Solihull

Principal – Raj Bhambra

I am absolutely honoured to be the principal of PQA Solihull.

I started my ballet training at the age of 12 and had moved over to contemporary dance by the time I reached college. This is where it all really starts I got offered a position at the Riven dance company in Birmingham. I worked with Nivea on a product tour around the country during breast cancer research’s race for life campaign, a backing dancer for Boy George and many more productions around the UK.

At the age of nineteen, I was offered the position of Choreographer at Big Picture PR. The project I took on was choreographer for the support act of reggae artist Sean Paul the show culminated into the pre show party for the MTV Europe music awards.

At the age of 21 I met the managing director of Prism Music Group (signed to Sony BMG) she offered me the role of Artistic Development manager/choreographer and put me into a team to work on a rebranding project. The artists/group that was assigned to me were the 1950,s motown act The Drifters. Not the ones you see in Spain and not the guys on the cruise ship theses were the original and official group who live and worked in the USA.

After 7 years, 500 shows all over the world, a life time of experience, gaining a record deal for the group as a team and the position of producer under my belt I finally decided to go out on my own and produce my own shows.

I was then offered the opportunity I could not turn down the principal of PQA Solihull.

In between all the tours and performances I have always taught for youth theatre and dance education companies as a tutor and choreographer. I love teaching children and young adults to be able to pass on my knowledge and experience gave me such a feeling of fulfilment. To watch their development under my tutelage inspired me as much as it did them.

Me and my team will endeavour to make our students leave PQA with a confidence to be themselves and take on the world with their heads held high.

If you wish to know more come as see us at PQA Solihull.

I look forward to seeing you all there

Principal of PQA Solihull
Raj Bhambra

Hayley – Musical Theatre

I am really excited to be the musical theatre teacher for PQA Sollihull.

I started my training in dance and from the age of five in the subjects ballet,tap,modern,musical interpretation,national and gymnastic and I still continue my training to this present time.

At the age of 19 I had the honour of appearing at Her Magesties Theater Londons west end as a principle cast member and I have played various other roles such as miss Sherman (Fame ) and Beth (Oliver) throughout my continuous training.

However after completing a degree in performing arts I quickly realised that my calling was to become a teacher after working as a choreographer at spot light youth theater I joined the BMAPA team at Birmingham metropolitan college as a drama and dance lecturer in performing arts, teaching all within disciplines in classical and contemporary theatre and working on collaborative projects within the directorate.

This is where I gained an outstanding accreditation for my teaching and lessons and became the musical theatre director of their youth theater (scene14).

My directions include more recent High school musical,Bugsy Malone ,Midsummer nights dream by willaim Shakespeare and many more acolades.

I was really excited when I was offered the fantastic role of the musical theatre teacher for PQA Sollihull and to work with a fantastic team that will endeavour to deliver incredible training to the young aspiring talent of Birmingham.

‘To teach is to be insired by your students but being able to learn is worth its weight in gold.’

Looking forward to meeting you all, See you in September !!!!

Laura – Comedy & Drama

Hello there! I have wanted to be an actress ever since I can remember and always use to perform renditions of The Little Mermaid to my entire family in our living room from the age of 7! However, it wasn’t until rather late that I decided to actually make it into my career. When I was 19 after travelling during a gap year, I decided to go to the University of Wolverhampton to study English and Drama. I then graduated in 2007 and received a 2:1 with BA Hons.

From that point I played many roles in Musical Theatre such as Miss Sherman in FAME. Mrs Horrocks in Dick Barton and Agnes in Wallop Mrs Cox. Alongside these Musicals, I also taught English and Drama in Secondary Schools. Shortly after this I realised I wished to progress with the Acting side of my career and applied to BSA Drama School. To my delight I was accepted and it was there that I completed my Masters in Acting, receiving a Commendation.

After that, I played a range of roles such as Feste in Twelfth Night, Mrs Tempwell in The Grace of Mary Traverse and Nell Gwyn in Playhouse Creatures, to name but a few. I have also played some featured extra roles on Emmerdale, Doctors and BBC’s Father Brown. In addition to this I have appeared in a few short films and done some live presenting work on GEMS TV. More recently, I have completed two tours around England, Wales and Scotland touring a Theatre in Education show and the pantomime Mother Goose. I also perform some weekends singing as part of a girl group and worked last Halloween season at Warwick Castle in the Dungeons. That was an amazing experience as I got to scare everyone! However, I promise I will not be scaring you during our Saturday acting sessions!

Since leaving Drama School, I have loved teaching the acting techniques I learnt to a Musical Theatre group I work with and shall look forward to sharing my knowledge with all of you at PQA. I am very excited to start and can’t wait to see what our wonderful stars can blossom into!

Ben – Film & Television

Benjamin is experienced in both writing and acting for TV and Film.

After being dragged to a local theatre group by his Mother aged 8, due his older sister wanting to be part of a pantomime, he fell in love with acting and the idea of becoming one. That meant his mother would later have to drag him out of theatres in his teens. A passion for acting, movies, & an overactive imagination were the reasons for him wanting to take acting more seriously, and thus he went to Drama school, eventually turning his passion into a career.

He has been in a number of Short and Independent films, as well as Repertory theatre and touring Shakespeare. His most recent acting role in a Film, has seen him awarded ‘Best Actor in a Short Film’ at four different film festivals this summer.

Finally, he is looking forward to a challenging but rewarding time with PQA, and would like to thank the principle for this unique opportunity.

Go forward!

Sharnie – Poppets

Biography to appear here soon