Company Directors
'Building Confidence Creatively' Since 2017'
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Gem
Company Director
BA Hons Event Management
PGCE Further Education & Training
ADPA Musical Theatre
Gem has many years experience in performing arts, teaching Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre whilst specialising in Early Years Theatre.
Never missing a chance to try something new, Gem has had opportunity to live and travel in various places around the world whilst working and performing. In 2005, Gem made the biggest move of her life to California, USA to train at the California Pacific College of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, joining the prestigious group 'The Young Americans', her time here involved teaching and performing in music outreach tours in USA, Germany and UK.
The ethos of The Young Americans was to promote music as a universal language particularly the importance of music in schools, this outlook is something that Gem feels very strongly about and continues to use as a focus in her work.
Some of Gem's fondest memories include representing England as a street dancer in competition in California and taking on the role of Head of Performing Arts on a summer camp in New York where she had the privilege to work with Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas and teaching in Singapore.
After returning to the UK to complete a BA Hons degree it wasn't long before Gem got the urge to travel again and made the move to Singapore where she worked as a Performing Arts teacher, choreographing and directing various shows whilst maintaining a focus on theatre for Early Years.
Amongst all of this, Gem became a fully qualified nursery nurse, she has years of experience working in childcare settings and a sound understanding of learning and development for this age group.
Gem has also completed a PGCE in further eduction with a specialism in Special Needs, Gem has covered a range of subjects at college level including business studies, performing arts, child care, marketing and web design.
In recent years, with the importance of positive mental health being so prevalent, Gem has studied mindfulness based stress reduction with the aim to promote this in a classroom setting, this combined with training to become a Relax Kids and ChargeUp! has given Gem many tools that assist in the promotion of wellbeing with young people.
Wanting to further her knowledge, Gem completed the Advanced diploma in teaching performing arts with a focus on teaching musical theatre. This diploma was delivered by RSL, as a result of this ReachOut School of Arts are proud to now offer the RSL/PAA syllabus within our weekly sessions .
In her spare time, Gem enjoys writing her very own Children's stories and plays., being a bit of a tech geek and exploring the great outdoors through geo caching. She also enjoys watching and visiting anywhere that is 'Tudor' period related and visiting Cornwall whenever it is possible.
ReachOut Arts has been a long time in the making and Gem is very proud to be at the helm alongside her old school friend Saskia.
Saskia
Company Director
BA Hons Theatre Performance & Event Design
MA Drama & Theatre in Education
Saskia has a vast range of experience in the performing arts growing up with parents who were professionals in the music and entertainment industry.
Saskia trained at Europe’s leading contemporary vocal school ‘VocalTech’ in London at the age of 18. She has performed up and down the country in a variety of venues including Shepherds Bush Empire and a variety of festivals.
Never quite hanging up the mic for good, Saskia furthered her knowledge in the arts by studying a BA Hons degree in Theatre Performance and Event design. This course led her to work with a variety of large festivals and event companies including Merlin Entertainment, Birmingham Hippodrome and the Birmingham Rep.
Saskia worked for many years both as a professional performer and freelance teacher before taking on an MA in Drama and Theatre in Education.
During her post graduate training she worked with a wide variety of ages, but found that she very much enjoyed working with the teen and young adults age group. Saskia also has a strong interest in theatre to support Special educational needs.
Verbatim Theatre is an element of her drama studies that she has found really useful and often uses this style within an educational/PHSE setting.
Having focused in recent years on community outreach and young people she has gained experience with a variety of children and young adults, working for a variety of settings including ‘The National Citizen Service’ and a number of theatre empowerment companies in schools up and down the country.
Still performing whenever she has the chance, Saskia can be seen in plays, musicals and live music venues across the county. Often also taking on the role of director or producer.
She has taught performing arts for many years to a variety of ages, and has always had a strong student base for private tuition in Singing and Drama.
With wellbeing being so vital to the community, Saskia studied the art of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in which she learned many skills and practices enabling her to create theatre and NLP programs to aid confidence in both an educational setting and in more corporate environments.
Saskia is a self confessed foodie and alongside her partner, a professional chef, she also runs popular food blog ‘Hungry Guys’. She loves to research food and recipes from the past and this hobby can be seen in some of the Medieval Days programmes ReachOut Arts provide.
Saskia also loves to run and has participated in a number of races and triathlons in the country.
Saskia is extremely proud of the achievements of ReachOut Arts so far and knows there are many more to come.