Meet The Team

Amy Fern - Principal & Managing Director

Amy had a love of dance from a very young age. After years of ‘dancing around the living room’, her Grandmother insisted that her Mum take her to a dance class!

She attended The Southern Minstrels Stage School from the age of 6 and quickly developed a passion for all dance genres – learning Ballet, Tap, Modern and Jazz. She also developed a love of singing and started regularly singing solo in performances at just the age of 7.

She performed in theatres across the south and competed regularly in competitions such as The British Arts Awards but mainly her love was performing! From 2002-2003 she performed in Sunday Night Live Variety Shows at Her Majesty’s Theatre and The Palace Theatre in London’s West End and she continued to attend stage school until 2005, when she left to start singing and performing professionally in her spare time.

In her adult years, Amy qualified as a Nursery Nurse and in her spare time she also enjoyed organising sporting and entertainment events for local Charities.

She formed Blue Butterfly Event Management in 2006 and in this time organised events for Woking and Aldershot FC. In her spare time she continued to perform and had also started teaching dance in local dance schools and with local theatre groups.

In 2014, after realising there was a need for quality event entertainment and bringing together her knowledge of entertainment and events, she formed Blue Butterfly’s very own event dancers -The Butterflies; who she still manages, choreographs and performs with at many charity and corporate events.

In 2015, she achieved her Associate Dance Teaching Qualification with the IDTA and started two fun dance classes, mainly for her 3 daughters, who had inherited her love of dancing and so…… Blue Butterfly Dance Company was born.

Since starting Blue Butterfly Dance Company she enjoys teaching Commercial/Street/Hip Hop styles.

Amy is now the proud owner and Managing Director of Blue Butterfly Studios and plays a very active role teaching our Commercial style Butterfly Classes, Urban Cheer/Acro, Step Up, Pre -school and Musical Theatre classes. She is always keen to develop her teaching skills and has now progressed her IDTA Associate qualification to the new IDTA Level 4 Diploma in Dance Teaching. She is also qualified in teaching Acro, is a qualified Urban Cheer teacher with the UK Cheerleading Association and is working towards another IDTA Level 4 Diploma in the Theatre Branch. She has a wealth of experience and training in Child Protection/Safeguarding and is the Safeguarding Officer at Blue Butterfly Studios.

Her most important role is being Mummy to her 3 girls who are already in training to take the reins of the studio one day

Maria Young - Tap Teacher

Maria joined the Southern Minstrels stage school along with her sister at the age of 7 and performed with them in many theatres across the country and abroad for 23 years. She competed in the British Arts Awards and was awarded with honours on many occasions.

She also began choreographing and teaching at this time and helped students gain bronze, silver and gold medals in tap.

Maria and Amy (the founder of Blue Butterfly) both danced together for many years when they were younger. After a short break from dancing to be a mum to two boys, Maria jumped at the chance when Amy asked her to help put together, choreograph and perform with a group of young ladies now known to be The Butterflies event dancers. Shortly after this, Blue Butterfly Dance Company was founded and Maria was with us every step of the way! She was also there during the careful planning and opening of our studios!

She has has now taught with Blue Butterfly for 6 years teaching all dance styles. Her strength is Tap and she has a natural ability and rapport with her students. We call her the Blue Butterfly Mum! In her words…. its her dream job! Shes really proud to now be working towards her IDTA Level 4 diploma in teaching and she is looking forward to supporting her students in future exams.

Jennifer Ashley - Dinky Dancers & Ballet Teacher

Jennifer didn’t start dancing until the age of 11, but very quickly fell in love with it!

She completed her grades in ballet, tap and modern jazz with the IDTA as well as gaining GCSE & A-levels in contemporary dance. She then went to the University of Winchester and completed a degree in Choreography & Dance and Education Studies.

In 2014, Jennifer went straight into teaching as a self-employed practitioner and worked across many locations. Since university, she has gained her Level 4 Diploma in Dance Teaching (Ballet) with the IDTA, has become certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and is licenced to teach Groove Child Purple Level.

She is passionate about continuing her own professional development and is now studying toward her Level 5 Licentiate in Ballet teaching.

When Jennifer is not teaching, she still attends weekly dance classes as a student and performs regularly. She is also a member of So Sacred Dance Collective – an auditioned dance company who create performance pieces to spread the gospel. Lastly she leads the creche at her church, and is a carer for her dad.

Brandon Clarke - Contemporary Teacher

Brandon graduated in 2018 from The University of Chichester, with a BA Hons in Dance.

Prior to this he was a member of Hampshire Youth Dance Company for five years, as well as graduating from LCDS Cat scheme, after 4 years of training.

Brandon was also a member of PYDC for 1 year before studying at Chichester college.

He has worked closely as a role model with Wessex Dance Academy over the last 10 years and has now worked as a dance artist at the the Wessex Dance Academy for the last 2 cohorts.

Since graduating, Brandon started teaching Contemporary classes at Blue Butterfly Studios; he has also done Gradlab, a graduate program at The Point, Eastleigh and has danced in collaboration work ‘Nice To Meet You’ with Morvell Dance and fellow dancer, Will Hodgson, most recently.

Bethany Taylor - Tap Teacher

Bethany started Ballet at the age of 4 and started tap at the age of 6. She quickly worked through the grades with ISTD getting to GCSE and A level equivalents in both.

During her childhood, she also trained in Irish dancing, where she won awards at Irish Feis competitions and also trained and performed with a local performing arts company.

After starting to study dance at college, she unfortunately developed a knee injury and had to give up dance completely by the age of 18.

After years of physiotherapy she eventually was able to start dancing again and she decided to join the Blue Butterfly Adult Tap class, which brought back her love of dance.

Her love of dance was our gain as she started to volunteer to help at tap classes and now she teaches her own regular tap classes at the studios!

She is pleased to now be working on her Level 4 Diploma in dance teaching, specialising in Tap.

Sarah Hemmings - After School Club Dance Teacher

Sarah started dancing at the age of 3. She participated in RAD Ballet exams which then changed over to IDTA .

She gained good experience in many dance styles such as Ballet, Freestyle, Street,Latin and Ballroom and started achieving exams with the IDTA.

After passing her GCSE in Dance, she went on to achieve her level 3 extended diploma in Performing Arts and then went on to do an advanced level apprenticeship in live events and promotion.

After her apprenticeship, she then achieved her IDTA Pre -Associate in Freestyle and last year, went on to achieve a level 4 diploma in dance teaching.

Sarah joined Blue Butterfly in 2019 and teaches our after school dance clubs and also assists in classes at the studios on a regular basis.

She is currently working on her IDTA level 4 diploma in dance teaching for Ballet and fitness instructing.

Adele Squibb - Yoga Instructor

Adele’s passion is Yoga! She loves sharing it with people of all shapes, sizes and abilities. She has personally seen the physical, spiritual and mental benefits that Yoga has brought to her students and to herself.

11 years ago, Adele decided to try out a yoga class at her local gym….. The next thing she knew she was hooked. She went from attending one class a week to practicing yoga every day! After encouragment from her Yoga teacher, she decided to do teacher training with YYI (Young Yoga Institute), in South Africa, where she underwent an intense two year training programme to become a teacher. She has now been teaching Yoga for 12 years and is privileged to teach a number of classes in Hampshire.

Adele joined Blue Butterfly in 2019 when we opened the studios and teaches our Adult Yoga classes. She also teaches Parent & Child Yoga, which proves popular during the holidays and has taught courses of pregnancy Yoga too. Through her excellent teaching, her aim is to empower her class to understand their own hidden potential.

Whether you are an advanced Yogi or just a beginner, there is a always a place for you in Adele’s class!

Andrew Keigher - Personal Trainer

Andrew was a gymnastics coach for 20 years. 5 years ago, he switched to Personal Training.

His main aim as a Personal Trainer is to help his clients achieve at their own aims and goals, helping them grow in confidence and believe they can improve.

Andrew provides variety and a fun approach to your Personal Training program. He believes that exercise is a celebration of what your body can do, so why not enjoy it!

He specialises in Kettlebells, Gym-based Boxing, Pre and Post-Natal, Exercise Referral, Bootcamp and Gymnastics. He also enjoys HIIT type workouts and TRX training.

Andrew’s daughter is a dancer at Blue Butterfly Studios.

Rob Jenks - Blue Butterfly Studios Photographer

Rob has been a professional photographer for 4 years after completing a diploma in wedding photography. He loves portrait and landscape photography and is often up before sunrise to capture some stunning images.

Rob performed on stage in his teens and has a keen eye for capturing the emotion of the performances he photographs.

He has known Amy, and her husband David, for many years and is affectionately known as ‘Bertie.’

When asked to photograph for Showtime 4, he jumped at the chance and since then has been involved in lots of activities for the studio. This included showtimes 4 and 5, dress rehearsals, Santa’s Grotto and a charity event for Mental Health awareness.

Rob has three children and works for the emergency services as a full time job.

His business name is Leaf Photographic. visit his website at www.leafphotographic.co.uk

Rob performed on stage in his teens and has a keen eye for capturing the emotion of the performances he photographs. He has known Amy, and her husband David, for many years and is affectionately known as ‘Bertie.’

When asked to photograph for Showtime 4, he jumped at the chance and since then has been involved in lots of activities for the studio. This included showtimes 4 and 5, dress rehearsals, Santa’s Grotto and a charity event for Mental Health awareness.

Rob has three children and works for the emergency services as a full time job.

His business name is Leaf Photographic. visit his website at www.leafphotographic.co.uk

Luke Willett - Design & Print

Luke is the Managing Director of Diguru-uk.com and is also the amazing talent behind the many Blue Butterfly logos and images you see on our website and merchandise.

He designed the first Blue Butterfly back in 2006 and made our brand look as professional as it does today!

When he is not busy designing for us, he is working at Diguru which is a local printing company based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. Diguru have provided all the studios print ever since the studios opened. We were also very lucky to have them design all our COVID Secure signage.

Join The Team

We are always looking for ways that we can grow at Blue Butterfly Studios – with new classes, new teachers and new opportunities. We would love to hear from you, if you would like to work with us at Blue Butterfly Studios.