It’s curtain up on new stage school
Ashley wants to open up opportunites for all youngsters
It’s lights, camera, action as the curtain rises on a new musical theatre school.
Ashley Gardner Musical Theatre ( AGMT) opens for business in Johnstone later this month.
The organisation will teach acting, song and dance to young people between the ages of four to 18.
It’s the result of the vision of Paisley girl Ashley Gardner, who has ambitions of improving performing arts services in Johnstone.
The 25- year- old trained for three years at an elite arts school in London named CPA, and went on to perform and teach around the UK.
She returned home and moved to Paisley in 2014 to pursue her dream of running a dance company.
“I realised that as much as I loved performing, teaching was what I wanted to do,” Ashley explained.
“And after months of working for other dance schools, I just thought, I want to work for myself.
There’s a lot of self-pride that can be gained in engagement with the performing arts Ashley Gardner
“I bit the bullet and knew that if I don’t do it now, I never would.”
Ashley recruited local dance teachers Jennifer Scott and Esme Barr and AGMT was born.
With their own teaching space inside Johnstone Town Hall, the trio will run weekly classes, teaching youngsters ballet, jazz, tap, singing, drama, musical theatre and more.
Classes will be split according to age group — kids aged four to five will attend minis, six to eight will be juniors, nine to 11 inters and 12 to 18 seniors.
Pupils will learn technique and work towards end- of- term performances, which will be staged ever Christmas and summer in the town hall.
Ashley said: “AGMT is all about combining learning and having fun.
“We will focus on routines and technique, but also on the person’s growth as a performer.
“There’s a lot of self-pride that can be gained in learning a new skill and engagement with drama and performing arts will help build kids’ self esteem.”
Ashley, Esme and Jennifer hosted a taster session inside the town hall on Tuesday, giving local youngsters and parents a chance to come along and see what the musical theatre group is about.
The day consisted of condensed singing, dance and drama classes.
“The session was brilliant and all the kids loved it,” Ashley said.
“I was completely swamped with sign-ups that night, which is fantastic.”
Ashley hopes AGMT wi l l contribute to performing arts in Renfrewshire and improve facilities in Johnstone.
She added: “There’s a lot of dance and drama groups in Paisley but there’s no real arts facilities in Johnstone.
“I want to open up opportunities across Renfrewshire and make performing more accessible for youngsters who might feel they’ve been missing out.
“I’m very excited about what’s to come.”