Meet the team

Lauren is the founder and principal of Swagga Dance Academy which opened in 2012. She found her passion for dance at the age of 4 years old initially training in ballet and soon moving on to a variety of styles which led to her completing graded examinations and competing at championship levels gaining numerous 1st place titles. 

Lauren spent time working professionally as a dancer, singer and actress and in this time her passion for dance grew and also her love of teaching. This led to undertaking her teaching qualifications and gaining distinctions in each of them.  She is a teacher of Freestyle and Street Dance with the International Dance Teachers Association, a contemporary dance teacher with ID Dance and a certified Acrobatic Arts instructor. She continues her own training therefore expanding opportunities for her students. Lauren also found a passion for adult fitness particularly dance related and is a Zumba instructor, Zumba Kids instructor, Booiaka Instructor and Insanity instructor. Lauren continues to work as a specialist nurse in the NHS.

BA (Hons) Dance Education. RAD CBTS. RAD RTS. Rambert certified.
Jessica started her training at the age of 3 studying many genres of dance. At the age of eleven she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Legat School of Dance, and then later at the age of sixteen received a full scholarship to train at The Urdang Academy, London, where she worked with some of the country’s top choreographers.

She then developed an interest in teaching and enrolled on the Royal Academy of Dance’s Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies course, which she successfully completed in 2015. To further enhance her studies Jessica enrolled for a degree in Dance Education at Canterbury Christ Church University gaining a first class honours in 2018.

Finally Jessica was selected to study under the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary for their new pilot scheme and is now a fully certified Rambert teacher.

Jenny started dancing at the age of 4 in multiple different styles taking exams and competing numerous times. At 16 she was accepted into the prestigious Performers College, Essex and trained there for 4 years graduating in 2020 with a Trinity College Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance. During this time she was taught by industry professionals and was fortunate to be able to perform in events across the country. After graduating she found her passion for teaching and is now teaching at multiple schools across Kent where she helps prepare children for competitions, exams and shows. Jenny absolutely loves teaching at Swagga Dance Academy.

Ellena began dancing at the age of 4, training in Ballet, Tap, Contemporary and Jazz. Ellena now specialises in Street Dance and continues to compete across the UK, regularly taking home 1st place trophies. Ellena is proud to be one of the first students to join Swagga Dance Academy. 

Ellena’s main passion is Musical Theatre. Ellena has been training in MT since the age of 6, performing in numerous lead roles. She recently graduated from the University of Southampton with a BA(hons) in Music, in which she was taught by leading industry professionals and perfected her vocal performance for both Pop (Grade 8 ) and MT. Ellena has learnt copious amounts of musical knowledge which she has been passing on to aspiring musical theatre performers across the world. She is excited to continue teaching at the dance school that she holds so close to her heart, whilst she begins her professional career in the industry.