Port de Barre offer dance and ballet barre classes for anyone wanting to improve their dance experience, further their dance training, increase fitness levels, lose weight and increase body awareness.
Port de Barre pride themselves on supporting fitness and health through Tamsyn’s wealth of dance anatomical understanding and professional experience. Tamsyn's subject knowledge combined with her passion to inspire and instil wellbeing, creates a psychology of learning where participants can benefit from achieving a lean dancer's physique which is both strong and healthy. Participants are encouraged to think about their body from the 'inside, out' whilst challenging and improving strength, flexibility and endurance. As well as having a thorough and enjoyable experience in dance, participants are guided through ways to improve physical health including: posture, alignment, core stability, flexibility and improved physical awareness. All Port de Barre classes are highly motivating, and are offered to all levels, regardless of dance experience.
Dance Director: Tamsyn Butt
Tamsyn is a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher with over 25 years’ industry experience.
Tamsyn has trained at the most prestigious and highly acclaimed institutions and conservatoires in the UK. She began her training at Bretton Hall university where she attained a BA (Hons) in Dance in 1998. Tamsyn went on to attend London Contemporary Dance School where she studied for a Certificate in Contemporary Dance and Choreography. Following this, Tamsyn worked as a professional contemporary dancer for a number of London based dance companies before working as Artistic Director for XS Dance Theatre (2001 – 2008). Credits included the Edinburgh Festival (2004), Resolution at the Place (2000 and 2006), and Chisenhale Dance (2005). Working as a freelance teacher and choreographer Tamsyn also became involved in commercial dance, choreographing on production videos for Vodafone and Fox Kids. She became more heavily involved in training students for a career in performing arts in her role as Head of Dance for Shana Goldman’s Stage School in Brighton, where she also worked with the director of casting, propelling students into the West End and commercial acting roles.
In 2006 Tamsyn attained a PGCE in Dance Training from the Royal Academy of Dance and went on to work as Head of Dance at two secondary schools where she was responsible for 14-19 dance curriculum (GCSE, A Level, L2 and L3 BTEC). In her 10 years at Barking Abbey School Tamsyn gained notoriety for her outstanding teaching. She consistently encouraged excellence, with students winning the 2015 London Youth Games competition for KS4 dance. As Director of Barking Abbey Dance Academy she inspired 16-18-year-old students to seek their dreams and her students have appeared four times as London Youth Dance and Youth Dance England finalists.
Preparing young people for the industry is a large passion of Tamsyn’s and she still teaches privately to students aspiring to apply for vocational dance schools. She has just finished teaching post 16 ballet and contemporary at City and Islington college in London.
As well as her dedication to youth dance, Tamsyn also offers adult classes in ballet, contemporary and jazz to a range of levels and has taught at The Place and Danceworks in London. She is certified in BarreConcept, a method of barre that is becoming highly popular internationally, and her classes are in demand both in London and Bath. Tamsyn is wholly committed to dance and is still a keen practicing dancer, choreographer and academic.
In 2014 she graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London with an MA: Dance Theatre (Distinction), This led to studies at HZT University in Berlin which further fuelled her choreographic enquiry, and she is currently proposing her PhD related to Dance Theatre Performance.
Dance is not just a passion for Tamsyn, but a way of life and she constantly seeks new developmental opportunities within the field. Tamsyn's dedication to dance and fitness is an inspiration to others. Her desire to motivate and instil her passion has been the driving force of her career to date and the pathway which has led to the start of the company “Port de Barre” which she runs with her business partner Zoe C. Collings.
Qualifications:
BA Hons (Dance) Bretton Hall College, Leeds
Certificate in Contemporary Dance and Choreography (London Contemporary Dance School)
PGCE (DT) (Royal Academy of Dance)
MA: Dance Theatre (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance)
BarreConcept Certification with Pilates Union.