Since 2001, The Pop Workshop, located in Bromley’s Civic Centre, has been teaching young people from 4-18 years old to dance. With child obesity on the rise, dance is an excellent way of getting sufficient exercise as well as reducing stress, strengthening self-confidence and bettering social skills. The founder, Vicky Melrose, recently gave up The Pop Workshop and handed the ownership over to two fresh faced sisters from musical theatre backgrounds, Francesca Hoffman and Gaby Dunk. They hope to bring innovative ideas and ingenious moves to The Pop Workshop.
Their favourite thing? Teaching young people every week and seeing an improvement. Francesca comments, ‘you really feel like you have accomplished something as a teacher when one dance move or a new dynamic just clicks with a student and that’s down to them practising and focusing in their class,’ whilst Gaby mentions, ‘they improve week after week and always work hard in classes, whilst having fun at the same time. It is a very rewarding job.’
But what made the sisters want to take over from Vicky after her fifteen year run? ‘I have taught as guest teacher for Vicky over the past ten years and when the opportunity came up we could not turn it down. I would always tell Gaby how talented and enthusiastic the students were,’ remarked Francesca. The sisters have confidence that they can ‘bring a new energy and start a new chapter for The Pop Workshop.’
With annual summer showcases and additional classes planned, The Pop Workshop is bound to be an immense hit with Bromley youth in the weeks and months to come. For more information, visit www.thepopworkshop.co.uk.
Katie Wedge, Bromley High School
