PQA Ashford.

Jenna Shields

Jenna has been involved in the performing arts from a young age and was a member of West End Kids from the age of twelve. This led to numerous high-profile performances including Move It and West End Live. Jenna was also a student at PQA Canterbury for a number of years, so she really understands what it means to be a PQA student. During her time with the academy, Jenna performed the lead role of Annie Weathermoon in ‘Trouble’s A Brewin’ at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End. Having completed many dance exams during her training, Jenna then went on to teach Rock n Roll classes before joining the PQA Ashford staff when the academy opened in 2019. Jenna’s own student experience at PQA gives her a unique understanding of how the academy works as both a student and staff member. In the three years she has worked with the company, Jenna has assisted in every module, and taught both Musical Theatre and Poppets, at both PQA Ashford and PQA Thanet. We are delighted that Jenna will now be taking over as our Poppets teacher and she can’t wait to work on and experience some fun lessons with the Poppets!

Marie Kemp

From a very young age Marie has had a passion for the arts which led her to drama school. After graduating, Marie has worked on touring productions including Peter Pan as Wendy Darling, Aladdin as Princess Jasmine and Hobson's Choice as Alice. It was at drama school Marie found she was also passionate about helping others develop their craft. She often says that she's not interested in creating a legion of Shirley Temples, instead boosting confidence and nurturing creativity.

Natasha Branson

Natasha is a passionate film producer and experienced script supervisor who has extensive knowledge of the filmmaking process from script development to filming and editing With an interest in both fiction and documentary, she has a variety of award-winning short films under her belt. These include short documentary 'SMILE,' ‘Granbad’ that was screened at BAFTA, BIFA and Academy qualifying festivals and ‘The Encounter at Boundless’ which was produced during the pandemic and now has over 270,000 views on Omeleto (YouTube). Current producing projects include 'The Minds of Others'; a feature documentary which is in post-production, and 'Wilderness'; a horror feature film that is in the development stage of production. Natasha also produces video content and commercials for a variety of high-profile clients both in the UK and abroad. In 2022 Natasha was selected to be a BAFTA Connect member. This prestigious scheme aims to support the next generation of film and television talent through insights from BAFTA winners and nominees, and a community of peers and future collaborators.

Sofiane New

Sofiane studied Musical Theatre at Colchester Institute and then furthered her education by completing a PGCE at Canterbury Christ Church University. Sofiane also trained in Estill voice training whilst studying and enjoys teaching students how to look after and get the most out of their voice. Whilst at university, Sofiane also ran the dance company called CIDCO and performed as part of the vocal ensemble Singdicate. Her most recent roles were Sandra in Big Fish (Mercury Theatre), solo vocalist (Battersea barge) and Rusty in Footloose (Lanfranc theatre). Sofiane is Musical Theatre teacher at PQA Ashford and PQA Thanet.

Sophie Didcock