James is the Assistant Principal & Musical Theatre teacher within the Love Theatre Arts company. He teaches our Apollo Class (4-6) & Lyric Class (7-11) and leads the singing aspect of the Adelphi/Dominion & Palladium Classes (12-18).

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James started his dance training at the age of 6 going between different dance and Musical Theatre schools including Italia Conti before finding his home at the Deltoro School of Dance at age 11. In 2012, James gained his 1st Class BA Hons at Bird College graduating in 2015, with a dissertation exploring the role of improvisation focusing on its confidence building attributes for young dancers. Alongside his training career, James was the lead vocalist and director/arranger of a 12 piece Jazz band ‘In The Swing’ from 2011- 2016. 

 

James has been the Musical Theatre teacher for Love Theatre Arts, a company dedicated to putting art into the hearts of young performers aged 4-18, since 2015 and in 2020 became the Assistant Principal.  

 

James is the Assistant Director of House of Jazz led by Christie Lee Manning, a company that curated and facilitates a 4 week Artist Development Program for professional Jazz artists, a membership that allows these artists to maintain a sense of community and shared value training on a weekly basis and many other training opportunities including the company’s first Pre Professional Program for aspiring young Jazz artists aged 14-18 that debuted in October 2021 under James’s direction. 

 

James is also the Co-Director of Jazz House Theatre Company, House of Jazz's sister production company creating jazz focused shows and cabarets both in London and internationally. Their latest production; a full length international journey through historical cabaret “Welcome to the Grand” set and performed at the famed musical hall ‘The Grand’ in Clapham, debuted in 2018.

 

James' life long passion for film making, thanks to his father’s photography obsession led to founding of 'Film by Harris’ in early 2019. A film producing venture that ranges from capturing dance concept films, showreels and longer form projects. His latest venture was a 45 minute documentary “Reboot: Dancing Through A Pandemic” by choreographer Stuart Winter and his company Tracing Movement. James co-directed, produced, captured and edited the documentary over a 18 month period, documenting Stuart’s action in re-introducing dancers into the studio in the midst of the global pandemic. 

 

Finally, James has most recently worked with Musical Theatre legend and Jazz fanatic Chet Walker (Fosse, Pippin) on the development of his new musical ‘Jack Cole: A New Musical’ where James took part in the London based workshop playing the character of ‘Young Jack’. A musical looking into the little known history of the man behind many Hollywood stars including Marilyn Monroe and who many consider one of the original Jazz pioneers within Western/American Jazz history.

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James is eternally grateful to Nick and Hannah for the tremendous opportunities they have provided to develop his teaching identity. The school is a beaming example of care, love and fun in its purest form allowing children from 2-18 to escape from any stress and throw themselves into a creative, self-discovering and loving environment and he couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.