Derby

Principal

Jodie Hall

Jodie is our principal and franchisee at Razzamataz Derby.
Having first begun her journey with Razzamataz at a sister school in Sutton Coldfield over 7 years ago, Jodie has spent this entire 7 year journey working closely with former principals Nick & Gemma developing her craft and her career. During Jodie's former years as a student training at Razzamataz in the past, she was selected as dance captain on numerous occasions as well as playing lead roles within shows and winning Senior student of the year. Jodie has performed on stage at the Indigo at the o2 Arena in London in front of thousands!
Jodie was also a winner of funding awarded from the national registered charity, the Razzamataz Future Fund, in 2017, following an audition in front of an industry panel, which contributed towards her musical theatre training. She now holds a Diploma in Musical Theatre, that she completed with a Triple Distinction.
Jodie’s work within the Razzamataz teams across the Midlands has grown from classroom assistant, to advanced assistant and mentoring, training and coaching new team members, along with office, promotional and marketing work as well as her classroom teaching roles; all the way to her role as Principal here at Derby and Duty Manager at Sutton Coldfield.
Jodie is passionate about helping young people within the arts and also attended the young leaders training day with Razz in summer 2016. Jodie loves to pass on her skills and knowledge to our younger Razz students and next generation of performers. Jodie has also spent time training towards further childcare qualifications and also holds experience working in an early years day setting.
Jodie is so passionate about Razzamataz making a big change in so many people's lives for the better.

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Dance Teacher & Management Team

Georgia Gilby BA (Hons) Applied Theatre (Community & Education)

Georgia graduated from the prestigious Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on the three year BA (Hons) Applied Theatre course with a First Class BA Honours Degree. Georgia first joined Razzamataz in Sept 2006 as a student so has been a part of the Razz family for over 17 years now! Having been a student from an early age, she is now proud to be a member of the teaching and management team, with vast experience. Georgia has experience having worked her way up from assisting Minis and Juniors classes originally, through to becoming part of the Razzamataz teaching team in February 2017 at a sister school and management team in 2021. Georgia now teaches many different classes a week with us from Juniors through to Seniors as well as admin and marketing experience in the management team. She has a wealth of performing experience from Razz and outside including Ballet training up to Grade 6 and has also attended the young leaders training day with Razz in her early training phase. During her time training at Razz she was selected as dance captain on numerous occasions as well as playing lead roles within shows and winning Student of the year in 2015 & student of the decade and outstanding contribution in 2017. Georgia was also a winner of funding awarded from the national registered charity, the Razzamataz Future Fund, in 2019, following an audition in front of an industry panel, which is contributed towards her professional drama school training. Georgia is always excited to pass on all of her experience and knowledge to the next generation of young performers!
Georgia also has experience working as a Senior Mentor for the National Citizen Service across a number of years, as well as previous experience in the children’s education sector as an academic tutor.

Drama Teacher

McKenzie Barwick

McKenzie is a performer, with great experience regionally, having performed at Derby Theatre, the Crescent Theatre and more. She has graduated with a first class degree at Derby University, studying a combined joint honours of Theatre Arts and Psychology and is now going on to study her masters degree in dramatherapy. Prior to this, McKenzie holds an A* in Drama & Theatre Arts at A level.
Since the age of 6, McKenzie has been training as an actor, including at a different Razzamataz school herself when she was much younger. McKenzie has gone on to achieve her Gold DofE award, meeting Prince Charles in the process. Her career also includes having worked as a Zumba Instructor and she is also a keen Musician.

Singing Teacher

Nina Blaszczyk

Nina graduated from the university of derby with a BSc (Hons) Mathematics and Popular Music Performance with a first class bachelor of science degree.
Nina is a experienced singer songwriter having performed as a lead vocalist in a touring theatre production and co organising charity concerts. She has a passion for performing arts and teaching singing to the younger generation.
Nina also has experience supervising children at the play village in Ashbourne and also enjoys singing, dancing and acting in her spare time.

Minis & Juniors Teacher

Abby Gains

Abby has recently graduated from the university of Derby with a first class degree in Theatre Arts with Popular Music Performance. Within Abby’s time at the University, she had the opportunity to take part in an applied theatre module in which she toured local Derbyshire primary schools with a theatrical workshop surrounding the issues existing in our environment. Abby also completed a work experience module, in which she became an assistant at Derby Theatre’s Youth Theatre programme. Abby has also performed in many shows including multiple at Derby Theatre. Alongside this, she worked at the Play Village in Ashbourne, a children’s role play centre. Abby is also a fully qualified girl guiding leader, participating as a girl guide for 15 years and leading since 2020.

Classroom Assistant

Liz (Elizabeth) Nelson

Liz is currently a third year Theatre Arts student at the University of Derby. Originally from Stoke On Trent, Liz was a member of the New Vic Youth Theatre where she performed in Connections festivals and completed her Arts Awards. Liz is loving her studies at Derby and in this past year has taken a show on tour and Assistant Directed a production for the Mainstage. Liz is also a Youth Board Representative for Derby Theatre. Liz also has experience in social media marketing as well as experience in stage managing.

Classroom Assistant

Alice Marples

Alice has had a passion for performing arts since she was a child- attending a Musical theatre school as a student. She has performed in several productions in her time at a Theatre school. Alice is currently studying to become a primary school teacher as she wants to pass her knowledge onto the younger generation. Alice loves to help young people thrive. She is also a big enjoyer of music and musicals, having seen many shows in her spare time.