Catherine aims to have people jumping to dance acrobatics classes
A professional dancer from Cramlington is aiming to help train the next generation of acrobatic dance teachers.
Catherine Muckle once performed in circus shows, contemporary productions and parkour dance companies is now the director of circus and dance studio Company Control & Move Fitness CIC and has launched an accredited training programme designed to teach adults how to deliver dance acrobatics classes.
Based in Cramlington, Catherine has spent more than a decade working professionally in dance after graduating from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds in 2013.
Her career included performances in theatre, circus, contemporary dance and parkour-based productions before she shifted her focus towards community teaching following the Covid pandemic.
Today, her organisation delivers acrobatics, circus, dance and fitness sessions across Northumberland, including Cramlington, Blyth, Morpeth and Alnwick.
She said: “We realised there was a real shortage of people who could teach both dance and acrobatics together.
"We could find brilliant dance teachers or fantastic circus coaches, but very few who had both skill sets.
“So we decided that instead of searching for those people, we needed to create them ourselves.”
The new qualification is accredited by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA – and has attracted interest from dance teachers, teaching assistants and parents keen to develop new skills.
Dance acrobatics combines elements of gymnastics and dance performance, blending moves such as handstands, cartwheels and bridges with choreography, creativity and musical interpretation.
Catherine added: “For us it is not just about teaching a trick perfectly, it’s about helping young people express themselves creatively through movement and performance.”
Alongside the teacher training programme, Catherine is preparing for a busy summer after securing support from Cramlington Town Council for its holiday activity camps.
Nearly 350 places for this year’s summer camps were fully booked within 12 hours of being released.
Further information can be found at www.cmstudios.online.