Our Teachers
Lynsey Delaforte, BA (HONS), ANATD
MSTD Principal, Ballet, tap and Jazz teacher
Ms Lynsey began Ballet at the age of 6 and trained to professional level with the Royal Academy of Dance, supplementing her Ballet training with classes in ISTD Tap, Modern Stage Dance and National. Throughout the course of her training Ms Lynsey had the honour of tutelage by such Ballet luminaries as Miss Jean Bedells, Miss June Mitchell and Miss Valerie Draper. Studying Dance at A’ level introduced Ms Lynsey to the world of contemporary Dance and in particular Graham and Cunningham technique with the highly respected Mandy Stewart Smith.
Ms Lynsey was forced to cut short her training after sustaining a serious injury and temporarily abandon her dreams of a career in dance. After graduating Ms Lynsey began work as a marketing manager for the Financial Times, but her passion for dance quickly resurfaced and she returned to the stage, performing as a dancer and aerial hoop artist in arts venues including The Rose Theatre, Richmond Theatre and The London Palladium. Ms Lynsey returned to teaching dance full time in the autumn of 2010, after attaining Double Honours in her NATD Associate Ballet qualifications.
For 10 years, beginning in 2010, Ms Lynsey taught Community Dance Clubs in Primary Schools across the boroughs of Richmond and Hounslow for Dansicality, as well as teaching traditional Classical Ballet and Tap classes at Suzanna Raymond School of Dance in Teddington. In 2017, Ms Lynsey established the highly successful Theatre Dance programme at Kelly’s Dance Studio in Hampton Wick.
In September 2020, Ms Lynsey finally established her own dance school, The Moderne School of Theatre Dance and has never looked back!
Lena Pechlivanides BA (Hons)
Contemporary Dance, Jazz, Ballet and yoga teacher
Lena started dancing at the age of 3 on the small Greek island of Kos. She attended Ballerinas & Dreams Dance School until 2011 where she attained a variety of Dance & Performance Arts achievements, awarded by the I.D.T.A & R.A.D including Ballet, Modern Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern/Contemporary and Musical Theatre. Lena has participated in many dance shows as well as choreographing dance numbers for many performances, local festivals and competitions throughout Greece.
Lena graduated from the University of Bedfordshire with BA (Hons) in Performing Arts in 2014. The course focused on Physical Theatre, Contemporary Dance, Choreography, Directing & Acting. This is where she discovered her passion for choreographing and exploring the relationship of body & space through movement. Throughout her studies, she choreographed and performed a number of dance pieces for showcases, taught dance classes to secondary school students and worked closely with year 11 students for their GCSE Dance exam.
Through her background in dance, Lena started practicing yoga & experienced the benefits it has on the body and mind. During her travels around Australia she started teaching yoga in local parks & gyms in Far North Queensland & Sydney as well as teaching private lessons. Lena went on to obtain her 200hr Yoga Teaching Qualification for Hatha and Vinyasa flow in Bali in 2019 and Pranashama Yoga Institute Yoga Practitioner Diploma in 2020. Additionally Ms Lena holds a Level 3 Fitness Diploma, Anatomy of the Body Diploma and Level 3 First Aid Training.