Hampstead Hive Member Spotlight - Erna Kuenen

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS..

My name is Erna Kuenen and run Jumpup Dance Academy, a dance school based in Hampstead, Regents Park and St John’s Wood as well as in Mill Hill. I am an Royal Academy of Dance Examiner and together with my team of fully qualified and registered teachers we provide Ballet, Tap Dance, Modern and Street Dance classes for ages 3-18+ across various venues in NW London

Our venues are - O2 Centre, St Margarets School, St Mark’s Church NW1, The UCL Academy

What inspired you to start your business?

I’m a trained dancer & teacher and studied at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. After performing for ten years professionally both in the UK & abroad, I decided to settle in the UK and started teaching at Stella Mann College, a vocational college training dancers in musical theatre I also started Jumpup at the then Royal School ( now North Bridge House) together with a dance friend. Both our daughters attended the Royal School and they wanted to offer Ballet as an after school club.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST BUSINESS ACHIEVMENT SO FAR?

We have had quite a few of our students going onto Dance Colleges and they have performed all over the world and on the West End.Two of my students are currently performing in the West End in major roles so I am very proud that they started at Jumpup. We currently have a student attending the Royal Ballet School Associates and she has been chosen to appear in Sleeping Beauty and is currently in the performance group touring various schools around the country.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE NEXT?

Our next project is our dance school show which will take place in 2024. The students love performing on stage and for them it’s the highlight of the year. I would like to be able to offer more performance opportunities and am currently looking into performing at Disneyland Paris. I would also like to start an agency to offer students the opportunity to audition for roles in Theatre and films

WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU LIKE TO OFFER SOMEONE THINKING OF ENTERING INTO YOUR FIELD?

Running a dance school ( I run three schools) is hard work but ever so rewarding. I love seeing the little 3 year olds growing into mature young adults and they are often with us till age 18 when they leave for University. We have currently quite a few students who want to do a dance related degree

WHAT ENCOURAGED YOU TO JOIN HAMPSTEAD HIVE AND WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITHIN THE HIVEBEEN LIKE SO FAR?

The hive members are a fantastic group of women and they are very supportive and have helped me to get the jumpup brand out into the community. I enjoy being a member of the hive and it has introduced me to other businesses in the area, which otherwise I might not have found out about. Jumpup also gained a few new dance students as some of the Hive members have started to bring their children to our classes.

WHERE CAN WE GO TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS/ACCESS YOUR SERVICES?

Our website is www.jumpup.co.uk and we are on facebook & Instagram @jumpupdance

and have just started on tik tok @jumpupdanceacademy