Experience

Meet the team:

Melissa Painter - PRINCIPAL

Melissa was a dancer from the age of 2 and performed in many shows with her dance school including Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Swanhilda in Coppelia and chorus in La Fille Mal Gardee. All with Southern Youth Ballet. Melissa then went on to train at top London performing arts college, Italia Conti doing a Higher National Diploma in Performings Arts. There she trained in Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Tap, Modern, Street and Musical Theatre obtaining her Advanced 2 performing qualification in Ballet, Tap and Modern. During her time at Italia Conti she performed in professional pantomimes, Cinderella and Jack and The Beanstalk. She also sung in St Pauls Cathedral in a Christmas Carol Show. Upon leaving Italia Conti she went on to perform in the West End production of Cats and performed at The Brit Awards with Michael Jackson.

Since her time in London Melissa has performed as Sour Kangaroo in the touring show of Suessical, Madame La Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast and Chorus in Aristocats. Melissa also then went on to complete her teaching Associates in Ballet, Tap and Modern as well as her Certificate in Education. Melissa taught at Sussex Downs College for 5 years teaching dance on the BTEC Level 3 Performing Arts course, A Level Dance and Foundation Dance. She then went on to teach at Bexhill College for one year before starting The Performance Factory with Emma.

Melissa has taught and run The Performance Factory alongside Emma for 17 years. In that time melissa has taught all forms of dance including Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Street, Tap and Musical Theatre. She obtained her Acrobatic Arts teaching qualification in 2016 allowing her to teach acrobatics and gymnastics.

Emma Jackson - PRINCIPAL Emma studied for her degree in music and Musical Theatre at the Royal College of Music and gained her CTABRSM (Certificate in teaching of the Royal Schools of Music) in 1999 and her CertEd (certificate in education) shortly after. Emma has performed as soloist at the Royal Albert Hall and a number of renowned venues in both the UK and Germany as a singer, pianist and clarinetist. Her musical theatre professional performing credits include Gertrude Mcfuzz in Suessical UK tour and Abigail in Aristocats UK tour and has directed and Musical directed countless shows including, Seussical, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Fame, Just So, Cabaret, Peter Pan, WWRY, BTT80’s, Cabaret, Rent, Annie, The Wizard of Oz to name a few.

Emma’s greatest passion and joy however is in teaching and being able to help shape and inform young minds. Emma started the Performance Factory with her sister in 2007 and was the head of musical theatre at West Kent College for 8 years where she gained a degree and a masters in teaching and education. Teaching singing, music and theatre and helping to inspire a new generation is what drives Emma and she strongly believes The Performance Factory and its wonderful students and parents is her greatest achievement.

Alicia Depper – TEACHER Alicia first started dancing at the age of 3 with The Performance Factory. She trained in Ballet, Tap and modern from that age and then moved into Street, Contemporary, Singing and Musical Theatre at the age of 7. During her early training, Alicia performed as the Elephant Bird in a professional touring production of Suessical at the age of 4 alongside Cheryl Baker. She also starred as Rapunzel, Cinderella, Ariel, Snoopy in Snoopy Musical, Irene in Back to the 80s, Gertude in Suessical, Scaramouche in We Will Rock You, Sebastien in Little Mermaid, JoJo in Suessical, LeFou in Beauty and The Beast, Melman in Madagascar, Zebra an KolaKola Bird in Just So, Tessie and Grace in two different productions of Annie, Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, Princess Fiona in Shrek and many more.

Alicia has since completed her Advanced qualification in Ballet and Tap and her teaching qualification in Acrobatic Arts. Alicia is in her 3rd year of a BAHons Dance Degree. Alicia has taught at Performance Factory since 2021 and teaches all ages and dance styles. Alicia is also the Team Captain of our Elite Competition Team and has lead the team to many wins and has won numerous trophies and medals herself for her dancing and singing. Alicia is also one of our best Choreographers

Phoebe Stoner – TEACHING ASSISTANT Phoebe has been dancing since the age of 8 with The Performance Factory and has performed in many of our dance and musical theatre productions. Phoebe is training in Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Commercial, Lyrical and musical theatre jazz. Phoebe has been working with us as a teaching assistant for a year and is working towards her teaching qualifications in dance and acrobatics. Phoebe is also our Assistant Captain of our Elite Dance Competition Team and has on many medals and trophies for her dance performances.