I am the proof that even if you’re not good at dancing – there’s appreciation for all talents here at the Sharon Berry School of Theatre Dance. Just kidding – I wasn’t that bad, in fact my last exam was Intermediate Modern Jazz and earned me a very respectable 87 marks… my Ballet and Tap grades tell a very different story!
I began my glorious performing arts career in 1998, after sitting in the audience at All Around The World, watching my bosom pal, Charlotte Beresford, tearing up the stage as Po. It was there, gazing at my Teletubbied-chum that I decided I too wished to strut around in leotards and white and brown eye shadow for all the S5 and S6 community to see. That September, aged 5, I arrived at Malin Bridge’s glamorous nursery terrapin, and launched one of the most expensive and rewarding hobbies my mum was yet to fund under the watchful eye of Miss Gemma.
I was duly punished for my dedication to the baby class by being invited (made) to perform with them as Mama Chicken in Can’t Stop The Beat. I was around this time that I performed as Shprintze for the Crucible’s Christmas show, Fiddler on the Roof. I went twice to summer school at Performer’s College with Amy, Becky, Hollie & Jodie and lost half a stone in a week after dancing for five hours a day – the life of a professional dancer. I wasn’t cut out for it. It would serve however to motivate my friend Hollie to take up dance as a career, and it’s fantastic that she’s now performing professionally in Malta.
The new Sharon Berry School website (that you are now viewing) came about while I was trying to avoid an essay about Charles II. (Fun fact: Coronation mugs and other such tat date back to 1661). I wanted something fresher and more modern, and hopefully I managed to do that.
I hope Berry Babes who don’t feel like they’re the best at a certain type of dancing take heart from this. Us staff can tell when you’re trying hard and we can tell when you’re dossing. I might be nerdy, sometimes uncoordinated, and surprisingly, not destined to be a professional dancer – but I have learned that if you work hard, you earn respect.
I am very proud to run Mrs Berry’s website. I enjoy finding out what you’re all up to whether I’m wrestling scallies in Liverpool or supping prosecco in Italy. The school helped and is still helping me to fulfill my potential, and it’s always wonderful to see when it’s doing that for everyone else too.
James began dancing at Sharon Berry School of Theatre dance a couple of weeks before his 13th birthday after being told at school he would need the three disciplines of dance, singing and drama to fulfill his dream of performing in the West End. It was Mrs Berry’s idea that he should go for his first audition to London for the new musical Billy Elliot. After successfully beating 3,000 other candidates, James became one of the three original Billy Elliots to play the part in the West End’s Victoria Palace Theatre. He was involved in the development of the role of Billy from the very beginning, and contributed to the success of the show with critically acclaimed performances in acting, singing and dancing. The show opened on 31 March 2005. In that year, he won the Variety Club’s Outstanding New Talent Award and also the Theatre Goers’ Choice of Most Promising New Comer. He also jointly won the prestigious Sir Laurence Olivier Award in 2006 for Best Actor in a Musical.
Berry Academy of Dance 
