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Community Hub Team
Naomi Albans
HMTS Principal and Outreach Manager (she/her)
Naomi trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts gaining an MA in Acting with Distinction.
As well as her experience performing and directing, Naomi has over 15 years teaching and youth theatre management experience. She has worked in a variety of educational settings and young offender institutions across the northwest and beyond, delivering workshops and sessions to compliment the national curriculum. She is a licenced chaperone for TV and Theatre and also works in children’s casting. Naomi also has lots of experience working in pre-school settings and as a kids entertainer! Naomi also is Hope Mill Theatre’s Outreach Manager and Designated Safeguarding Officer. She can be contacted on outreach@hopemilltheatre.co.uk
Jason Tinney
Dance/Am Dram Choreographer (he/him)
Jason trained at The Royal Ballet School, White Lodge and The Royal Ballet Upper School, Covent Garden. During his time at The Royal Ballet school he performed with The Royal Ballet Company at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also worked with Birmingham Royal Ballet Company and even performed at Windsor Castle for the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family. Jason then went on to train for a further 3 years at Laine theatre arts college. After graduating Jason was lucky enough to be offered a job with Grayboy Entertainment Agency. With Grayboy Jason worked On Board various cruise ships & travelled all over the world. Jason has been working as a choreographer & also teaching at various performing arts colleges for the past 5 years.
David Fearn
Singing (he/him)
Eliza Waters
Singing (she/her)
Eliza studied at Leeds Conservatoire, where she gained a BA Hons in Film Music Composition, and an MA in Musical Direction with Distinction.
During her time at Leeds Conservatoire, she worked as Musical Director in the Conservatoire’s production of A Christmas Carol (directed by Tom Bellerby) and also collaborated with fellow MA students to create a brand new musical ‘The Weird Sisters’ – Eliza worked as MD and Composer/Lyricist. ‘The Weird Sisters’ premiered at the Leeds Theatre Festival in July 2023.
Aside from her studies, Eliza has worked as a choir leader for the award-winning company ‘Rock Choir’, where she has led choirs all around Greater Manchester and Cheshire. Alongside this, she has worked as the Singing Teacher for Chester Stagecoach and also as a Composer for ‘The Nerve Media’ – her original music has been featured on BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Eliza loves helping young people build confidence through voice and is over the moon to be joining the Hope Mill team.
Anna Carley
Acting (she/her)
Anna trained as an actor and theatre maker at the University of Leeds and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. But she began her performer training in Musical Theatre at Pendleton College. Since finishing her training she has worked as both an actor and creative in a variety of different projects. Her performance experience includes touring theatre across Italy, performing Shakespeare outdoors and short films. Anna has training in multiple disciplines from acting for both stage and screen, devising and improvisation, movement and ensemble work, in addition to singing. She has a wide experience of teacher and facilitator experience both in and out of the Manchester area and has even directed children overseas. She has been the acting tutor for Hope Mill Theatre School for over a year now and loves the Hope Mill family.
Jumana Rwifa
Assistant Tutor (she/her)
Jumana studied English Literature with English Language at The University of Salford. Following on shortly she went on to Conquer an M’A in Creative Writing, innovation and experiment, with an emphasis on poetry to which she is still exploring today.
She is currently working as an assistant teacher at primary school level, helping children elevate to their best-self through their learning journey. Her favourite musical is The Little Prince. She very much looks forward to joining the Hope Mill Theatre School team, and assisting the young creatives to keep hold of a spirited and inspired learning approach!
Ellie Griffin
Early Years Tutor (she/her)
Tinies and Mini tap/Ballet/Jazz
Ellie is in her final year at The Institute of Contemporary Theatre, studying Acting. She loves dancing! Her favourite styles of dance are contemporary and street. She has worked as a dance tutor at Express t’Dance and Project M Dance Studios.
Rebecca Lamley
Tap/Jazz
After training at Vanessa’s School of Dance from a young age, in 2011 Rebecca successfully joined Tap Attack and competed in the World Tap Dance Championships in Germany gaining a Bronze Medal for their Formation routine.
Rebecca then began her professional performing career in 2012 at Alton Towers where she also became a Show Captain and Choreographer. She has also performed with companies such as Fancy Entertainment, Talegate Theatre and did the UK Tour of Stand By Me (2016/2017) as a vocalist and dancer performing with The Drifters. Rebecca also created her own Vintage act in 2014 singing and tap dancing at various events as “Rebecca Jayne.” She formed her own band in 2022 called “Vintage on Tap” where she Tap Dances as the percussionist.
Along side her performing career, Rebecca continued her Tap training with some of the greatest Tap Masters around the world at Brighton Tap Festival (2015/2016) Taptastic Festival (2017) and has done intensives with Heather Cornell (2022) Roxane Butterfly (2019) and Sarah Reich (2017) as well as many other classes and workshops.
Rebecca now teaches for many dance colleges and Tap companies as well as leading workshops around the UK. In 2022, she was a Dance Captain for the Tappin’In Project in association with the Commonwealth Games. She loves sharing her passion for Tap, it’s history and the connection it has to music.
Rachel Li
Ballet/Contemporary (she/her)
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Rachel is a Freelance Dance Artist in Contemporary/Ballet, Choreographer, Teacher and Pilates Instructor based in Manchester.
She trained at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and toured nationally with Emergence Dance Company, where she graduated with Distinction in MA Dance Performance and Professional Practices under the Salford International Excellence Award from the University of Salford.
As a dance artist, she has worked with a variety of artists and companies, including Lets All Dance Ballet Company, Joss Arnott Dance, Christopher Bruce CBE, Thick and Tight, Walk The Plank, Ruth Jones, and Ludus Dance. She also was an assistant choreographer for Manchester Parade in 2022 and recently a movement director for Jasmin Thien’s ‘I Dream in Colour’ in 2023.
Rachel is passionate about bringing dance to everybody. Apart from teaching at Hope Mill, she teaches workshops for Springs Dance Company and The Lowry (Outreach Artist-Centre For Advanced Training).
Loz Kaye
Choir Leader (he/him)
Loz Kaye has worked extensively as a Choir Leader, Musical Director, Composer and Vocal Teacher, and is a former Artistic Director of ACE NPO “More Music”. His music has been heard in performances all the way from Nashville, Tennessee to Okinawa, Japan. In musical theatre, his show “Cybershopping for Beginners” was commissioned by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and he was the Musical Director of the Danish premiere of “Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens”. He is currently Director of Sound for the Separate Doors national ensemble.
He has taught extensively here and in Europe, and is former Head of Music at GITIS Scandinavia Drama School in Aarhus, Denmark. (His top celebrity namedrop former student is Kristofer Hivju in “Game of Thrones”!) He is a passionate advocate of the public power of song. While Musical Director of Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus, their campaign Safe to Sing highlighting homophobic violence won multiple awards.
He is also a former resident in Hope Mill’s Ancoats area, being a trustee of the Ancoats Canal Project and part of the campaign to Save Ancoats Dispensary.
Emily McArthur
Orchestra Leader (she/her)
Joseph Clayton
Am Dram Company Musical Director (he/him)