Silver Swans Summer School

Victoria Allport
Ballet and Repertoire Faculty

Originally from the northeast of England, Victoria began her dance training at age five, progressing through RAD grades and vocational examinations and embarking on  the RAD Student Teaching Certificate at 16. Her professional career as a dancer and choreographer has spanned the UK and internationally. 

After relocating to Mexico, Victoria founded a highly successful dance school and established Acadancers, a company producing seasonal classical ballets in collaboration with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Acapulco. Alongside this, she choreographed for Mexican pop artists, performed in music videos, and completed the RAD Teaching Diploma gaining a high Distinction.  

During her tenure in Mexico, she was the recipient of a distinguished honour recognising her exceptional contribution to the arts in the state of Guerrero. 

On returning to the UK, Victoria became Head of Ballet at a leading independent school and an examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance. During this time her students excelled in exams and at the prestigious Genee competition. She is also a recipient of the Phyllis Bedells Bursary choreographic award. 

A Life Member of the RAD, Victoria is also a trustee and member of both the artistic and exams sub-committees.  She is an experienced CPD tutor, a Silver Swans® tutor since 2017, and has contributed to RAD teacher training programmes including the CDT and CBTS. Her former students include professional dancers and RAD Teaching Members working internationally. 

Sarah Platt
Ballet & Repertoire Faculty

Sarah trained with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) from childhood grades, through the Teacher Training College, a distant-learning degree course and into postgraduate education. Research in inclusive dance practice at Postgraduate level instigated an interest in more diverse teaching. Sarah was part of the RAD Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing (DfLW) project in 2012, undertaking practice based research into the benefits and considerations when teaching older learners to dance. Having contributed to the RAD Report (2013) and presented at the DfLW conference (2013), she participated in the second phrase of the DfLW project (2017) and acted as mentor to other researching teachers. From these beginnings came the creation of the RAD Silver Swans ballet programme, formally launched in 2017, the benefits of which Sarah is passionate about.

Sarah has had the opportunity to share the joy of Silver Swans in many contexts, particularly during the pandemic when there was a surge of interest in ways to keep fit and healthy whilst isolating or in lockdown. Sharing enthusiasm through various media and presenting in a range of situations contributed to her earning the RAD Advocacy Award in 2020. Her latest project led to the creation of the Seated Swans programme so that even more people can share the joy of dance. Sarah currently enjoys teaching Silver Swans in a wide range of contexts, from church halls, through Zoom and weekly classes at the RAD headquarters. She also has the great honour of teaching our prestigious Swan, Queen Camilla, whenever Her Majesty’s diary permits.

Hannah Bailes
Move to the Musicals Faculty

Hannah is a community dance educator, dance teacher and dance artist. She achieved a Performing Arts degree at St Martin’s College, Lancaster, and a MA in Dance Studies at Trinity Laban. Hannah also qualified  as a teacher of dance at Middlesex University. Her teaching practice includes work within community settings, and in primary and secondary education, FE and HE, spanning 15 years. Hannah most recently visited the European Parliament to discuss Dance and Wellbeing in Mental Health, and is an ambassador for the Dance and Creative Wellness Foundation based in the Netherlands. Hannah also contributed to the Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing research and conference held at the Royal Academy of Dance in 2013. Hannah regularly performs a variety of dance styles at festivals and events all over Europe and the UK. 

Ellen Yilma-Parmar
Contemporary Faculty

Ellen trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, before joining London Contemporary Dance School, where she graduated with a BA (Hons) and MA with Distinction. She was recognised as dancer of the month in the Dancing Times February edition 2020 and has performed extensively in the UK and internationally with seminal companies in the British dance scene. These include Richard Alston Dance Company, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Clod Ensemble, Tavaziva, Joss Arnott Dance (with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa), Akademi (with Jose Agudo), IJAD Dance Company, Second Hand Dance and Watkins Dance Company. Alongside her performance work, Ellen has taught workshops across the UK, as part of company outreach. She has also taught at The Place, and at Tring Park School as a contemporary teacher for their associate programme and the main school. She currently works within the Examinations and Regional team at the Royal Academy of Dance.