Cornerstone
arts
entertainment
culture
The courses and workshops tutors at Cornerstone, Didcot are all experienced professionals and passionate about what they do. Take a look below to find out about them.
Eleonora Aldegheri (Ellie) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She began her training in ballet at the age of six and graduated as a Ballet teacher from the Institute Adrienne.
In New York City, Ellie trained extensively with many accomplished teachers and choreographers; and had the honour of performing at Carnegie Hall. Throughout her career, Eleonora has had the privilege to perform alongside many talented artists. In addition to choreographing and directing Lunas Dance Project for performances in Oxford, London and abroad, Ellie is a freelance professional and teaches her regular dance, yoga and Pilates classes at Arts at OFS, Cornerstone, Wychwood school and other dance institutions. She is also a guest teacher abroad.
Colin Guilford studied at Epsom School of Art & Design (Foundation Diploma) & at the Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford University (Bachelor of Fine Art), specialising in life drawing and anatomical drawing.
Alongside drawing tutoring, he works as plan designer and furniture maker, when he's not looking after his two boys.
Lisa Turner is a professional artist and qualified tutor. She studied at Cardiff School of Art and Design and is a landscape painter who exhibits around Oxfordshire and is regularly commissioned to paint landscapes. Lisa co-founded Abingdon Art school and is a former contestant of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year.
Amy started dancing with Step in Time, School of Performing arts (ISTD), at the age of 3 years and completed examinations in Ballet, Tap and Modern Dance. She also studied RAD ballet to the age of 19. Amy has performed in several national theatres, including Oxford New Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Swan Theatre, Saddlers Wells & The Royal Albert Hall. She has a BA(Hons) in Dance and Performance where she studied at Buckinghamshire New University and holds teaching qualifications with the IDTA. She is currently the Head of Creative and Expressive Arts at Aureus secondary School.
Laura trained at Arts Educational London and has 17 years experience teaching acting, creative theatre, short film-making, musical theatre, authentic street dance and coaching for LAMDA exams. Laura’s approach to theatre is playful and collaborative; she brings a variety of styles to her teaching, keen to develop versatile, confident performers. Her love of dance is evident in the physical elements of her theatre-making and use of music within story-telling. In 2012 Laura founded GreenRoomCollective, offering a platform for young people to have their stories and their voices heard; nurturing individual growth and empowering creative resilience through weekly classes, workshops in schools, community groups and as part of theatre outreach programmes, and by staging original Hip Hop Theatre productions written and devised in collaboration with GRC’s young people. Laura feels passionately that, before all else, our shared creativity should inspire community, empowerment and joy. Laura lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two daughters where she enjoys adventuring in nature, festivals, writing, going to the theatre, sharing delicious food with friends, and kitchen discos with her family.
Hattie Thomas is a musician and performer who studied puppetry and alternative theatre in Prague as part of her degree at Rose Bruford College. Having loved performing and creating from a young age Hattie enjoys both making and performing with her theatre company, Smoking Apples, with a specialism in puppetry, she enjoys the challenge of bringing inanimate objects to life in a way that is engaging and relatable for audiences.
Alongside devising and directing theatre, Hattie makes puppets and props for other companies, as well as designing print and marketing images. Hattie also teaches drama and puppetry to various ages and abilities, specialising in engaging people living with dementia.
Karin began dancing ballet at age 3 and tap and freestyle a few years later. After progressing through her graded and professional dance performers exams in her teens she began studying for the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) teaching exams, becoming a pre-associate teacher of freestyle at 16. By age 19 she was an IDTA associate and gained a place at Buckinghamshire New University where she gained an FDa in Dance Teaching with special commendation. After university, Karin began teaching many classes as well as performing locally; choreographing showpieces and working with students of all ages and levels before taking time out to start a family. Karin returned to teaching in 2015 and has since been adding to her portfolio of teaching qualifications via the IDTA, dancing and choreographing with local production companies and providing training opportunities for new teachers.
Eden Silver-Myer loves empowering people to create, play and explore. With a background in art and jewellery designing and making, she is an art facilitator and certified mindfulness teacher who enjoys helping people experiment with art. Her aim for Mess Makers is to allow children to explore their imaginations and ideas through playing with different art materials. She also runs our Art Buffet classes; these 90 minute playful art sessions are aimed at adults who want to explore their creative side in a completely informal and pressure-free setting.