
WHO ARE WE?
The LCI Dance Centre was brought to life by Gemma Penfold in 2017.
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The letters LCI stand for Love, Create, Inspire - a motto that motivates the school and teaching style. The aim of the school is to help build a rock solid sense of self belief and confidence in all our children, one step at a time, through the magic of dance.
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Our high quality dance classes are specifically tailored to each age group and child's progress.











MEET THE TEAM...
Gemma Penfold
Director/Principal Teacher

Gemma has been dancing since the age of 2. Over the years, she has trained in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Latin American, Ballroom, Disco, National and Contemporary.
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At the age of 17 she was offered a place at the Lillian McNeill School of Dance as a Full Time student and, after 3 years, graduated with vocational exams in the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance (SDTA), Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD) and Royal Academy of Dance (RAD). She also gained her teaching qualifications with the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance (SDTA).
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Gemma has enjoyed performing in many Musicals at the Kings Theatre and Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow with The Apollo Players, over the years. She has also had experience dancing in music videos, at sporting events and modelling.
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After college, she went on to perform in various countries as a professional dancer before landing her dream job as a Showgirl for Carnival Cruise Lines. For the following 11 years she was based in the USA and traveled the world with the cruise line performing Las Vegas and Broadway style shows before retiring from the performing world in 2014.
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Gemma has completed her Module 1 teaching certification with Acrobatic Arts. She has also become a qualified iD-Company teacher in the genres of Contemporary, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre. Most recently, she joined the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) and is thrilled to be part of such a supportive and positive dance community.
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Gemma is proud to present the LCI Dance Centre and pass on her biggest passion to a new generation of dancers. LCI stands for Love, Create, Inspire - a motto that motivates the school and teaching style. She hopes to inspire and build confidence in the children and create a positive community that the children and parents can become part of.
Nyah Anderson
Musical Theatre/Vocal Coach
Nyah began her training in Dance from the young age of 2, competing in festivals and Highland Dancing Championships. She then found her voice and realised that she wanted to be on the stage.
She started her professional training at Glasgow's Academy of Musical Theatre Arts from the age of 14, then moved to London to further her training and study Musical Theatre at Bird College.
Nyah later studied music and songwriting at the West College of Scotland to gain more knowledge about the voice and how to use it effectively.
Over the years Nyah has enjoyed the stage, performing in many shows such as, Cinderella (SECC), Oliver!(The citizens theatre), Lead vocalist (Royal Concert Hall), Lead Vocalist (Across the board), Lead Vocalist (UKA conference, Blackpool Winter Gardens).
She also enjoyed working as a background artist in TV, credits include, Outlander(STARZ), River City (BBC), The Nest (BBC), voice over for Giff Gaff Adverts (The Voice UK), Finalist for Amy Winehouse in STARSTRUCK (ITV).
Singing is a big part of Nyah's life and she continues to gig in many venues across Scotland in a music duo with her husband.
She has been teaching voice for 2 years now and explained that it brings her so much joy to watch young people gain confidence, find their inner voice, and fall in love with singing the same way she did!

Sammy-Jo Blakemore
Commercial Jazz

We are delighted to have Sammy-Jo join the LCI family. She trained in dance from the young age of 2 here in Helensburgh. Her love and knowledge of dance and theatre was expanded when she began performing with the Apollo Players Theatre Group in Glasgow as she got the chance to perform in iconic venues like the Kings and Pavilion Theatre.
To further her training she attended Anniesland College in Glasgow where she gained her HND as a Dance Artist. During this time Sammy-Jo was picked to represent the Eutopia programme and travelled to Portugal as part of a team.
Sammy-Jo continued her dance education and graduated in 2017 from one of the UK's top performing arts schools, London Studio Centre, from their Jazz Co Company, after a very successful tour.
Not long after graduation Sammy-Jo was offered a contact at Disneyland Paris! Whilst there, she was able to make hundreds of children’s dreams come true, performing as some of our much loved princesses. Sammy-Jo was lucky enough to be part of the opening casts of the Starlight Princess Waltz’s and 25th anniversary parade. She also performed in the season of Pirate and Princess, and Mickeys Halloween Season. She also had the opportunity to be a Mouseketeer and took part in dancing with characters on parade.
Sammy-Jo is excited to be part of the LCI team and can’t wait to meet you all!
Greg Penfold
Adult Ballroom and Latin
Greg comes to us from the beautiful country of New Zealand and started his dancing career at the age of 16. Greg was originally a Ballroom and Latin dancer, participating in, and winning, many competitions over his 7 years on the circuit.
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He then took an interest in Musical Theatre, performing in West Side Story, Evita and 42nd Street with the semi-professional New Zealand theatre group - Showbiz Christchurch.
​After this, Greg moved to Wellington, NZ, to study dance at the Wellington
Performing Arts Centre. Here he took classes in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary and Theatre to enhance his dancing skills.
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Greg was soon offered a contract with Carnival Cruise Lines and headed off to America to enjoy a very successful 12 year career which included being selected to join the Inaugural cast on the Carnival Valor - quite the privilege.
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Since moving to Scotland, Greg decided to take his Ballroom and Latin qualifications to the next level and became a teacher with the Scottish Dance Teachers Association (SDTA).
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Greg is delighted to be our resident Ballroom and Latin teacher, sharing his love of dance with our Adults in our weekly classes.

OUR CLASSES
Children's Classes



Adult Classes
We are delighted to announce our Adult Ballroom classes will return in August. Please contact us for more details.

CONTACT US
Helensburgh, Scotland