Sandra Powell – Principal
Sandra’s early Cecchetti training was with Kathleen Yates, culminating in teaching qualifications in five ISTD Faculties. This was followed by training with Maria Fay and professional work including theatre, film and TV. She founded the Sandra Powell School of Dancing in Horsham (and Horley) in the 1970s. She has taught hundreds of children, and produced dancers who have joined major ballet companies including the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. Pupils have also successfully been accepted into senior programmes at dance schools including Central School of Ballet, Laine Theatre Arts, Northern Ballet School, the Arts Educational Schools and the teaching programme at the Royal Ballet School.
Sandra is a senior member of the UK Cecchetti Faculty. She is a senior monitoring Cecchetti examiner, and examines overseas as far afield as Malta. She has been on the sub-committes which have revised the syllabi for the Grade, Class and Performance Awards, and has also co-produced the instructional DVDs relating to these and the Vocational exam qualifications. Sandra is an area organiser and has been a co-organiser of the Southern Area Awards since their inception. She has taught on courses and at Summer School and produced choregoraphy for the Scholars.
Sandra’s daughter Jessica Clarke, was trained by her mother and was accepted into the Royal Ballet School aged 11. She joined the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1988, which became the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She danced many soloist and principal roles and created works by Kenneth MacMillan and David Bintley. She retired from the Company in 1998 and gained her teaching qualification. She taught for one year at Rambert School for Ballet and Contemporary Dance before being head hunted by the Royal Ballet School, where she now teaches in the Upper School.
Hayley Cheneler – Ballet teacher
Hayley Cheneler B.A. A.I.S.T.D., studied at the Sandra Powell School of Dancing, where she now teaches and went on to achieve her Dance Degree at the London College of Dance, (Middlesex University), graduating in 2003.
In 2004 Hayley gained her Asssociate in Cecchetti Ballet with Honours and from then on has taught for Miss Sandra Powell, F.I.S.T.D., and has been a guest teacher in London, for the Cecchetti Associates and at Tring for the Cecchetti Junior Summer School. Hayley is also a Cecchetti Group Committee member and helps organise Cecchetti events. Hayley is currently working on her Licentiate qualification.
Hayley founded the Cheneler School of Dance in 2008, which offers ballet, modern theatre, jazz, tap, street, contemporary and pointe classes out of the studios at Holy Trinity School in Crawley. She also runs after-school dance classes at primary schools in the area and holds an annual school’s performance at the Hawth Theatre.
Hayley is married with two children, and lives in Horsham.
Katherine Ranner – Ballet teacher
Katherine started ballet at the age of 3 with Sandra Powell, continuing to train in Horsham and achieving Advanced 1 before she went to university. At the University of Birmingham she carried on dancing and started informally teaching and choreographing at the university dance society. During her following career in marketing, Katherine continued to take open classes in London.
Since moving back to Horsham to have a family, Katherine has passed her Diploma in Dance Instruction and Diploma in Dance Education. Katherine is now working on her Advanced 2 qualification.