About Us

I have a wealth of life skills experience and particularly enjoy helping young people develop and grow into confident young adults. I am a loving Grandmother and safeguarding children is my top priority. 

I have previously owned a B&B in Weymouth and a rare classic car hire company in the New Forest for several years. I also worked in the NHS Estate Department supporting the Recreational Department and Occupational Health Department for adults with learning difficulties. 

I started my photographic career over 25 years ago and have worked at two busy high street studios. I specialise in actors and corporate headshots working from my home studio in Burridge, Southampton. 

I am married with two lovely children and in my spare time my hobbies include running and reading.

I am head of film productions here at Shine as well as videographer and editor. I’ve had the pleasure of turning students scripts into wonderful films since 2018. Check our YouTube channel for all the past and present productions!

In my day job I am a freelance Audio Visual technician with over nearly 40 years experience in all things technical. I have a passion for art, photography and videography, especially film creation and special effects.

Last but not least I am a proud dad to 4 children, one of which is a member of Shine.

I am 19 years old and a teacher at Shine. I knew from a very early age that acting, performing and music would be the path I would follow. I am now assisting my mum, June at Shine Performing Arts. I relay all my experiences I’ve learned in the Performing Arts industry to young, aspiring actors in the classes. I am very passionate about helping younger children improve their confidence and to realise their potential in performing, script and song writing, filming and indeed any other discipline associated with the industry.

I have achieved a level 3 BTEC qualification in POPULAR MUSIC and a Foundation BTEC qualification in Performing Arts with a distinction. I am in my first year of my degree at University which covers all aspects of performing and production, whilst pursuing my acting career with SPA Agency.

I have achieved a few acting credits to my name including Downton Abbey when I was younger, The World’s Most Evil Killers and appearing as a leading role in a professional theatre production.  

My love for performing started with dance. I trained with Emjay Dance Academy in Southampton and went on to win competitions around the country including at Sadlers Wells in London. I achieved a BA Honours Degree in Performing Arts and after university successfully auditioned to work with Capital Radio Hampshire’s on-air team- broadcasting live from local events and reporting on travel news in the area.

After a varied career in radio I then decided to train to teach. I successfully completed my GTP teaching qualification in 2010 and since then, I have worked in the local secondary schools as a Drama and English Teacher. Currently I am sharing my skills with a younger audience at a local infant school. Between 2013 and 2018 I also ran ‘Disco Duck’ classes locally for Pre-school aged children with their parents/carers. I am very experienced and have taught the LAMDA syllabus to both children and adults alongside working on many live performances as a director or as a choreographer. 

I am a fully trained Paediatric first aider with experience of working with children with Special educational needs and disabilities of a physical and emotional nature. Safeguarding is an extremely important responsibility, so I am proud to say years of experience in this area to support children during classes.  

I am an actor, director and acting teacher, I live and work in Southampton.

I graduated from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2016 with a Masters degree in Actor Training and Coaching with 16 years of experience working as an acting teacher and director of young people.

Alongside teaching, I work with a local theatre company, The Fuse Collective, performing site-specific theatre in and around Hampshire. I am also the founder and artistic director of new theatre company, Brazenhouse Theatre “

@lets_get_brazen.” I am excited to share that I recently completed an artist-in-residence at MAST Mayflower Studios, researching and developing a contemporary LGBTQI+ retelling of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’.

I have been making short films since I was very young, I began by filming toys and using them as actors but gradually more and more people got involved.

Friends became actors and my equipment improved. Throughout school I would constantly make short films while pursuing education.

After school I went to college to work more specifically in media production. This made me gain more experiences and contacts as well as industry knowledge.

I have had award winning short films and have been invited to an international film festival in Dubai. I am continuing my passion through constant content creation.

I am excited to join Shine as a Cameraman, Editor and as an Assistant Teacher.

I am a credited classical actor, voice actor and screen actor. I trained at London academy of music and dramatic arts in classical theatre and at TVI actors studio in Los Angles. After a 20 year professional career I am now the head of Performing Arts at City College Southampton and trains his students to a professional standard and has helped many students over the past 15 years gain entry to drama school and conservatoire.

I am a fully qualified fight director and stunt coordinator, I trained at the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat. I have worked with many prestigious companies, training professionals in fight choreography. I have also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Tour De Force as well as the BBC and many independent film companies.

Previously I have owned my own physical theatre company where I toured for many years around the UK. My focus now is on training and teaching before heading back into industry later in life.

James Michael Cooke B.A. Born in Bitterne Park Southampton, went to Bitterne Park School, later trained at Southampton City College and Graduate from the University of Winchester. James has done studies in stage and screen combat two years with his time at Southampton City College and attended courses at British Academy of Dramatic Combat.

James has sixteen years under his belt within the performing arts industry. James is an actor and fight director and is currently training as a performing arts teacher. James has been in multiple student projects, stage productions and TV Drama Documentaries.

James has taught at Richard Taunton six form college and taught other students in their projects with his time at the University of Winchester. James is diverse in different practitioners who have contributed to the performing arts community. James has also done circus skills with fire such fire breathing, body burning, fire licking and fire eating. James is also writing a book on martial arts and stage and screen combat called Fencing: A metaphor for life.

I’ve been going to Shine for about a year, practising my drama and performing talent. I am currently looking to get into a vocational Drama and Performing Arts course at Brockenhurst College and I feel like being able to interact and help others on the their progress can benefit my own.

Dance has been the biggest part of my life since aged four and from that I developed a real passion for performing. I trained at Winchester University, graduating with a First Class BA (hons) degree in Dance. I have studying a variety of genres over the years, such as, Musical Theatre, Tap, Ballet and Jazz. Throughout my time I have performed with companies including the English Youth Ballet and Avant Garde Dance. 

Being in the industry has taught me how unique every individual is and the importance of self-love and inner belief, qualities I cannot wait to pass on the a new generation of performers.

Furthermore, I have a great love for the Media industry having studied it all the way to A-level which has fuelled my interest in choreographing both dance and acting for the screen.

My passion for the arts is unmatched and I cannot wait to embark on my Shine journey! 

Daisy has been involved in performing arts since a very young age. She attended group drama and dance classes throughout her early years later gaining the experience and confidence to audition for more prominent roles in bigger amateur theatre productions. With a continued interest to learn new drama techniques she is excited to share her experiences with her peers as she builds a career in acting.

As a recent graduate of Musical Theatre, Ben is on-fire for practising and teaching the many aspects of theatre. Ben has a passion for bringing in-depth character into songs and dances to create a show that emotionally connects to an audience.

Enthusiastic, high-energy lessons help draw each individual child out of their shell to interact with the judgement-free, playful environment that children work best in! Ben firmly believes that people will push themselves much more when they’re having fun and don’t feel afraid to fail. His lessons are all about getting better, and having a fantastic time doing it.

Charly has been performing her entire life and has a background in both theatre and dance, with a degree in Drama and the Performing Arts.

Since 2017, she has been involved with a number of companies as a writer, actor, and director producing a variety of events including stage plays and immersive theatre performances.

For the past couple of years, Charly has been building up The Garret Theatre Company, and performing her work in some beautiful locations across the south coast- mainly presenting classic literature adaptations, Shakespeare plays, and original pieces.

Her main focus in theatre is in the art of storytelling, and in creating worlds for audiences to get lost in.

Charly believes that having a strong foundation in stagecraft and traditional theatre will help young actors improve their performance, and that understanding every aspect of putting together a production will give them the tools they need to create their own work for themselves in the future.