PQA Wickford Friday.

Alex Johnson

Ellena Bacon

I started performing and dancing at the age of 3 when my gran asked myself and my sister to sing “feed the birds” alongside her in a local variety show. Ever since that moment I was hooked. Throughout my childhood, I’ve learnt many different genres of dance including, Ballet, Tap, jazz, commercial, modern, contemporary, Latin. In 2012 I received the UTD award for the highest overall Tap exam grade in the UK. I took on various roles whilst performing with local companies in Suffolk including Penny in Hairspray, Beth in Little Women, Rose in The Wedding Singer and June in Gypsy. I started my training at Evolution Foundation College on the one-year pre-vocational course in 2017. After this, I successfully gained a scholarship to further my training at Italia Conti and I’ve just graduated in 2020. I was fortunate enough to be a backing dancer on Ant and Dec’s Saturday night takeaway in my first year at Conti in 2018 and have worked on various Pantos. I have worked at PQA Ipswich since 2015 and have loved every Saturday since. I aim to empower students by making them more self-confident in their abilities as well as encouraging the students to reach their goals.

Harriet Bacon

I've been dancing and performing since I was four and I have always had a love for theatre. I performed in many local performances throughout my childhood and took exams in Ballet and Tap. Performing soon became a big part of my life. I started my training at Performers College on the one-year Pre-Vocational course. After this, I successfully gained a scholarship to further my training at Performers College on the three years Musical Theatre Course. I graduated in July 2016 with a Trinity National Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre. Since graduating from Performers College, I have been lucky enough to work professionally in the industry. My credits include X-Factor for ITV, Dancer at the FA Cup Final, Ideal Home Exhibition, Summer Spectacular, Felixstowe and Jack and The Beanstalk at The Hall For Cornwall. I have been teaching for five years now, and I currently teach dance and musical theatre at several places around Suffolk. I love teaching and being able to help young people grow as performers and giving them as many opportunities as I had.

James Baker

Macey Larkin

Matthew Kaltenborn

Matthew Kaltenborn is an International Film Maker, Photographer and Educator. Matthew graduated from Rose Bruford with a first class honours degree on the prestigious European Theatre Arts programme. It was during his student years that he realised he had a particular affinity for photography and discovered a passion for filmmaking. Matthew taught at PQA Richmond as Film & TV teacher for 3years and has had great success in the national film competitions; he enjoys helping develop the skills of young film-makers. His client base is vast and varied; from The Barbican Centre, Warner Bros, Moet Hennessy, Greenwich Museum, London Bridge Museum, London Transport Museum and ITV Studios, to football players, brides-to-be and sculpture artists - the underlying theme in all of Matthew's work is to find exciting and vibrant ways to capture the people, places and things that define his projects; resulting in stunning portraits and videography as unique and diverse as the subject matter. Matthew's work has recently featured in The Guardian and on Channel 5.

Stephen Watt

My earliest memories of performing are knocking on the doors of the neighbours who lived in the same tenement block as me at the age of 3 and singing and dancing when they answered the door. I have been involved in theatre since the age of 12 and have performed all over the country and beyond including three performances at the Waterford International festival. Being involved in theatre was a truly transformative experience for me and opened up a whole new world of possibilities that I hadn't seen before. I genuinely believe it has shaped my life and I hope we can have such a positive impact on our students at PQA Ipswich. Experience: I have sufficient experience of running programmes as projects and developing local businesses through my current and previous work with Suffolk County Council. I also have lots of experience in theatre at numerous levels, playing many lead roles with regional leading amateur companies in Scotland, East Anglia and London. Training: I have a first class honours MA in Economics from the University of Dundee. I am also a qualified management coach, have a qualification in mentoring and have undertaken numerous courses in business coaching, project management, first aid and people management. While I have had no formal training in theatre, I have 25 years of experience in all aspects of theatre from on stage to directing.