathing, and stilts. Miss Jeeves is qualified to teach Zumba, Bokwa, Exercise to music and Acrobatic/Gymnastic Dance.
Miss Jeeves joined The Heights in 2012 and is now qualified in Acro and provides all the Acro classes at The Heights which have proved very popular.
Pete Hurst
Resident Pianist
Pete was born in Sheffield and studied Music at Exeter University. He began his career as a freelance pianist and teacher in London before moving to Devon in 1997 and then returning to his home town in 2012. Pete has worked at the Sheffield School of Music, as a piano teacher at High Storrs School, and as an accompanying pianist in in music exams around Sheffield. Pete started playing for exams at The Heights in 2014 and came in regularly for exam sessions ever since. In 2019, Pete became our resident pianist at The Heights Ballet and Theatre School, bringing a new lease of life to ballet lessons here at the The Heights. We are proud to be the first school in Sheffield to have a full time pianist.
Miss Izzy Murray
Student Dance Teacher: Modern Theatre, Tap, Contemporary & Commercial
Miss Murray joined The Heights aged 2 1/2 and has danced with us ever since, taking classes in Ballet, Modern, Tap, Commercial, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre. She takes part in all our annual productions and has been a big hit with our younger pupils when she started as a helper in lower school classes. She has started her DDE teacher training following the footsteps of Miss Hathway and Miss Smith by travelling to Ellite College in Wakefield each Sunday to work on her qualifications while gaining more and more teaching experience at The Heights. She has been enjoying sharing her natural affinity for choreography with the younger Contemporary and Commercial classes and we look forward to seeing what else she can do!
Meet our Student Helpers!
This wonderful little team give up their spare time to help us in younger classes encouraging and guiding the younger students. Our little ones love their big girl helpers! These girls also support us with keeping on top of all the little day to day studio jobs and gain a valuable insight into the role of a dance teacher.
Guest Teachers
Miss Alix Sutch
Guest Dance Teacher: Ballet, Modern Theatre, Tap & Spanish
Miss Sutch trained at Kate Simmons Dance Limited, studying ballet, tap, modern, flamenco, jazz, contemporary and musical theatre. She performed in all the school's annual shows and toured with the school's company 'Allegrodance'. Before leaving the college, Miss Sutch passed up to her Advanced 2 in ballet, tap and modern theatre, as well as her teaching qualifications in all three genres. Miss Sutch as continued her professional development by gaining her licenciate tap and cecchetti ballet exams, and has recently passed her modern theatre licenciate exam. Miss Sutch has a passion for flamenco, having been to many courses held by the Spanish dance society in the UK and Spain. Miss Sutch is a member of the I.S.T.D and joined The Heights Ballet & Theatre School in 2011. She left the school in 2018 to work closer to home, but is still a regular face at school events and shows.