Our Staff
Catherine Loveless
Principal
Catherine trained at Elmhurst Ballet School and the Royal Ballet Upper School and became a professional Ballet dancer with Dusseldorf Ballet and English National Ballet.
A back injury forced her to finish her career and she then went on to a number of different jobs including Cabin crew, an event manager for a children’s charity and a Journalist for a Yoga magazine. Whilst out in Beijing teaching English as a foreign language she set up a Ballet School and completed the Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma with the Royal Academy of Dance gaining a Distinction. She then returned to London and worked at various Ballet Schools in London before setting up Butterfly Ballet in 2012.
Beth Ackroyd
Vice Principal
Beth trained at a local dance school in Lincoln from the age of 3 and was also an Associate of the Urdang Academy. She holds a First-Class BA (Hons) in Dance Studies from the University of Roehampton and was awarded the Andy Hardy Prize for Excellence. She has an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban, where she received a Trinity Laban Dance Award Scholarship, among other awards. In 2023, she gained Registered Teacher Status with the Royal Academy of Dance through successful completion of CBTS. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a certified Rambert Grades teacher, and a qualified Level 2 PBT teacher.
Beth works as a Freelance Dance Artist with DanceWest, Sadler’s Wells, and the RAD Step into Dance Programme. She also works as a lecturer, researcher, guest artist, and speaker. Specialising in dance science, she is an Academic Tutor at Urdang (City St George’s,University of London), a DDE Assessor for the ISTD working with Safe in Dance International, and a Research Assistant with published research.
Since 2018, Beth has taught at Butterfly Ballet, leading classes in ballet, pointe, PBT, Rambert Grades, and lyrical. She also heads up festivals. Beth is passionate about fostering a nurturing, inspiring, and inclusive environment where all dancers can develop their skills and confidence.
Mikayla Jones
Barnes & Clapham Junction Teacher
Mikayla began her dance training in Bristol, aged 4, training in RAD ballet, tap, modern and contemporary. After many years assisting ballet classes, she decided to further her career and moved to London to begin studying at the Royal Academy of Dance on both their Ballet Education degree and Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance programme in 2021. During her time studying at the RAD, Mikayla continued with her ballet and contemporary training and gained an in-depth knowledge of teaching practice, dance science and the RAD syllabus. She also completed the Karsavina Heritage Award alongside her training.
During her time studying, Mikayla has taught for many dance schools across London, teaching both the RAD and Cecchetti syllabus. She also often volunteers for community dance projects in both Bristol and London. Alongside this, she recently completed the Progressing Ballet Technique qualification.
Sophie Austin
Barnes & Clapham Junction Teacher
Sophie is dance artist from Surrey, currently based in East London. Having trained at Trinity Laban, and then with Jasmin Vardimon on the JV2 programme, her practice is rooted in a passion for work that intertwines both strong physicality and story-telling.
Sophie now works as a freelance dance artist, creator and teacher across London, with her recent credits include performing with Hallomai dance, and Spring dance collective at the Edinburgh fringe festival.
For as long as she has been dancing, Sophie has been fascinated by the relationship between dance and well-being. In awe of how it can bring joy, connection, resilience, and solace, and aims to bring these feelings and experiences into each class she teaches.
Winnie Willsmer
Clapham Junction Teacher
Winnie is a qualified ballet teacher with a BA (Hons) in Ballet Education from the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD). Beginning ballet at the age of five, she trained at her local ballet school and grew up to assist in several of her ballet teacher’s classes, enriching her knowledge of the RAD syllabi. Alongside her training, Winnie performed in several English Youth Ballet productions, broadening her understanding of technical excellence and performance quality. Winnie went on to completing all RAD ballet exams, most recently achieving a Distinction in the Advanced 2 syllabus.
During her studies at the RAD, she was awarded the prestigious Iris Truscott Scholarship and went on to achieve a Distinction in the Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance (LRAD) programme. Passionate about preserving classical ballet heritage, she was also honoured with the Rachel Cameron Prize for her work in the Karsavina Syllabus. In her final year of study, Winnie undertook her teaching placement at the RAD headquarters, where she learnt valuable teaching strategies and received firsts in all of her placement assessments.
Winnie is excited to apply her skills to inspire and nurture the next generation of young dancers
Danielle Soder Kent
Barnes Teacher
A professional ballet dancer for many years, Danielle was born and raised in Sydney Australia and trained at the Australian Ballet School, before graduating and joining the Australian Ballet Company and later Opera Australia. Performing highlights include Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, Swan Lake's Black Swan, Natalie Weir’s Jabula and Johann Strauss II Die Fledermaus.
During this time Danielle also attained her Royal Academy of Dance Teacher Certification and has enjoyed teaching and coaching classical ballet internationally. Danielle is a certified Barre instructor and certified Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) instructor.
Danielle has studied Arts Management and completed her MBA in addition to attaining her LLB Law degree.
When not in the studio Danielle is the proud mamma to two girls and a little boy.
Alice McDermott
Clapham Junction Teacher
Alice grew up in Jersey, Channel Islands where she started dancing at the age of 4 studying ballet, tap and modern dance in the RAD, IDTA and ISTD syllabi. Over the years, Alice has enjoyed participating in showcases with principal dancers of the Royal Ballet and competing in local festivals and national competitions. In 2016, she was successful in winning a bronze medal at the Bloch Dance World Cup Finals.
Alice moved to London in 2017 to begin her studies at the Royal Academy of Dance and in 2020 graduated with her Bachelors degree in Ballet Education and Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance. Since then, Alice enjoys teaching in dance schools across London and Surrey and also holds a qualification in Progressing Ballet Technique.
Lara Mellum
Clapham Junction Teacher
Lara grew up in Dorset, where she started dancing at the age of 2 and a half and began training in her local ballet school in as many styles as she could, including: ballet, contemporary styles, tap, acrobatics and hip hop. She gained experience in assisting and teaching all styles, furthering her understanding of teaching. She has enjoyed being a performer in several shows and showcases both in and out of her local dance school. For the last 6 years of her training there, she was apart of their company and in the last two, became dance captain.
She trained as an Associate of Ballet Boost and Rambert School’s Pre-Vocational Programme. She successfully auditioned for the full time course at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and is currently completing her training there.
She has always loved teaching and creating and is excited to help nurture aspiring dancers at Butterfly Ballet.
Briana Sandercock
Clapham Junction Teacher
Briana began dancing in Devon at just two years old and, at eight, became a Junior Associate with The Royal Ballet School. At eighteen, she moved to London to train at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where ballet remained at the heart of her training.
Through teaching and assisting, Briana developed a special love for early years dance. She believes dance should be more than learning steps. It should spark imagination, build confidence and create moments of joy. Her aim is to create a warm, nurturing space where children can discover their own magic, express themselves through movement and make memories to treasure.
Lisa Loveless
Administrator
Lisa manages all the Office Admin, she previously worked in Marketing with Heinz and Kimberley Clark before venturing on a journey of motherhood to her 4 children. They are all, almost, grown up now, so 5 years ago she joined the Butterfly Ballet team to help her Sister in Law, founder Miss Catherine, behind the scenes.