A MAN who has graced stages with Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Girls Aloud has taken on a new role at a Bacup dance school.

John Pemberton is one of five new teachers at the growing Dansworks Dance Academy based at the Pioneer Building in Alma Street.

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JP, as he is known, will share his wealth of A-list experience with the academy’s street-dance squad.

The five new appointments mean staff numbers at Dansworks have doubled.

JP started his career on the 1990s television programme The Hitman & Her.

He said: “I then became a nightclub entertainer. I became a fire eater and stilt walker and would do corporate entertainment.

“I treat every class as my own and I have lots of experience to bring to Bacup.

“I work really well with beginners and younger children.

“There is a difference between being a dancer and a dance teacher.

“My best quality is that I find I can really get on the children’s wavelength.

“I also think that it is a good example for them to see a male dance teacher as a role model.”

The other new teachers are ballet coach Mary Green, who trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance in London, singing and drama teacher Rachel Spencer, and student teachers Emma Bradley and Caitlin Rice-Jones.

Rachel has a host of credits, appearing on stage and television.

And Caitlin, 17, has been dancing at Dansworks since 2010 and has just passed her first teaching exam with distinction.

Emma used to be a pupil of JP’s and has worked with Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson.

She is an acclaimed street dancer and finished second in the Street Dance World Championships Solo Advanced.

Her Ruthless team won the Street Dance Team World Championships.

Emma is now in a new team who are twice European Street Dance Champions.

Dansworks’ principal Karen Scott-Roe said: “We have four studios in Bacup now and have cemented the strong links we have with a dance school in Malta.

“Dansworks started in 2008 and since then we have been on the lookout for new teachers and classes.

“We are delighted with the staff that we now have working here and the talents they are bringing to Dansworks.”

For more information about Dansworks, visit www.dansworks.co.uk or call 01706 559671.