Miss Athena

 Athena Holds the following prestigious memberships and qualifications. 

Member of SET (Society of Education & Training)  

Qualified Teacher Licentiate (LIDTA) (IDTA)  

Qualified Teacher Status (ISTD) 

Teacher of the Arts & Member (LAMDA)  

Qualified Teacher Acro Dance Teachers Association (ADTA)

Level 6 Diploma in Dance Pedagogy (DDP) (ISTD)

Level 7 - MA Professional Dance Practice - Inclusive Practice 

Licentiate ISTD Modern 

Licentiate ISTD Classical Ballet 

Advanced 2 Modern ISTD

Advanced 2 Classical Ballet ISTD

Athena Burns has had a full career on and off the stage, including working in TV, modelling, and representing her country under seven different titles between 2008 and 2020. She has appeared in over thirty-two stage productions, including London’s West End Touring Musicals, her favourites: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Dorcas), West Side Story (dance captain), Grease (Rizzo), Fame (dance captain), and High School Musical (lead Gabrielle). Athena was also part of the Moulin Rouge, her favourite of all roles. 

Athena attended the Liverpool Theatre School and College (LTSC), receiving her dance, drama, and singing qualifications and a scholarship to study professional musical theatre. During this time, she won Student of the Year for North West Students of Dance and obtained the highest classical grade winning Classical Ballerina of the Year in 2010 - with a 98% in intermediate ballet. The same year, she was also selected for the Gladys Thorpe Memorial Award from the International Dance Teachers’ Association, competing against over 3000 hopefuls across Europe. 

 After graduating from LTSC, Athena attended the Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre where she studied all aspects of dance, drama, and musical theatre. There, she became qualified with the International Dance Teachers’ Association, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, a Diploma in Dance Instruction (DDI) in all core subjects with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance.
Athena holds an HND psychology and HND in Mental Health Studies from the University of Essex and has numerous projects on the go, which includes taking her fellowship examinations in all core subjects to enable her to be an examiner. 

'There is a very large gap between dance and disability and more needs to be done to close this she feels and to better support the teachers of arts' 

Athena has created schools across the world to benefit the local communities and the British Army families service children. 

'I was told to lower my standards for these children, that it was just fun and they wouldn't take it seriously, I can now look back and laugh as a lot moved into professional dance, gained scholarships, and even are now professionals in their own right, I won't lower my standards I will only ever support and inspire and I live by the school motto, Aim High In All Things'

 After moving to Canada Athena took a role as a dance teacher at the Medicine Hat Conservatory of Music & Dance within 3 months she became to Interim Programme Manager of the dance department 'I introduced new things to Alberta Canada, I impacted the competitions system introducing live vocals, character heels and stage management, dance history and anatomy, and physiology study to classes'. 

 In 2017 Athena left the college and moved into her own developed studio. 'It was a very scary move, we put everything into having our own venue and it was a big gamble' It was a smash hit registering over 150 students within the first month. She introduced a new method of teaching dance and even the first school in Canada to bring LAMDA exams in. 'we went everywhere, we did everything and made a huge impact, taking students to Lake Louise, sending students off to audition and work with Paul Becker several times, they worked with Jordan Sparks twice and auditioned for Once upon a time on Netflix, We flew to Vegas and auditioned for Bill Bohol and Hollywood Dance Convention, they smashed the competition. We flew to London for two weeks with student scholarship winners who spent a week full time at LAINE, we spent time at the Hammond in Chester for auditions. Four students from ABPA Canada auditioned successfully for many colleges in the UK and moved to London in 2019, another has gained entry to a top Ontario college'.  

This international dancer has four daughters, with baby number five on the way and two Siberian Huskies and that only encourages her to work harder. Athena is passionate about dance and enjoys both performing and teaching. Athena's Schools are renowned for the happy and enthusiastic atmosphere they create; Athena is a very driven and hard-working individual but puts a spin on the hard work that is needed within this industry with her upbeat and kind nature towards her students and team. Athena Theatre Works & Productions will have Athena's full attention now and her ambition to create a college program for those wanting to receive professional qualifications and teacher training within all aspects of the arts in the beautiful South Coast of England.  

Athena is currently completing her Fellowship qualifications in Classical Ballet & Modern with the ISTD along with preparing herself to become a future examiner of the South Coast 

Selena began her dance journey as a competitive dancer while growing up in Alberta Canada, Early on in her training, she took the initiative to broaden her experiences and developed her aspirations by successfully competing, attending dance intensives, and performing in various summer courses. She has had many opportunities to work with numerous dancers, teachers, and choreographers: Performing in Canada, England, and the United States. With a desire to further herself professionally, she graduated from Centennial College’s Dance Performance Program in Toronto Ontario, She continues to explore and develop her artistry as a well-versed and adaptable performer.

John "Comix " Barrella

John has visited ATWP schools before being the choreographer of all our hip hop numbers in 2017, he was met with amazing responses which have positively developed the relationship between the Candian dancers and John's New York style. Now with John set to come to the UK to really mix things up and take the UK Hip Hop genre by storm. 

Street Dance Educator, Choreographer, Performer, Consultant & Company Director

John Barrella’s work is based around street dance culture. His work utilizes a range of arts

influences with techniques based in locking, popping, b-boy, and hip hop. As a performer, John

works as a solo artist and in collaboration with members of the hip hop community. He has

been a featured dancer in music videos “HSKT” by Tenin and “Get Away” By Alissia. Other

works include a presentation for Tedx: Chaos, Halftime shows for the NY Knicks, NYC Breakers’

Battle of the Boroughs reunion and much more. As a choreographer, John’s work has been

presented internationally. His unique approach to movement has been placed on dancers in

countless schools in and out of the United States.

At the age of 14, John was accepted into the "School of the Arts” in East Brunswick where he

spent four years learning modern dance and ballet from a variety of instructors and master

teachers. Aside from traditional dance classes, he attended annual courses in human anatomy,

improvisational techniques, childhood education, choreography techniques, musical theatre, and theatre. In college, John studied small business management to round out the important

aspects of his dance career training. From his early teens, John has studied under various hip

hop artists and was recruited into WildStyle dance company where he learned his core hip hop

techniques. He gained an appreciation for street styles with glimpses into a technique for house

dance, waacking, and dancehall. Furthering his training, John still regularly attends classes and

events with master and pioneering hip hop artists. Notable influences on his work include Tom

Mckie, Spex, Brian Green, Bev Brown, Jazzy J, Sekou, Pavan Thimmiah, and more.

John is the director of “The Redef Movement: Artists of Street Dance”, a dance company he

founded in 2007. He and his company present work both in a range of hip hop and professional

dance atmospheres, most frequently presented throughout NJ, NY and Philadelphia. Their

comedy-based work “Stupid Humans” is a satire on the performing arts, often utilizing live

shows or dance films to create humorous takes on common elements of the dance and

performance world. In addition to his duties as a company director, John is an adjunct professor

for hip hop at Rider University.

In recent years, John has developed a curriculum and program that trains teachers in hip hop

terminology and technique, applying it to class structure. This program, “Essentials for Dance

Education” has been implemented in classrooms around the world and has offered countless

teachers a look into his own method of instruction. Johns classes and events are designed to

teach aspiring dancers the fundamentals of street & hip-hop dance as a freestyle art and

techniques to master choreography. His goals are to inspire people to be artists and push

themselves creatively and positively both in and outside of dance.