About Us

Principle, and Ballet teacher

Oonagh founded Bourn to Dance in 2014, and teaches all ballet classes herself.

Ballet has always been part of Oonagh's life. Her childhood was filled with ballet classes, exams and performances, as her mother ran a ballet school too! She found a love of theatre through her dance training, and did a BA (Hons) in French and Drama. Oonagh then worked for 20 years in book publishing in London, for publishers such as Bloombury, Penguin, DK, Walker Books and Kingfisher. She also studied and taught stage combat for ten years - choreographing fights for the stage! In her late twenties, when her mother needed help with her dance school, Oonagh started teaching some ballet classes. She realised how much she loves teaching, and decided to qualify to teach with the ISTD. She then opened her own ballet school in Islington, where she lived. She ran that school while also working part time in publishing. When she was pregnant with her first daughter in 2007, Oonagh sold her dance school, and moved to Cambridgeshire. She had a second daughter, and then opened Bourn to Dance in 2014.

Modern Dance teacher

Ella began her dance training at the age of three in Bury St Edmunds, taking classes and exams in RAD ballet and ISTD tap. Over the years she also was part of a contemporary dance company with Dance East as well as other stage performance companies and competing in regular dance competitions. At age 18, Ella went to continue her training at the University of Chichester Conservatoire, graduating in 2018 with a degree in Musical Theatre Performance. Upon graduating, Ella continued her training into other areas, gaining qualifications in Exercise to Music, Gym instruction and Personal training. She also achieved her Diploma in Dance Education in Modern and Tap with the ISTD.

Soon after graduating from university, Ella met Oonagh, and spent 4 years working as a pre-school dance teacher at Tiny Toes Ballet in Cambridge (which Oonagh also owns), and teaching Modern dance classes at Bourn to Dance. In the first 6 months of 2023, Ella took a sabbatical from Bourn to Dance, to travel the world! After her amazing trip, Ella is now back teaching at Bourn to Dance and many other dance schools around Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, while running her own business too.

Contemporary teacher

Jenna is a Dance Artist from Cambridgeshire. She trained with the National Youth Dance Company England at Sadler’s Wells after getting into dance during her studies at Impington Village College. Aged 18, Jenna attended the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds where she received a 1st class honours in Performance. After graduating, she joined Jasmin Vardimon 2 as a young dancer, touring the UK. Alongside teaching Contemporary Dance at Bourn to Dance, Jenna has been working as a dancer for various dance and theatre companies across the country, as well as pursuing her own practice with a ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant from Arts Council England.