Dr Nathan James

Nathan trained in the Midlands in all Musical Theatre Disciplines along with gaining many of his early teaching qualifications. His first professional engagement was in ‘Cinderella’ with Brian Conley and Danny La Rue. Subsequent pantomimes have included ‘Snow White’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Cinderella’ all at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

For 3 years Nathan sailed the high seas for both Celebrity and Princess Cruise Lines performing in a variety of Productions aboard these impressive cruise liners. It also ignited his passion for travelling. Upon returning to England and settling in London, Nathan has performed in a range of regional productions including ‘Copacabana’ and ‘Hello Dolly’ and various trade shows and TV commercials. He has toured the UK in the national tour of ‘Copacabana’ and also Europe in the Irish dance show ‘Spirit of the Dance’. He also completed a season at the renowned Chichester Festival Theatre. Nathan last appeared in the revival of the Broadway Musical ‘42nd Street’, albeit in German, in the city of Stuttgart.

Since 2005 Nathan has concentrated on his first passion, teaching. Specialising in Tap, Jazz and Musical Theatre styles he has taught at many of the major Vocational Colleges in the UK, including Arts Educational School, Bodywork Dance Studios and Sylvia Young Theatre School. Until July 2019 Nathan was the Director of HE Programmes at the Urdang Academy, and ran the ISTD teacher training courses. He is currently an Associate Lecturer in Tap at Performer's College, Birmingham. Nathan is also the Managing Director of The Dang Theatre and Dance Syllabus and has overseen the artistic development of the current syllabi.

Regular visits to the USA continue to further his knowledge in the tap and musical theatre genres and he was invited to perform in a showcase of new work at the Leonard Nimoy Theatre in New York. Nathan was awarded an MA in Professional Practice (Dance Education) with Distinction from Middlesex University and a PhD in Dance from the University of Roehampton. Nathan is a British Federation and Artistic Director and Trrustee for All England Adjudicator as well as a Modern and Tap examiner for the ISTD and a former committee member of the Tap Faculty. In 2020 Nathan, alongside fellow tap teacher Alison Forrester, founded the UK Online Shim-Sham which saw over 200 tap dancers gather online on May 25th to celebrate National Tap Dance Day in the US.

Nathan has written several articles for dance journals and has presented at various conferences in the UK. He recently wrote a chapter for a new collected entitled 'Dance in Musical Theatre: A History of the Body in Movement' which is due to be published by Methuen Drama in December 2023.

For more information see www.nathanjamesdance.com