Ellie Crowther – Professional Dancer and Tutor

 

What classes do you teach? 
Regular classes in Parent and Baby Ballet and Storytelling Dance, Ballet 3-4 years and 4-6 years, Dance for Fitness and Youth Dance 4-7. I also cover Street / Hip-hop classes and teach in Summer and Easter schools, mainly contemporary and street dance styles.

 

What inspired you to become a tutor? I'm a professional Contemporary Dancer but had been working in offices for a while to support my career. I decided to teach a few years ago when I realised it was a great way to get away from a desk and get fit, as well as trying out new, fun choreography on my students and getting to know lots of people and kids.  I love it that my job enables me to play all day!

 

What do students get out of your course? Fun, fitness and loads of new skills including coordination, balance and rhythm. The kids make new friends in an engaging and stimulating environment.

 

Who or what inspires you in your practice? I'm inspired (but not limited) by the RAD Ballet syllabus for the young ballet classes and use Disney, popular kids’ TV themes and nursery rhymes in storytelling dance. I've had a lot of teachers in the past all with different methods but I try in my own classes to re-create the fun, explorative and inspiring style of teaching I loved when growing up with dance.

In general, I'm inspired by quirky electronica, as well as any interesting and expressive music, comedy, physical theatre and aerial dance.

 

 

Music & Drama – Catherine Lambert, Troublemaker Theatre Company

 

What classes do you teach?
Youth Theatre (Juniors: 6-9years and Seniors: 10-15years)

 

What inspired you to become a tutor?
I have been involved in the educational sector of theatre of many years and enjoy helping children and young people develop their interests and talents in acting, directing and all other aspects of theatre.

 

What do students get out of your course?
Having fun, developing confidence and speaking & listening skills, making friends, developing already existing talents and interests in acting and directing, improvement of team-working and time-management skills, getting a better understanding and improving use of language…lots and lots!

Who or what inspires you in your practice?
My favourite artists are Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Maxine Peake, Tom Hardy, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley plus lots more! I love films like Magnolia, Amelie, True Romance, The Pianist, Moulin Rouge and La Haine, and Directors of film and theatre, Mark Rylance, Richard Eyre, Matthew Bourne, Peter Jackson, Terry Gilliam, Mike Leigh (plus lots more!)

 

 

Alice McIlroy –  Ceramicist and Tutor

 

What class do you teach?
Ceramics for beginners

 

What inspired you to become a tutor?
When Cornerstone first opened they approached the school where I work to ask whether they would be able to fire any work that Cornerstone students produced.  They also asked my colleagues whether they knew anyone interested in running workshops for beginners.  I had just completed a project on Egyptian ceramics with some GCSE students, so my school immediately suggested me.

 

What do students get out of your course?
Students get to take a piece of clay, mould it with their hands, and create a useful work of art from scratch to take home.  Pieces made include a cheese platter with lid and a decorated pencil holder.  The next project will be using Japanese techniques combining two or more colours of clay to make dishes, and a mini series of three sessions following that will be devoted to producing a teapot and other elements of a tea-set. We are also planning to offer the opportunity to have a go on a potter's wheel.

 

Who or what inspires you in your practice?
My goal is to create something as beautiful as the delicate tea-set by Lucie Rie in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

 

 

Nileshvari Tolia – Artist and Tutor

What classes do you teach?
I have been involved with Cornerstone providing cover for watercolour and life-drawing classes, and I have delivered my own class in mixed-media painting. During Cornerstone’s first birthday I offered Henna Mendhi paintings to visitors of all ages. I am teaching a beginner’s class in acrylic in February 2010.

 

What inspired you to become a tutor?
I moved to Didcot last year and decided to become involved at Cornerstone as a tutor, as an opportunity to meet people and more importantly to share my love and passion for art. 

What do students get out of your course?
My teaching approach encourages students to challenge the way that they paint, draw and see things. In essence, I encourage them to break their perceptions and boundaries of working within defined parameters. In my mixed-media painting class, I encouraged my students to refrain from working on small sheets of paper; instead I gave them A1 sheets of paper and suggested that they use three primary colours and paint on a larger scale. For a lot of students the process of producing artwork becomes very much an experience and provides freedom of expression in producing a final piece of work.

 

Who or what inspires you in your practice?
I find travelling to different countries inspires me, and I like artists from the traditional to contemporary; Picasso, Rubens, Anish Kapoor.