Founding Members
Ellen Miller
Ellen Miller has over 30 years’ experience as a performer, choreographer and freelance dance teacher. Formal teaching in schools and colleges includes teaching and assessment of national performing arts qualifications, and standards verification of dance and performing arts units. Professional dance training began with The Jiving Lindy Hoppers whilst studying Performance arts at Middlesex University , and continued with Authentic Jazz dance company Zoots & Spangles. Performances with Zoots & Spangles included tours with the Humphrey Lyttleton band in the UK and overseas, and a UK tour of the arts council funded show “Zazou”. Other performance work included performing in the UK tour of “Awakening” & “Benin” choreographed by Jackie Guy & Peter Badejo, as well as appearing as a featured dance performer in Channel 4 commissioned film “Ama - An African Voyage of Rediscovery”. Other company performance work and collaborations included theatre and tv performances with Fours Company Dance Theatre and State Of Emergency Productions.
Annette Walker
MA, BSc (Hons), DipHE
Tap dance-musician, Researcher, Educator
Annette is an accomplished, multi-talented performing artist who has appeared in a variety of theatre, film, television and concert productions. Her tap dance features include the BBC Proms 2019 Duke Ellington's Sacred Music concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Swinging at the Cotton Club (UK tour) and the short film, Dateleap (2022). As an aerial circus artist, she was one of the Mary Poppinses in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Annette is the founder and the musical director of the band, Rhythmaticians, and headlined the Marsden Jazz Festival with her new tap dance show in 2021. She also works as a music director and musician for other dance, music and theatre productions with credits that include Swing Sister Swing (UK tour 2022), Myke Masters Band and Sandi Toksvig’s Mirth Control at the WOW Festival at the Southbank Centre.
Annette’s passion for integrating music and dance continues off stage as a researcher and educator and she has taught at many dance and music institutions including, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Royal Academy of Dance, The BRIT School, National Youth Jazz Collective and Tomorrow’s Warriors. She led the Renegade Stage (tap improvisation workshop) at the London Tap Jam for over 15 years, and is currently a co-director of Tap Dance Research Network UK. Annette is a fully funded AHRC PhD student researching the influence of African American choreographer, Buddy Bradley, on the British musical stage.
Jreena Green
Jreena Green is a professional dancer, choreographer, dance teacher and 'practical dance historian'. She studied at The London Contemporary Dance School and did a degree in Dance Studies at Middlesex University. She has performed at the Lincoln Centre New York with legendary dancers Norma Miller and Frankie Manning. She was also a leading dancer with the Jiving Lindy Hoppers Dance Company. She has her own dance company Jazz Dance Elite who tour nationally in the show ‘Swinging At The Cotton Club’, and she previously featured in the Len Goodman documentary series 'Cheek To Cheek' where she demonstrated historical African American dance forms. Recent credits as choreographer include major commercials for Guinness, M&S, Balmain, Youtube, Google, KFC, Mr Muscle, Grandmarnier and Levis, the feature film ‘The Phantom of the Open’ for Working Title films and the TV series ‘Three Little Birds’ for ITV. Credits as a dancer/lead actress include leads in 'Falling' for Green Candle Dance Company, 'Mrs Wobble' for Theatre Peckham, 'The Josephine Baker Show' and ‘The Joe Harriot Show’ (the last two of which she also wrote and produced). She was an assistant dance captain on the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and has a background choreographing feature films and music videos, doing international tours with established musical acts and performing in West End musicals (she was original cast of the Tony award winning show 'The Lion King'). Jreena has taught Jazz dance at numerous institutions including Central School of Ballet, London Contemporary Dance School, The Laban Centre, Theatre Peckham, Guilford School of Acting, The Musical Theatre Academy and Mountview College. As part of her teaching practice, she has developed a module entitled 'Charleston To Hip Hop' which explores the links between current urban dance styles and African American dance styles from the 1920's. Her students have won numerous dance awards including the Southwark dance Challenge. Jreena is the co-author of a chapter of the book ‘From The Streets To The Stage: Lindy Hop and Charleston, the original street dance forms’ which explores the links between Lindy Hop and contemporary urban street dance (published in Blurring Boundaries: Urban Street Meets Contemporary Dance, Serendipity Artists Movement Ltd 2016).
Website: https://www.jreenagreen.com/home
Juliet Vibert
The Collective also has the expertise of Juliet Conway who has knowledge and history of Authentic Jazz and brings years of practical experience.
Jerry Barry IDJ
Jerry Barry, founder of IDJ (I Dance Jazz), is a key figure in the world of UK Jazz. One of the most influential companies at the time, IDJ were a company that created and developed a new dance style but also gave a new voice to black British youth spanning over two decades. His company has not only performed in major theatres and TV shows around the world but has also been an influence on British culture and across the world. Japan is now seen as one of the leading countries to showcase UK Jazz.
Despite lack of funding, Jerry and other UK Jazz pioneers have kept the art form alive in the community with activities such as all-day events and underground gatherings. Jerry trains young dancers and works with Authentic Jazz dance practitioner and practical historian, Jreena Green and her company, Jazz Dance Elite. Both Jerry and Jreena have been working together over the past three years, linking the authentic Jazz from America with the UK Jazz style and techniques, which has helped develop awareness of different styles and genres. Jerry’s work has assisted young professional dancers to grow and develop their practice from hip hop, contemporary, and commercial jazz dance backgrounds. These dancers can utilise UK jazz to further their skills and diversity beyond dance.