Firebird Academy of Ballet was founded in 2019 by Cassandra Seeger, the principal of the school.
In a fun and imaginatively engaging environment, the school provides superb dance training to students in Coulsdon and surrounding areas. We aim to inspire the passion to dance by opening hearts to the joy of ballet, and we pride ourselves in motivating our dancers to achieve their full potential. Our students are given the opportunity to explore their creativity, realize their dreams, and to delight in personal achievements, all the while surprising themselves and others with their success.
FAB empowers each dancer with opportunities to perform on stage in yearly productions, and they have the option to participate in the exam process with the Royal Academy of Dance when deemed ready. For those students who have demonstrated quality dance execution and are especially keen to challenge themselves, we support their aspirations in competitions at regional dance festivals.
Our students have already proven the quality of their education with a 100% exam pass rate of all distinctions and merits with the Royal Academy of Dance. We have had students audition and receive roles in productions of the Nutcracker and Coppelia with the English Youth Ballet and the National Youth Ballet’s Performance Company.
Our Staff
Cassandra Seeger
Founder/Director
Miss Cassie founded Firebird Academy of Ballet in 2018. Under her leadership and artistic direction, FAB has had a 100% exam pass rate with the Royal Academy of Dance with her students receiving all distinctions or merits. She inspires her students to reach their full potential as dancers using her wealth of ballet experience from the past 30 years. Miss Cassie had a 9-year professional career dancing principal and soloist roles with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Ballet Arizona in the USA, afterwards teaching vocational ballet in San Francisco for over 10 years, acquiring her Professional Dancers’ Teaching Diploma with the Royal Academy of Dance in 2015, her ISTD registered teacher standing in 2020, and her qualification to teach Progressing Ballet Technique in 2023. She has trained and prepared students for RAD exams over the past 10 years, and continues to choreograph for competitions and FAB’s showcase performances while furthering her knowledge of the field… (more)
Elise Smith
Teacher
Miss Elise has recently joined FAB after a professional career dancing as a soloist with the National Theatre of Slovakia (Kosiče). She has gained her qualifications to teach Progressing Ballet Technique and to be a personal physical trainer. She brings her youthful energy, contemporary ballet knowledge and professional experience to teach motivational, fun, and engaging ballet classes to our students. Her previous training with the London Russian Ballet School, Mary Goodhew, the Vaganova Academy in Mikelli, and the European School of Ballet have provided her with the highly developed skill and knowledge of ballet we deliver at FAB… (more)
Kate Stober
Guest Teacher
Miss Kate joins FAB on occasion to provide highly experienced ballet training for our students. Her professional career dancing with the English National Ballet Company, performing in the UK and internationally under the directorship of Ivan Nagy and Derek Deane, has greatly enhanced our students’ skill in dance. She has over 20 years of experience teaching ballet as an RAD registered teacher after having completed her Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma in 2002. Miss Kate’s ballet classes bring refinement and a mature grace to our students’ ballet performance… (more)
Celena Gayle
Teacher
Miss Celena brings to FAB her significant background in childhood education after training with The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, the Central School of Ballet, and the London Russian Ballet School in her youth. She is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance. Her training as an Early Years Practitioner, Level 4 Diploma in Dance Education (ISTD Modern Theatre Dance), and Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies with The Royal Academy of Dance has equipped her with the expertise in dance education to deliver thoughtful and caring classes that are catered brilliantly to the skill level of her students… (more)