Teachers
All our teachers are qualified, disclosure checked and insured.
Louise Squires - Principal
Louise has been dancing since the age of 3, training in Ballet, Modern, Scottish, Contemporary and Tap. She has taken part in numerous pantomimes, theatrical productions, fashion and trade shows and has choreographed for both solo and group artists in England and Japan.
Due to a keen interest in injury prevention and rehabilitation Louise holds various fitness qualifications for adults and children including her Pilates qualification from YMCA fitness industry training. Louise also has a BA Honours degree in Performing Arts and during her time at University toured with their dance company. Having gained her I.S.T.D Associate Teaching Certificate from their headquarters in London, Louise moved back to her home town to set up Southside Dance.
Miss Heather
Miss Heather started dancing at the age of two and loved every class. She then went on to study full time for a two year professional dance course at Ecosse Performers College in Lossiemouth. After gaining an HNC, she continued her studies at Dance for All at the Theatre School in Edinburgh. It was here, she learnt valuable teaching skills in all dance genres, qualifying with an FDI in both Modern Theatre and Tap and HND with Merit in Dance. Miss Heather achieved very high results in all her exams up to advanced levels including, ISTD Ballet, Modern, Tap, National and RAD Ballet. During her time at college, she performed in a number of shows in the Edinburgh Festival and did a Scottish tour "Celtic Spirit".
Miss Heather has been teaching full-time for two years in dance schools all over Edinburgh and in Glasgow teaching West End ‘Billy Elliot’ star. She has delivered dance workshops in Sciennes Primary, George Herriot’s and taught in various schools in association with Edinburgh Active Schools and Sainsbury’s Active Kids. She loves teaching and making all of her classes fun whilst passing on her passion for dance. Miss Heather tries to develop an awareness of musicality, rhythm, creativity and self-esteem. She is currently studying for the RAD ballet course CBTS and the ISTD CDE and doing many courses and exams to further her skills as a teacher.
Miriam James-Griffiths - Miss M
Miss M began dancing at the age of 3 at the Jason Theatre School (where Victoria Beckham was trained). Dance is one of Miss M’s lifelong passions and her aim is to share this with her students as they learn and develop their technique and performance skills. Miss M currently teaches our tap lessons. She holds Uka associate tap and jazz and has a degree in primary education. She holds a UKA Associate Tap qualification and is training for her UKA Associate Jazz, as well as a degree in Primary Education at Murray House, Edinburgh.
Miss Jane
A familiar face at Southside Dance, Miss Jane has been working for the school now for over 2 years. Miss Jane started dancing at the age of three, studying Ballet, Modern, Contemporary and Scottish extensively. She is currently furthering her teaching qualifications at the Theatre School in Edinburgh working towards her I.S.T.D Certificate in Dance Education in Modern and Tap Dance.
Uthman (Uti) Oussellam
Uthman (Uti) Oussellam has been break dancing for around 4 years, dancing for HSK, Scotland's number one crew and the globally recognised Floorgangz crew. Uti spends a lot of time Performing, travelling and competing, contributing to the victory of numerous crew competitions worldwide. Uti hopes to continue competing, learning and advancing as a bboy, as well as inspiring the future generation of bboys via Southside Dance.
Kirsty Halliday
Kirsty has been acting for 12 years now performing on stage and in short films. She studied Acting and then Musical Theatre at Edinburgh's Telford college gaining a Higher National Certificate in each. She has worked as an extra for well-known shows such as River City, Still Game and Rebus and films such as 39 Steps and New Town Killers. Kirsty started teaching five years ago and has worked for Edinburgh Acting School, Scottish Youth Theatre, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Brunton Youth Theatre and many more teaching adults and children. She believes in using drama as a way of gaining confidence, communication skills and of course nourishing natural talent and looks forward to more shows, workshops and drama at Southside.