Who We Are

We are a collaborative of performers, teachers  and writers dedicated to creating fun and engaging sessions.

Ali Graves has been bringing her passion for music, yoga and dance to care homes for the last 5 years and uses her experience and qualifications to provide positive, accessible and enjoyable sessions.

Ali trained in Performing Arts in Los Angeles and New York before qualifying as  a yoga teacher in 2011 and a dance teacher in 2015. Ali’s continued interest in using music, yoga and dance to promote health and well-being has led her to a degree in Psychology and Sociology. This has further enhanced her aim to show the contribution that music and movement can make to promote positive mental health.

Covid-19 prevented Ali from being able to visit care homes but she wanted to find a way of continuing sharing the joy to homes, so got together other performers and teachers to form Creative Arts Care,

 


Hannah Brailsford has been described as ‘captivating, compelling, high-energy and fun. A storyteller of irresistible and charming tales.’ Her love of stories was cemented as a child when her mother told her a ‘magic’ story each night before bed.

Although Hannah has been a professional performer for over two decades, she started her journey into and earning her living from storytelling in 2010. Telling stories to both young and old alike, she is driven by a passion to engage and inspire through storytelling and is thoroughly enjoying the experiences and lessons this path is providing.

Hannah loves to weave new worlds and adventures, taking her audience on a journey into both traditional folk and modern tales from around the world. She is particularly drawn to stories from Eastern Europe which she attributes to a life changing visit to Russia as a teenager.

Hannah’s own story has found her telling tales in all sorts of places, from woodlands and clifftops to piers and trains, in theatres and churches to windmills and hospitals. 

She is the founder and owner of Tiny Tales Storytellers, a company that specialises in engaging children, schools and families through storytelling and holds storytelling residencies at Southend Theatres and Jacqson Diego Story Emporium. In 2016 she co-founded Spinning Yarns Theatre to bring storytelling to adult audiences through regular events in Southend on Sea where she lives. 

wwwhannahbrailsfordstoryteller.com

www.spinningyarnstheatre.com

www.tinytalesstorytellers.co.uk


Natalie Nightingale is a full-time professional singer, based in Leicestershire,

Natalie trained as a performer in both London and the United States and toured UK-wide with various shows and theatre companies, and then later as part of a vocal duo, before striking out on her own to become a solo singer. An accomplished performer, she sings rock, pop, soul, jazz, showtunes and classical music with equal proficiency.

www.natalienightingale.com

 

 


Lauren Ball is a professional Dancer, Singer and Actress and Head of Dance at JADA Theatre School. A graduate from The Urdang Academy gaining a National Diploma in Musical Theatre and Dance, she has been performing since the age of 3 starting out at The Adagio School of Dance (Brentwood) achieving qualifications for Ballet, Modern and Tap ISTD examinations.

Her professional experience since graduating includes;
Warm-up Artist for ‘The Alexandra O’Neal Show’, Dancer on BBC1’s ‘The One Show’ working with renowned choreographer and ex Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips. A dancer for a ‘Great Gatsby’ event in Earl’s Court London aswell as performing in pantomime productions such as, Sleeping Beauty playing the role of Queen Esmerelda and Princess Jasmine in Aladdin.

 


Nikki Nicholas has been a yoga practitioner for 25 years and teacher for 10. With a grounding in personal training and Pilates, Nikki offers a practice for strength and function. Like her original training in Hatha, her classes offer a balanced approach believing that the mat is not a place to struggle and strain (the world will give you that any time) but a place for sukha or bliss. Nikki is a registered senior teacher with Yoga Alliance and has trained as an Accessible Yoga teacher. Nikki is a qualified specialist teacher in low back pain management and pelvic floor fitness.

www.nikkinicholaswellbeing.com/