SINCE 2009, Superstars in the Making (SITM), a Barry-based performing arts academy, has been training the young people of Barry and surrounding areas in dance, singing, and acting.

The academy, founded by Christian Bullen, 30, has seen its students to go on to perform on the West End and Broadway, as well as many others succeeding in a range of careers such as doctors, teachers, scientists and more.

In 2013, Superstars in the Making was approached by a Chinese company to extend its offering from Barry to China.

This led to the academy finding a spot on the international stage and has now taught more than 10,000 students from a variety of nationalities, all from its humble beginning in Barry.

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In 2018, Christian’s twin sisters Kathryn and Georgia Bullen, 23, who prior to this studied at The Royal Academy of Dance London, founded Les Jumelles Academy of Dance, a Barry-based Ballet school, offering students the chance to study the prestigious ballet syllabus and take authentic gradings.

The three Bullens have since been widely known for offering an array of exciting and professional classes to children in South Wales and internationally.

Since the coronavirus, things have changed drastically, what was once a normal daily routine to attend classes has now be stopped, summer productions put on halt and the whole team at both academies have had to completely rethink their summer term offering.

Mr Bullen said: “We had an exciting and dynamic summer season of productions planned for July 2020 including We Will Rock You and a brand new musical called Scaredy Bugs.

“These projects have now been postponed due to covid-19.

“Luckily, back in September 2020, SITM and Les Jumelles had begun discussing the potential for online classes.

“Our international partners had begun requesting them, as they wanted classes with our experts here in South Wales without the need to fly them out.

“So, we have been working with a New York based company since then to create a fully rounded online teaching method.

“This means that we have switched our Barry students on to this method for the time being until we get the green light from the government to open our studio again.

“Classes started back on April 14 and have been really effective so far.

“Parents are really excited to get involved with the student learning experience and see what our experts are teaching.

“We have managed to make use of the web in a positive way to keep connected to our students.”

The lead teaching faculty at Superstars in the Making are graduates from prestigious drama and dance schools and are working in the performance industry alongside their teaching.

Both Superstars in the Making and Les Jumelles are offering free tip videos and performances on their social media pages, @sitm_uk and @lesjumellesaod