Our Adjudicator

NATHAN JAMES

Nathan trained in the Midlands in all Musical Theatre Disciplines along with gaining many of his early teaching qualifications. His first professional engagement was in ‘Cinderella’ with Brian Conley and Danny La Rue. Subsequent pantomimes have included ‘Snow White’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Cinderella’, all at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

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For 3 years Nathan sailed the high seas for both Celebrity and Princess Cruise Lines, performing in a variety of Productions aboard these impressive cruise liners. It also ignited his passion for travelling. Upon returning to England and settling in London, Nathan has performed in a range of regional productions including ‘Copacabana’ and ‘Hello Dolly’, and various trade shows and TV commercials. He has toured the UK in the national tour of ‘Copacabana’ and Europe in the Irish dance show ‘Spirit of the Dance’. He also completed a season at the renowned Chichester Festival Theatre. Nathan last appeared in the revival of the Broadway Musical ‘42nd Street’, albeit in German, in the city of Stuttgart.

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For the last 17 years Nathan has concentrated on his first passion, teaching. Specialising in Tap, Jazz and Musical Theatre styles he has taught at many of the major Vocational Colleges in the UK, including Arts Educational School, Bodywork Dance Studios and Sylvia Young Theatre School. Until July 2019 Nathan was Director of HE Programmes at the Urdang Academy, where he now runs the teacher training courses. Nathan also teaches at Dupont Dance in Leicester and has established the school as an ISTD Approved Dance Centre. Regular visits to the USA continue to further his knowledge in the tap and musical theatre genres and he was invited to perform in a showcase of new work at the Leonard Nimoy Theatre in New York. Nathan was awarded an MA in Professional Practice (Dance Education) with Distinction from Middlesex University and a PhD in Dance from the University of Roehampton.

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Nathan is an experienced adjudicator and was Vice-Chair of the Adjudicator’s Council for the British Federation. He is currently the Artistic Director and a trustee on the All-England Dance Panel. He is also a Modern and Tap examiner for the ISTD and a committee member of the Tap Faculty. In 2020 Nathan, alongside fellow tap teacher Alison Forrester, founded the UK Online Shim-Sham which saw over 200 tap dancers gather online on May 25th to celebrate National Tap Dance Day in the US. Nathan currently teaches tap at Performer’s College Birmingham alongside devising and launching the Ofqual regulated Dang Theatre and Dance Syllabus graded examinations in Musical Theatre where he is now Managing Director.

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Further information can be found at: www.nathanjamesdance.com

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