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OUR TUTORS
Gerry Tebbutt
Musical Theatre and Acting Tutor
Gerry has had an impressive career as a performer, director, choreographer and teacher. In the West End, he appeared in many long running productions such as The Canterbury Tales (Phoenix) Annie (Victoria Palace) Billy (Drury Lane) "Irene" (Adelphi) Strike A Light (Piccadilly) The Wizard of Oz (Victoria Palace) Gypsy (Piccadilly) Mack & Mabel In Concert (Drury Lane) The Wombles (Shaftesbury) and two Royal Variety Performances from The London Palladium. He has also directed and choreographed many notable plays and musicals including the National Tour of Little Shop of Horrors starring Lorraine Chase, the European premiere of the Richard Rodgers musical Two by Two and the first regional production of Martin Sherman’s Bent.
Gerry was Head of Musical Theatre at GSA (Guildford School of Acting) from 1994 – 2011 and Head of Musical Theatre at PPA (Performance Preparation Academy) 2011 – 2015 and has guest directed at Urdang Academy, Mountview, Guildhall, Italia Conti and is currently external examiner for Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Before joining KLDC Sixth, Gerry was the Head of the Foundation Course in Musical Theatre at GSA, University of Surrey.
Jill Francis
Dance Tutor
Biography coming soon.
Lauren Cable
Dance & Fitness Tutor
Lauren is an accomplished commercial hip hop dancer who graduated from college gaining high grades in Dance, Performance Studies and Physical Education. Shortly after leaving college, Lauren found her true passion for Acrobatics, Yoga and Circus Arts which led to her creating her own successful entertainment agency.
Lauren has her own successful acrobatics school based in Surrey at prestigious locations such as Wentworth Golf Club and Laine Theatre Arts, with over 150 students in the first 3 years. She is a fully qualified teacher with Acrobatic Arts as well as more recently passing her examiners course.
Lauren also holds a Level 2 Dance Fitness Diploma and is a Level 2 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Coach working with gymnasts and dancers at various schools and clubs around the South East. Lauren is also a Level 4 Strength & Conditioning expert and certified Yoga Instructor.
Some of Lauren's career highlights so far include working with The Royal Family at Windsor Castle and at BAFTA, Chelsea Football Club, Nile Rodgers, Guilfest and Sky1's Got to Dance.
Jamie Karitzis
Stage & Screen Combat Tutor
After graduating from Laine's with a degree in Musical Theatre, Jamie had a very successful career in Commercial Dance. His credits include Little Mix, Kylie Minogue, Shaka Kahn, Pussycat Dolls, Girls Aloud and many Royal Variety Performances.
Jamie then went on to train in-depth at the British Action Academy and become a member of the prestigious British Stunt Register. He is also a qualified instructor in both Rock Climbing and Scuba Diving. These qualifications and skills have helped him to lead a very successful career in the film industry; his film credits include the Marvel franchise, Fast & Furious, Mamma Mia and he even body-doubled for Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die, released in 2021.
Emmy Happisburgh
Acting & Voice Tutor
Emmy has trained young actors for over twenty years. She has coached for Drama Scholarships, professional auditions, LAMDA graded examinations in Acting and specialises in coaching for Drama School auditions. Previous students have gained places on degree courses at Juilliard, Tisch – NYU, RADA and LIPA and won roles on BBC, ITV and the West End stage.
Emmy is an award-winning actress who has appeared in TV shows and films for BBC, Netflix and Amazon, including Leaves for the Moon for which she won the BEST ACTRESS Award at Westminster Film Festival 2019. Emmy co-produced the 5 star reviewed, “Pick of the Fringe” production “Second Summer of Love” which she wrote and performed for a short tour 2023 and Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022. Emmy trained as a post-graduate in Acting at The Poor School and then in Musical Theatre at Guildford School of Acting (GSA) funded by the Sir Anthony Hopkins' Charitable Trust and she holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. She has also worked for MTV UK and MTV Europe developing show ideas.
Claire Karitzis
Dance & Wellbeing Tutor
Claire has had an impressive career as a commercial dance performer and industry professional. After completing her training at Central School of Ballet, she quickly started to gain prestigious work as a performer. Her credits include several Kylie Minogue tours, multiple Brit Awards, MTV Awards and Royal Variety performances as well as the Beijing Olympics.
Claire is also our in-house wellbeing expert, specialising in mindfulness, yoga, breath work and meditation.
Josh Wharmby
Dance Tutor & Choreographer
As a dancer, Josh has worked with choreographer Brian Friedman on The X Factor (ITV), JaQuel Knight, Nicole Scherzinger, Taylor Swift, P!NK, Liam Payne, Kylie Minogue, Lionel Richie, Gloria Gaynor, Rita Ora, Take That, Will.I.Am, and many more.
Josh has also been teaching dance since the age of 16, developing his own unique choreographic style and fuelling his love for a ‘full-out’ dance break. Josh’s athletic style of choreography and distinctive clean lines have been well sought after in live performances, music videos, film and TV. He has choreographed for theRugby World Cup Closing Ceremony, Dance Dance Dance (International TV Show), The Voice, The Voice Kids, The One Show, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, MTV European Music Awards, Dance 100 (Netflix), 2022 Commonwealth Games, Project Icon (Jason Derulo) and Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix). Josh also worked as Movement Director for the 2020 Pepsi Online Campaign with footballers Paul Pogba, Lionel Messi, and Jadon Sancho. Josh has also choreographed for prominent music artists such as Akon, Becky G, Liam Payne, Will Young, Mimi Webb and Sergey Lazarev.
Lesley Hayes
Dance Tutor
Biography coming soon.
Eleanor Bailey
Dance Tutor
Biography coming soon.
Nicki White
Acting & Voice Tutor
Nicki is an experienced actress, singer, audio book recording artist (with over 40 published albums) and teacher. She has worked in Theatre, TV, Radio and Film in the West End, UK, New York and internationally over the last 25 years. She trained at the Guildford School of Acting where she was awarded the Graduation Acting Cup. Nicki is a qualified singing teacher, vocal coach specialising in Musical Theatre and is a member of the Association of Teachers of Singing.
In addition to our impressive faculty, we also have a team of experienced and highly-skilled subject specialists, along with amazing guest tutors from the industry who regularly visit KLDC Sixth.
