ABOUT NANFANS
Nanfans ballet school was established in 2015 originally at the lovely studio at Nanfans Grange in Prestwood.
While we all have fond memories of our time at Nanfans, with the growth of the school, lessons are now held at Little Missenden village hall and Prestwood Gym and Fitness Centre. Both venues have mirrors, barres and sprung floors.
Diane Hiscock trained locally from the age of 3 where she soon discovered her lifelong love of ballet, before completing her training at the esteemed Bird College in Kent. She is qualified with the Royal Academy of Dance and is also an Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. The school follows the RAD syllabus and prepares children for the RAD exams. The school has a 100% pass rate in all exams. Diane is very proud to be one of the first cohort of 30 teachers worldwide to be able to offer the Royal Ballet School’s new pioneering and holistic, student focused method of ballet training - The Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme (ATAP). Diane also acts as a mentor for the Royal Academy of Dance training RAD teachers. Diane has taught for a number of years in Dubai and the UK.
Apart from her love of teaching ballet to children, Diane is passionate about teaching ballet to adults. Her ethos is that everyone can do ballet and will feel the wonderful benefits that it brings to both body and mind. There are a number of adult classes on the timetable each week making the school one of the leading centres for adult ballet in the local area. Diane is a Silver Swans Licensed teacher for the RAD and also took part in the RAD’s research for their Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing Project.
TEACHING STAFF
Lisa Norman
Lisa was born in Melbourne, Australia and trained in RAD ballet at the National Theatre Ballet School & at Bartuccios Performing Arts School in Musical Theatre.
Her theatre credits include:
CHICAGO, London UK West End production, SOUTH PACIFIC and ONCE UPON A TIME in Copenhagen.
Prior to this Lisa performed principle dancing roles at the prestigious LIDO DE PARIS in France.
Her television credits include:
Hans Christian Anderson 200th Anniversary &
The Australian Film Industry awards (ABC TV).
Lisa has taught Ballet & Musical Theatre all around the world during her dancing career & continuing on after she retired from dancing in 2014. Since joining Nanfans in 2019 Lisa has become a much loved teacher to our younger students and also teaches our Musical Theatre classes!
Naomi Wallis
Naomi began her dancing life at The Red Shoes School in outside of Ipswich, Suffolk and then at 11 progressed onto the Suffolk Ballet Scholarship scheme taught by Val Sunderland, Angela Rowe, Cynthia Harvey and Amanda Maxwell.
She gained a BSc(hons) in Oceanography with Geology at the University of Southampton. Upon graduating, she returned to Ballet at London Studio Centre completing vocational exams.
In 2007, her teaching journey began with Kit Dickinson who also mentored her to become a registered RAD Ballet Teacher. She also studied for a Diploma in Dance at Birkbeck College, University of London, working professionally in TV, film and Children’s Theatre throughout this time.
She has completed an MA in Education recently and is waiting for the result.
Naomi has taught extensively throughout the London area and the Home Counties and she spent three years teaching in Auckland, New Zealand. She has developed students for auditions, festivals, vocational school and university entry. She also teaches ballet conditioning through PBT and is a certified Acrobatic Arts teacher. She has three children and lives in Chesham.